Step 2 of 4 — Income

What does your income look like?

Your rate, your loan amount, and your terms all lean on one ratio: how much comes in each month against how much goes out. And an underwriter doesn't count everything — the phone bill, the electric bill, the car insurance never enter the math. The debts that count come off your credit report. The income that counts is a worked-out number of its own, and finding it now — before the process starts — is what this step is for, whether you're buying or refinancing.