I deliver or drive for apps in Ohio. Can I qualify for down payment help?

The math that decides your approval

Here's an illustrative Cincinnati shopper and driver who works Instacart, DoorDash and Amazon Flex full time:

Averaged, that's $27,600 a year, or $2,300 a month. That is the income the lender starts from, not the $4,000 a month the apps paid.

There's one possible boost. Part of the IRS standard mileage rate counts as depreciation: 33¢ a mile for 2025 and 35¢ for 2026, according to IRS Notice 2026-10, which also sets the 2026 business rate at 72.5¢. All three agencies let lenders add depreciation back on Schedule C. None of the guide text we reviewed says whether the depreciation inside the mileage rate gets the same treatment. If this driver logged 27,500 business miles in 2025, the 33¢ slice would be about $9,075. Ask your lender whether it adds it back before you decide you can't afford a house.

What's open to you, and what isn't

Open: OHFA's standard first-time homebuyer loan with OHFA Down Payment Assistance (3% conventional, 3.5% FHA/VA/USDA, forgiven after seven years). The Port of Greater Cincinnati's Communities First grant. FHLB Cincinnati's Welcome Home grant when funded. City programs in Columbus, Cincinnati, Akron, Toledo and Lorain. See the full list.

Not open by app work alone: the Ohio Heroes rate. OHFA's list is teachers, police, firefighters, EMTs, healthcare workers and veterans. Delivery and rideshare aren't on it. You still get there if:

• you're a veteran, reservist or surviving spouse, or
• you hold a listed job and deliver on the side, like an STNA who drives Spark on weekends or a teacher who shops Shipt in summer.

Full-time or side hustle: two different paths

If apps are your only income

You're self-employed for the mortgage. Plan on two years of filed returns showing the work. FHA allows one to two years only if you spent two years before in the same or related work. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have similar exceptions. Years as a paid courier or delivery driver help. A move from retail management to DoorDash doesn't count as related.

If apps are extra on top of a paycheck

Your W-2 job carries the approval. The gig income adds to it only once it has a track record:

• FHA: two years without a break, averaged.
• Fannie Mae: two years recommended, at least 12 months with other strengths in your file.
• Freddie Mac: two years in most cases; 12 months or more may be justified.

If you only started driving last spring, assume the lender ignores it for now.

How the 1099s get treated

Apps send a 1099-NEC or 1099-K. None of the FHA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac guides names a specific platform or the 1099-K. Freddie Mac's general 1099 rule treats the income like a paycheck only if your expenses are under 5% of gross. Mileage pushes nearly every driver past that, so in practice most are underwritten as sole proprietors on Schedule C. That's how the rules tend to play out, not a line from the guides.

What that means for you:

• Freddie Mac wants every 1099 from every app for two years, and never less than 12 months.
• Working several apps is fine. They all land on the same Schedule C.
• Switching apps mid-year isn't a job change if the work is the same, but keep every annual summary.

Winter slowdowns

For buyers with more than one income source, Fannie Mae bars a gap over one month in the last 12 unless the work is seasonal. How a lender reads a slow January in Toledo or a month off after a car repair isn't spelled out in the guides. If you had a gap, write down why and bring it up early. Your lender confirms how it will be treated.

The income-limit question

OHFA's county limits on the income limits page count all occupant borrowers. A driver has two very different numbers: gross app pay and net profit. OHFA's consumer pages don't say which one it measures against the limit for self-employed income. A participating lender confirms. Either way, the net figure is what has to carry the monthly payment.

What to do this month

1. Download the annual tax summaries and 1099s from every app you've used in the last two years.
2. Pull your filed returns and find the Schedule C net profit line for each year.
3. Put that monthly figure, not your gross, into the affordability calculator.
4. Keep a mileage log you could show someone. It backs up the deduction and any add-back.
5. Check OHFA's score floor: 640, or 650 for FHA.
6. Then check your eligibility and pick the self-employed or gig option.

App names on this page are examples of gig work only. No platform is connected with or endorses any program here.

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