What do lenders look at to pre approve you for a mortgage loan when you are self employed?

They will base the loan amount on that 45k. That's the pickle the self employed are in: we want to take as many deductions as possible to avoid paying taxes, but it bites us in the when we try to get a loan! LOL They will also look at your FICO score, and will also want to see if your business income for the last 2 years of tax returns has increased or stayed the same.