Bank Statement Loans in Florida

Why Bank Statement Loans Matter in Florida’s Market

After several years of steep run-ups, Florida home values have turned: the statewide average is down 2.8% from a year ago at $399,856, with far more homes on the market than there were a couple of years ago. Buyers have more negotiating room than they’ve had in years, particularly in Southwest Florida and along the Gulf coast. For self-employed borrowers, the obstacle isn’t finding a house anymore, it’s qualifying for one, because conventional loans are built around W-2 employees and penalize business owners and contractors who write off expenses on their tax returns.

Here’s why bank statement loans make sense for self-employed borrowers in Florida:

• Florida has a deep self-employed and small-business base. The state is home to roughly 3.5 million small businesses, which represent 99.8% of all businesses in Florida. Self-employed workers and contractors make up a large share of that base, especially across construction and the trades, tourism and hospitality, healthcare, real estate, professional services, agriculture, and logistics.
• Write-offs make qualifying harder than it should be. The same deductions that keep a general contractor, restaurant owner, or independent real estate professional healthy at tax time shrink the taxable income a conventional underwriter sees. IRS data puts net income at just 20-23% of business receipts. Griffin Funding counts 50% of those same deposits by default, giving the typical self-employed borrower close to 2x the buying power a tax return alone would show.
• Carrying costs make the income side matter more. Florida homeowners pay some of the highest insurance premiums in the country, and condo and HOA dues have climbed alongside them. A homestead exemption and Florida’s assessment cap limit how fast the property tax line can grow. Insurance premiums have no such cap, though the state does regulate rates by requiring insurers to file and justify proposed changes to insurance rates. Even with this review process, premiums have risen sharply in recent years, which lands squarely in your debt-to-income calculation. Bank statement loans close that gap by counting what you actually deposit, not the smaller amount your tax return shows. 

Sources: Zillow home value data (July 2026); U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2025 State Profile; IRS Statistics of Income (Nonfarm Sole Proprietorships, 2008-2015; SOI Bulletin, Spring 2025).

How Florida Bank Statement Loans Work

Florida business owners and contractors who write off expenses often show a taxable income far below what they actually earn. This tends to leave them underqualified on paper for conventional loans, even when their cash flow tells a different story.

Bank statement loans qualify you based on cash flow shown in bank statements, rather than traditional tax-return income.

Griffin Funding reviews 12 to 24 months of bank statements and calculates income from actual deposit history. The percentage of deposits that count toward your income depends on whether you use personal or business bank statements. Personal statements count 100% of deposits; business statements typically apply a 50% expense factor, which can go as low as 10% depending on your business type.

To qualify for a bank statement loan, you’ll need:

• Credit score: 620 minimum
• Self-employment history: 2 years minimum (or 1 year if you’ve stayed in the same industry)
• Down payment: 10% with a 680+ credit score; 20% minimum with a 620-679 score
• Bank statements: 12 or 24 months of personal or business statements showing consistent deposits
• Property types: Single-family homes, multi-family homes, townhomes, condos, manufactured homes, and rural properties are all eligible
• LLC ownership: Properties can be held in an LLC

Prior bankruptcy requires a two-year waiting period before applying.

View Bank Statement Loan Requirements

Today’s Bank Statement Mortgage Loan Rates in Florida

As a national direct-to-consumer lender, Griffin Funding cuts out the broker markup and keeps non-qualified mortgage rates competitive. Your specific rate depends on your credit score, down payment, loan amount, and buydown points.

Florida Housing Markets for Self-Employed Buyers

From the Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville metros with the most economic activity to lower-cost Panhandle and Central Florida cities and premium Gulf coast and Keys markets, Florida has real options for self-employed buyers at every price point. Here’s where borrowers are buying across the state.

Major Metros

• Miami: More trade with Latin America and the Caribbean flows through Miami than any other U.S. city, which means steady work for freight forwarders, customs brokers, trade consultants, and bilingual professional services, beyond the shipping companies themselves. The Port of Miami, also known as PortMiami, is known as the Cruise Capital of the World, bringing more than 8.5 million passengers to the port in 2025, generating $61 billion in annual economic contribution that supports more than 340,000 jobs. The city’s airport, Miami International Airport, carries its share of that trade too, supporting international freight and serving more than 151,500 passengers who flow through MIA daily, a volume that keeps ground transportation, concessions, and terminal contractors in steady demand, alongside the shipping and logistics work the port generates. Miami asks the third-highest monthly business deposits on this page, behind Key West and Naples.
• Tampa: Tampa sits on Florida’s Gulf Coast with an economy built on finance and professional services, IT, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing, defense and security, and distribution and logistics. The city’s favorable corporate tax policies, low operating costs, and light regulatory burdens have helped the city grow to more than 23,000 businesses as of 2025, making it a place worth starting or relocating a business. Tampa needs about a third less in monthly business deposits than Miami.
• Jacksonville: Jacksonville is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, and it carries a military footprint to match—home to both Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville. Between active-duty, federal, and contract personnel, the two installations employ over 24,600 people, and the broader defense economy supports more than 122,000 regional jobs. The city’s broader economy spans advanced manufacturing, aviation and aerospace, finance and insurance, IT, life sciences, and logistics and distribution, giving a self-employed contractor client options across nearly every industry, rather than depending on the bases alone. Jacksonville asks the least in monthly business deposits of Florida’s three major metros.

