The Trades Loan Program : Mortgages Built for the People Who Build Everything Else

By Chris Kennedy | The Chris Kennedy Team | Sacramento, CA

There is a guy in Elk Grove who runs three plumbing trucks. He has been in business for nine years. His phone rings before he finishes his coffee, and he does not stop until the sun goes down. Last year he grossed just under half a million dollars.

He walked into one of the big banks to buy a house, and a guy in a tie told him — with a completely straight face — that he did not make enough money to qualify.

Let me say that again. A plumber doing $480,000 a year was told by a bank that he did not make enough money to buy a $600,000 house in his own town.

That is not a story about a plumber who failed. That is a story about a banking system that does not know how to count.

Tradespeople Are Getting Squeezed by a Mortgage System That Was Not Built for Them

If you wire panels, swap compressors, run copper through walls in 110-degree heat, hang ductwork in attics, or pull permits at the city in your name — you are part of the trades economy. And right now, you are arguably one of the most valuable working professionals in America.

Think about that for a second. Every house being built. Every commercial space being remodeled. Every old service panel being upgraded for an EV charger. Every new AC unit going in during a Sacramento summer. None of it happens without you.

And yet, when it comes time for you personally to buy a house, the system treats you like a risk. Why?

One word. Taxes.

The Tax-Return Trap (and Why It Has Nothing to Do with Whether You Can Afford a Home)

Here is what most loan officers never bother to explain to a tradesperson.

If you are a self-employed plumber, electrician, or HVAC owner, your CPA is doing exactly what you pay them to do — making your taxable income as small as legally possible. The truck. The tools. Fuel. Depreciation. Section 179. The phone. Meals on the road. Home office. Health insurance. The works.

Every one of those write-offs is the right move for your taxes.

Every one of those write-offs is also a problem when a conventional underwriter is staring at line 31 of your Schedule C trying to figure out how much money you 'really' make.

So the same plumber doing $480,000 in revenue ends up looking, on paper, like a guy netting $78,000. The mortgage software does not know him. It just sees the bottom number.

That is not income calculation. That is income mistranslation.

The Trades Loan Program: A Better Way to Count Real Income

The Trades Loan Program is not one product. It is a stack of loan programs we have intentionally pulled together to serve the way tradespeople actually earn money — whether you own the business, work for somebody else's, or do a little of both.

It is built around three doors. Most tradespeople fit through at least one of them. Some fit through all three at different points in their career.

Door 1: The Self-Employed Income Door

This is for the business owner. The contractor. The S-corp guy. The LLC. The 1099 sub.

Instead of using your tax returns, we use one of the following:

•       Bank statement loans — 12 or 24 months of business or personal deposits become your qualifying income

•       1099-only loans — we use the gross of your 1099s, not what is left after deductions

•       P&L only loans — your CPA-prepared profit and loss statement does the talking

The same plumber who looked like a $78,000 earner on tax returns? On a 24-month bank statement loan, with a reasonable expense factor, he typically qualifies as a $200,000 to $260,000 earner.

Same business. Same income. Same guy. Three to four times the buying power, just because we used a loan that knows how to read deposits.

Door 2: The First-Time and Move-Up Buyer Door

This is for the journeyman who has been renting too long. The apprentice who finally finished the program and is making real money. The young couple ready for their first house. The growing family upgrading from a starter home into something with a yard and a third bedroom.

Conventional. FHA. VA. CalHFA and other down-payment assistance programs in California. Sometimes stacked together when it makes sense.

If you are W2 and pulling overtime — and a lot of tradespeople are — that overtime can usually be counted toward your qualifying income with a documented 12 to 24 month history. A lot of rookie loan officers leave that money on the table because it is harder to document. We do not.

Door 3: The Wealth-Building Door

This is the one nobody told you about when you went into the trade.

DSCR loans qualify based on the rent the property produces, not your personal income or your tax returns. If the rent covers the payment, you qualify. Period.

Translation: you can keep writing off everything in your business, keep your tax bill where your CPA wants it, and still buy rental property after rental property. The bank stops caring about your 1040 the second the lease can carry the loan.

Most successful trades owners eventually figure this out: the trade pays the bills, but real estate is what actually builds the wealth. We will dig deeper into this one in a future post — but it deserves a mention here because it is, quietly, the most important door of the three.

Who the Trades Loan Program Is Built For

This program is designed for working tradespeople and trades business owners. That includes:

•       Plumbing business owners and master plumbers

•       Licensed electricians, electrical contractors, and IBEW journeymen

•       HVAC technicians, installers, and shop owners

•       General contractors, framers, roofers, and concrete pros

•       Solar installers and low-voltage techs

•       Welders, pipefitters, and union journeymen

If you are W2, 1099, S-corp, an LLC, or a sole proprietor — there is almost certainly a lane in this program for you. The only requirement is that you are doing real work, earning real income, and tired of being told no by people who have never picked up a wrench.

