A higher ratio
Conventional programs cap your monthly debts as a share of your income. Non-QM programs accept a higher share when there are compensating factors, such as savings after closing and enough income left over each month.
Mercer County, New Jersey
Mortgages for salaried employees in Mercer County, NJ
For Mercer County employees on a payroll: how a standard loan reads your pay stubs and W-2s, the programs for a wage earner who misses one rule, and the moves that keep your file moving. Fidelity Residential is a direct, licensed mortgage lender with a New Jersey office on Route 36 in West Long Branch, in Monmouth County, and we lend across New Jersey.
- Direct, licensed mortgage lender
- NMLS #103098
- Equal Housing Lender
Which describes you?
Pick the closest, or call and talk it through.
Fidelity Residential · NMLS #103098 · Equal Housing Lender
Mercer County housing
A county of employees, renters and townhouses
Mercer County has about 385,900 residents and about 151,100 homes, by the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates for 2020 to 2024. Owners live in an estimated 62.2 percent of occupied homes; the other 37.8 percent, about 54,500 households, rent.
Most working residents are on a payroll. Of about 190,000 employed residents, an estimated 79.7 percent are private wage and salary workers and 15.2 percent work for a government; about 13,900 work for the state government and about 21,300 for nonprofit employers.
Owner-occupied homes in Mercer County have an estimated median value of about $377,700.
Fidelity Residential is a direct mortgage lender licensed in New Jersey under a Residential Mortgage Lender License. Our office is at 121 NJ-36, Suite 230, West Long Branch, in Monmouth County; we do not have an office in Mercer County, and we lend across New Jersey.
The homes
- Townhouse-style homes: an estimated 20.1 percent are one-family homes attached to their neighbors
- Single detached houses: an estimated 47.5 percent of all homes
- Recent moves: about one household in five, an estimated 21.8 percent, arrived in 2020 or later
- Working from home: an estimated 19.5 percent of workers
- Mortgages: an estimated 62.3 percent of about 89,600 owner-occupied homes carry one
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024. Estimates, not counts.
On a payroll
How a standard loan reads your pay
Full documentation means your income is shown with the standard papers: recent pay stubs and your W-2 forms if you are employed. Conventional, FHA, VA and jumbo loans read your pay that way, and the automated underwriting findings list exactly which documents your loan needs.
Your income is then set against your monthly debts, the new payment included, and your credit, your savings and the home are checked as on any mortgage.
Shortly before closing, the lender confirms by phone or email that you still work there.
What to gather
- Pay: recent pay stubs and your W-2 forms
- Savings: bank statements showing the money for the down payment and closing costs
- Family help: a gift letter if family is helping with the down payment
- The home: your signed purchase contract, once you have one
- You: photo identification for everyone on the loan
Turned down on one rule
When your pay is standard but the loan is not
Programs called full documentation non-QM loans use the same papers, for wage earners who fall outside conventional or jumbo rules in one respect.
A shorter income history
One year of income history can be enough for an employee: recent pay stubs and the latest W-2.
Something other programs decline
Condominiums that do not meet agency rules, two-to-four-unit homes and rural homes on acreage are eligible at many programs, and so are loans larger than conventional limits allow.
Full documentation non-QM loansThe lender still verifies your income, assets, credit and the home, and for a home you live in it must make a good-faith decision that you can repay the loan. If a standard loan might still fit, ask for that quote as well and compare the two for the same home.
Before you apply
Moves that keep your file moving
None of these is a rule in itself, but together they make a file easier to place with the right program.
If you are paid in more than one way, or part of your income comes from a business you own, say so at the start: a loan officer can compare the documentation options with you.
Before and during the loan
- The rule: if a loan was turned down elsewhere, find out which rule stopped it and tell your loan officer
- Savings: keep them in place; most programs ask for savings left after closing, called reserves
- Family help: tell your loan officer first, and keep a record of the money moving
- New credit: hold off on new accounts and large purchases on credit while the loan is in process
- Your current home: if it is being sold or rented, have the contract or the lease ready
Questions
Questions from Mercer County employees
Do you lend in Mercer County?
Yes. Fidelity Residential is a dba of PFN Lending Group, Inc. (NMLS #103098), which holds a New Jersey Residential Mortgage Lender License, and we lend across New Jersey. You can check the licence on NMLS Consumer Access (opens in a new tab).
Do you have an office in Mercer County?
No. Our office is at 121 NJ-36, Suite 230, West Long Branch, NJ 07764, in Monmouth County. Call 732-686-9999 to talk with a licensed loan officer.
My debts are high compared with my income. Can I still get a loan?
Some programs accept higher debt-to-income ratios than conventional loans allow, with compensating factors such as reserves and enough income left over each month after your debts are paid. A loan officer can tell you which programs allow your ratio.
Can a W-2 employee get a non-QM loan?
Yes. Full documentation non-QM programs are for wage earners as well as the self-employed, when standard income documents show the income but one rule does not fit. If your pay stubs and W-2s already meet a conventional program’s rules, ask for a standard quote as well and compare the two.
Is this a stated-income loan?
No. You document income the standard way, with pay stubs and W-2s, and your assets, credit and the home are verified. What changes is the one rule that kept you out of a conventional or jumbo loan.
I changed jobs recently. Does that matter?
It can. Tell your loan officer the dates at the start: your history is read from your pay stubs and W-2s, and some programs accept a shorter history than others.
Talk with a loan officer near you
Get a quote online, or call us and talk it through with a licensed loan officer.
What happens next
- Tell us about your loan. A few quick questions about the property and the loan you want. No credit check to start and no obligation.
- A licensed loan officer reviews your answers and follows up with you, usually within one business day.
- This is a request for a quote, not a loan application and not a commitment to lend.
This page is general information, not a commitment to lend. Programs, terms and eligibility depend on credit, income, property and underwriting review and are subject to change without notice.
Reviewed by Robert Shamie, CEO, NMLS #241428 · Last reviewed:
Fidelity Residential (PFN Lending Group, Inc., NMLS #103098) is a direct mortgage lender licensed in 40 states and the District of Columbia, with 26 years in business.