Make $90k/year as a solopreneur
And it not be enough to buy a house
Spoiler: I bought the house. But if you’re a solo professional buying a home, you're in for an uphill climb.
Here’s my story…
I don’t take many projects from Upwork these days. But when I did, it was a leading source of new work for me.
By the time of this tale, I'd been divorced for about 5 years and finally out of a hole after shutting down the media company. Life was truly unrecognizable from what it used to be. In fact, it seemed like a whole new existence altogether.
Loving Life, Except…
Four years into the solo life, making decent money and nicely settled into the maintenance-free life of 2nd story apartment dwelling. No lawn to mow. No leaks to fix.
Renting felt like a step down after so many years owning. If I can be honest it was kinda bliss, nearly total.
Except for the laundry.
Having to lug an overflowing basket of clothes outside, in brutal upstate NY winters, down the stairs, and into a dark, dungeony laundry room had gotten old.
A washer that barely worked and never rinsed the detergent fully out. And the dryer, it was only after eating 18 quarters and 3 cycles that my daughter's and my clothes had any hope of being dry.
Only to stink of mildew a few days later. What the hell.
Solo Business Not a Real Job?
Being able to do laundry in my own home without putting on shoes, without bundling up. Without pre-planning for jars full of quarters. I joke it might’ve been my biggest motivation to take on a mortgage again after so many years.
But this time, no partner. No dual income. I’d be the signing on the dotted line all alone.
I had the new house jitters after finding the perfect house for my (then) 7-year-old daughter. Next step, get approved for a loan.
I thought it would be easy. I was confident the bank would welcome me. I had great credit. I was making well over 100k all things considered. I had the down payment.
Then why did they treat me like I was trying to fool them, like I was trying to pay for a house with Monopoly money?
Because I showed them an earnings certificate from Upwork. This earnings certificate is a simple printout that shows your income from the last 12 months on the platform. Presumably it was designed for just such a purpose–to show your bank (or parole officer) that you do in fact have an income.
I went with this earning certificate because, well, it was the easiest.
Bank’s Confusion
It was September so I had no recent 1099s. I bill clients through the platform, so I had a few direct-invoice clients I could point to but not enough to illustrate what the bank wanted to see.
On the other hand, Upwork provides an ‘earning certificate.’ It’s basically an earnings statement and mine showed $90k earnings from the last 12 months on the platform.
Since it made up about 75% of my whole income, showing all in one place and enough to afford the new house, it seemed seamless.
Here’s the exact document the bank got: