How Do Early Retirees Qualify for Mortgages?

The best options post fire are to 1) buy the house while working several months-year prior to fire. 2) Qualify for Asset based Mortgage. 3) Check with credit unions for special loan programs/ qualifications.

We bought our home using asset based mortgage. Was not hard to qualify but had to set up automatic withdrawals on Roth to prove we had monthly income for loan and we had to send in 2 years of tax returns to qualify. I've heard that credit unions are more likely than regular lenders to make exceptions for non W2 income since they tend to hold the loans and also work to benefit their members in ways that normal banks do not.

For someone with sufficient assets, but not sufficient income to justify a loan, you would request an "asset-based mortgage", also called an "asset depletion mortgage". The lender would evaluate the size and liquidity of your assets to determine how much you could reasonably withdraw for income and base their loan/income calculation based on that, rather than purely on direct income.

Here in the Netherlands there is a mortgage product for people who are receiving our version of social security. The amount you can borrow is often lower, but at least you can still get some mortgage.

Another option here could be to borrow money from (older) family members or friends, instead of from a bank.

Finally, personally my house is now paid off and I intend to never have to have a mortgage again. My monthly expenses are of course much lower without a mortgage, so I also don't need as much money in investments. I'm guessing my money could grow harder in investments than as house equity, but meh, the difference probably isn't that big anyway and it's only a small part of my portfolio anyway.

Good question. I think housing needs to be figured out before a person plans to stop working indefinitely. The earlier someone RE the more unknowns and the more planning and assets needed. I think in today’s FIRE discussions it is more about hybrid solutions meaning don’t live in an all-or-nothing way. Think about FI without the RE. Maybe a part time W-2 job that you enjoy can fill any financial gaps a lender is hesitant on.