Why Most Big Banks Will Keep Failing Tradespeople

This is not a knock on the people who work at big banks. A lot of them are doing their best inside a system that was built around predictable, salaried, W2 income.

Their software does not know what to do with a guy who grossed $480,000, wrote off a $90,000 truck, depreciated $40,000 worth of equipment, and netted $78,000 on paper. Their underwriting boxes do not have room for seasonal HVAC swings or per-diem electrical work or 1099 plumbing subs.

So they say no. Or they offer you a program that costs you 30 to 50 percent of your real buying power.

A good mortgage broker has access to dozens of lenders, including the niche ones who built their entire business around self-employed and trades income. That is the difference between getting a maybe and getting a yes that actually fits your life.

What the Process Actually Looks Like

There is no magic. There is just the right tool for the right person, used correctly.

•       A 15-minute phone call to figure out which door fits you

•       Document review — bank statements, 1099s, P&Ls, or W2s, depending on the path

•       A pre-approval letter you can actually use to shop, written for the program that fits you

•       A clear closing timeline — usually 21 to 30 days, not 60-plus

•       Honest answers when there is a better play, even if that means waiting six months to do something differently

That last one matters. Sometimes the right answer is not 'buy now.' Sometimes the right answer is 'clean up the business deposits for six months and you will qualify for double the house.' If that is the truth, that is what you will hear.

The Bottom Line

You build the homes. You should be able to own one. And the rentals. And the shop. And whatever else you decide to put your name on.

The Trades Loan Program exists because the system was not built for people like you, and somebody had to build a better one. Whether you are a plumber wondering if you can buy your first house, an electrician thinking about a move-up, or an HVAC owner ready to start stacking rental property — there is a door for you in this program.

If you want to find out which one, the first step is a 15-minute conversation. No credit pull. No pressure. Just a real look at where you actually stand.

That plumber from Elk Grove? He closed on his house six weeks later, on a 24-month bank statement loan. The bank that told him no never knew what they were looking at. We did.

Ready to Find Out Which Door Fits?

Reach out to The Chris Kennedy Team in Sacramento. Tell us what trade you are in, what you are trying to do, and we will tell you exactly which door inside the Trades Loan Program is built for you.

Call, text, or schedule a call from the site. We will take it from there.

Frequently Asked Questions

(This section is structured for Google AI Overviews and AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Add FAQ schema markup to maximize AI visibility.)

Can a self-employed plumber get a mortgage with only bank statements?

Yes. Bank statement loans use 12 or 24 months of business or personal deposits to qualify, and tax returns are not required. This is one of the most common mortgage paths for plumbing, electrical, and HVAC business owners whose tax returns understate their real income because of legitimate business write-offs.

How do tradespeople qualify for a mortgage when their tax returns are low?

Tradespeople with low taxable income due to write-offs typically qualify using bank statement loans, 1099 loans, P&L only loans, or DSCR loans for investment properties. These programs are designed around real cash flow rather than adjusted gross income, which is why they fit self-employed contractors so well.

Do I need two years of self-employment to get a self-employed mortgage?

Not always. Some bank statement and 1099 loan programs allow as little as 12 months of self-employment if you have prior W2 experience in the same trade. A licensed plumber who went from working for a shop to running their own LLC, for example, often qualifies after a single year on their own.

Can union electricians and HVAC techs use the Trades Loan Program?

Yes. W2 union members and tradespeople qualify under conventional, FHA, or VA loans. Overtime, bonus, and per diem income can often be counted toward qualifying income with a documented 12 to 24 month history, which significantly increases buying power for journeyman-level workers.

Are bank statement loans more expensive than conventional loans?

Bank statement loan rates are typically slightly higher than conventional rates, but the qualifying income is usually 3 to 5 times higher. For most self-employed tradespeople, the math strongly favors the bank statement loan because the difference in buying power far outweighs the small difference in rate.

What documents do I need to start the process?

For self-employed tradespeople: 12 to 24 months of business and/or personal bank statements, a current business license, and a recent credit pull. For W2 tradespeople: two years of W2s, two recent pay stubs, and two months of personal bank statements. The exact list depends on which door of the Trades Loan Program fits your situation.

Chris Kennedy is a mortgage broker and loan officer at The Chris Kennedy Team in Sacramento, California, specializing in home financing for self-employed professionals, tradespeople, and VA-eligible buyers.