07/16/2026
The bank’s checklist has one question it can’t answer: can this person actually pay?
It doesn’t know that. So it uses proxies. Two years of returns. A score. A W-2. And if you’re self-employed, 1099, commission, or rebuilding after one bad year, the proxies say no while the truth says yes.
The seller of this house asks the real question instead.
$25,000 down. 6.25% fixed. $3,200/month covering principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. HOA is fifty bucks. 4 bed, 2,115 sqft, built 2023, quarter acre fenced. Cedar Hill.