Affordable Markets

• Ocala: Ocala is known as the Horse Capital of the World, and the equine industry here generates $4.3 billion in annual economic impact in Marion County, 22% of the county’s GDP, supporting roughly 28,500 jobs. The city’s economy runs well beyond horses: AdventHealth Ocala and HCA Florida Hospitals are two of the city’s largest private employers, employing over 6,700 people combined. Hospital systems that size contract out facilities maintenance, IT support, medical billing, and specialty trades continuously, giving healthcare-adjacent freelancers and contractors work beyond the horse industry. Ocala asks the lowest monthly business deposits of any market on this page.
• Lakeland: Lakeland sits midway along the I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando, and its economy runs on distribution, healthcare, corporate insurance, and manufacturing. Publix, headquartered here, is Lakeland’s largest private employer with more than 8,000 people and is currently expanding its technology campus, which targets growth in technology roles, including software developers, infrastructure teams, IT security, and platform engineers. GEICO, Amazon, and Lakeland Regional Health round out the employer base. Publix’s expansion will create work in construction and build-out, as well as IT and consulting as its tech workforce grows. The healthcare, distribution, and insurance sectors generate steady contracts for self-employed buyers across the rest of the city. Lakeland asks the second-lowest monthly business deposits on this page.
• Pensacola: Pensacola is a major defense and military hub in the United States, built around Naval aviation and a deep aerospace industry base. The Department of Defense is the larger county’s leading employer, at over 10,000 employees. Navy Federal Credit Union, the county’s second-largest employer, employs between 5,000 and 10,000 people. Pensacola is also home to the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, which focuses on AI, robotics, and human performance research. Defense contracting and advanced-tech work both generate independent engineering and consulting jobs. Pensacola runs essentially even with Lakeland in monthly business deposits, among the lowest on this page.

Lifestyle Markets

• The Villages: The Villages is the largest retirement community in the country, spanning 57 square miles, and unlike most cities, it has no factory, port, or university drawing outside money in. Its entire economy runs on retirees spending money on services for themselves. Population estimates put it well over 150,000 residents today, among the fastest-growing communities in the country. A community that size and that concentrated in retirees outsources nearly everything, from landscaping and remodeling to home health and handyman work. The Villages sits just above Tampa in monthly business deposits on this page.
• Naples: Arthrex, a global medical device company, is headquartered in North Naples and ranks among the top private employers in Southwest Florida, while NCH Healthcare System is a major medical care system in the region. Collier County’s broader economy spans tourism, real estate, manufacturing, financial and professional services, life sciences, clean technology, and defense and homeland security. Winter and spring bring a wave of snowbirds escaping the Midwest and Northeast for Naples’ beaches, golf courses, and upscale shopping, and constant luxury construction keeps trades, property management, and design services booked year-round. Naples asks the second-highest monthly business deposits on this page.
• Key West: Recreation and tourism drive as much as 75% of the local economy here, with visitor spending topping $3.5 billion in 2023 and cruise passenger numbers gradually rising to pre-pandemic levels. Dockside retailers, tour operators, and restaurants capture that spending directly, even from passengers who never spend a night on the island. Key West asks the highest monthly business deposits on this page by a wide margin, so run your numbers carefully before you commit.

Free Tools for Self-Employed Borrowers in Florida

Run the numbers before you commit. These free tools give you an instant read on your buying power and the Florida market.

• Bank Statement Loan Calculator: Quickly estimate how much home you could afford with a Florida bank statement loan. 
• Bank Statement Loan Refinance Calculator: See how much you could potentially save using a bank statement refinance loan in Florida. 
• Home Affordability Calculator: Get a better idea of how much home you may be able to afford based on your financial profile and mortgage details. 
• Housing Market Insights: Explore estimated values, transaction history, and appreciation trends for properties across the state of Florida. 

Apply for a Bank Statement Home Loan in Florida

Self-employed borrowers with non-traditional income still have options to purchase property in Florida. With a bank statement home loan, you can qualify for up to $4.5 million in financing, no tax returns or pay stubs required. Down payments start at 10% for qualified borrowers.

Griffin Funding has helped self-employed borrowers, small business owners, freelancers, tradespeople, and independent contractors qualify for bank statement mortgage loans across Florida. We lend throughout the entire state, from Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville to Sarasota, Naples, and Key West, and the value markets of Pensacola, Ocala, and Winter Haven.

Reach out today to learn more about how to qualify for a mortgage in Florida if you’re self-employed. If you’re ready to get pre-approved and lock in your rate, get started online.

• Kristi Manion, Griffin Funding Florida Loan Officer | NMLS# 1314037
• Adam Ruvelson, Griffin Funding Florida Loan Officer | NMLS# 1283827
• Joshua Miller, Griffin Funding Florida Loan Officer | NMLS# 1640013
• PJ Vinal, Griffin Funding Florida Loan Officer | NMLS# 2283532

Griffin Funding is Licensed as a Florida Mortgage Lender by the Office of Financial Regulation No. MLD1944