How to Qualify More Borrowers With Non-QM Loans

Geoff interviews Tom Hutchens on the Non-QM lending landscape — who qualifies, which products matter most, and how LOs can position themselves as self-employed borrower experts. Best for LOs looking to diversify beyond agency loans heading into a purchase-heavy, refi-light market.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Go to AngelOakMS.com, click the AE map, select your state, and contact your regional Angel Oak account executive this week to get a Non-QM product overview and start submitting scenarios.
• Run dual qualification on every self-employed applicant: pull tax returns AND 12-24 months of bank statements simultaneously. Angel Oak returns a bank statement income decision within 24 hours, so you can show the borrower how much more house they can afford.
• When calling or emailing real estate agent partners, use this specific hook: 'I can show your self-employed buyer a path to qualify for the $1M home they want, not just the $500K your tax-return number allows — want to know how?' This directly increases the agent's average transaction size.
• Download Angel Oak's pre-built, co-brandable self-employed borrower flyers from their partner marketing portal, add your logo and contact info, and post one piece of Non-QM content per week on social media to establish yourself as the local self-employed mortgage expert.
• Schedule a joint presentation with your Angel Oak AE for a group of 5-10 real estate agents in your market. Angel Oak reps will present as the Non-QM product expert while you own the relationship — and per Tom, 2-3 agents at every event ask about getting a Non-QM loan for themselves.
• Target the three Non-QM borrower categories in this priority order: (1) self-employed/bank statement — 65% of Non-QM volume; (2) real estate investors on non-owner occupied properties; (3) credit-event borrowers (post-foreclosure, COVID hardship). Build a separate nurture sequence for each segment in your CRM.

The playbook

1. 1. Register as an originating partner at AngelOakMS.com and connect with your state's AE.
2. 2. On every self-employed application, collect both tax returns and 12-24 months bank statements at the same time.
3. 3. Submit bank statements to Angel Oak for a 24-hour income determination.
4. 4. Present the borrower with two qualification scenarios: agency (tax return income) vs. Non-QM (bank statement income), showing the difference in max loan amount.
5. 5. If the Non-QM option better serves the borrower, originate through Angel Oak's wholesale/correspondent channel.
6. 6. Report the outcome back to the referring agent with the transaction-size delta to reinforce your value as a Non-QM expert.

Worth quoting

“The tax code and your ability to repay a mortgage are not necessarily one in the same.”

“Be for someone instead of everyone — that someone would be folks that aren't vanilla cookie cutter.”

Best for

LOs heading into a purchase market who still rely solely on agency products and want a differentiated niche that reduces rate competition and attracts self-employed and investor borrowers.