My 36-Hour Income Packaging Hackathon

When our lender floated the phrase “TBD approval,” I pictured a neat checklist followed by a green light. Reality: my file blended salary, quarterly bonuses, RSUs, and freelance invoices. The underwriter came back with a polite essay of conditions that basically said, “Prove every dollar twice.” I could have grumbled about the workload, but our rate lock window was ticking. Instead, I declared a 36-hour income packaging hackathon and treated the entire documentation sprint like a product launch. Here is how that marathon went down—and how you can replicate it without losing sleep.

Friday 5:30 p.m. — Map the income universe

I opened the Conforming Home Rates tracker and spun up a new tab titled “Income Evidence.” Column A listed every flavor of money we expected underwriting to count: base salary, variable bonus, RSU vesting, and freelance design work. Columns B through F tracked supporting items—paystub range, W-2 year, employer contact, transcript form, and commentary. Laying it out this way kept me from scattering uploads across random email threads. I also color-coded the cells: green for documents already on hand, yellow for items in progress, red for anything that needed an outside request.

Friday 7:00 p.m. — Pull the low-hanging docs

Before ordering any transcripts, I logged into payroll and exported year-to-date paystubs plus the official compensation summary my company issues each March. I annotated each PDF with sticky-note callouts pointing to base vs. bonus lines so an underwriter would not have to squint. For RSUs, I grabbed the vesting schedule screenshot and paired it with the most recent brokerage statement. Every file name followed the same pattern—IncomeType_Date_Document—because processors love consistency.

Friday 9:30 p.m. — Draft the narrative memo

Numbers alone rarely answer edge cases, so I wrote a one-page memo that explained how my compensation actually hits the bank. Paragraph one summarized base pay cadence. Paragraph two outlined the bonus plan’s approval process and historical averages. Paragraph three described my freelance design business, how clients pay (ACH with invoices), and why the revenue is stable even though the amounts vary. The memo cited the exact documents included in the packet. Whenever the underwriter wonders “why,” this memo pre-empts the question.

Saturday 8:00 a.m. — IRS transcripts and VOE requests

I used the IRS “Get Transcript” portal to request the previous two years of tax transcripts and wage verification forms. At the same time, I scheduled a brief call with HR to warn them a written verification of employment (VOE) request was coming. I emailed them my lender’s template and highlighted the fields that usually trigger delays (overtime, commissions, future bonuses). By noon, HR had signed off on the VOE, because I made it simple for them to respond.

Saturday 11:30 a.m. — Reconcile freelance income

Freelance numbers can sink a file if they look chaotic. I exported all business checking transactions for the last 12 months, filtered out personal transfers, and matched each deposit to an invoice. Then I created a two-column ledger: deposit date and client name, plus a third column for invoice number. The total matched my Schedule C line exactly, which meant the underwriter could cross-check without asking for more clarifications. I also wrote a paragraph explaining why the work would continue after closing (retainer agreements plus two multi-year contracts).

Saturday 2:00 p.m. — Build the income storyboard PDF

Rather than upload 25 separate files, I used a PDF editor to assemble an “Income Storyboard.” Each section started with a title page (“Base Salary Evidence”) followed by the relevant documents in order of importance. I inserted quick captions like “Exhibit 2B: Bonus approval email from CFO dated 02/07/2025.” The goal was to let an underwriter skim the PDF like a briefing book. The storyboard ended with the narrative memo and a summary table that listed monthly totals for each income type.

Saturday 6:30 p.m. — Cross-check with MiddleCreditScore.com actions

Because income affects debt-to-income (DTI) ratios, I tied this packet back into the broader plan we run through MiddleCreditScore.com. I updated the tracker to show which credit actions depended on stable income (e.g., paying down a card before the next bonus posted). That context helps the lender see we are not randomly juggling cash; we have a timeline anchored to real pay events.

Sunday 9:00 a.m. — Simulate the underwriter review

I sent the entire packet to my spouse and financial coach and asked them to pretend they were underwriting. Their feedback was ruthless and invaluable. My spouse pointed out that one invoice looked like a duplicate because the client’s parent company name differed from the DBA; I added a footnote. The coach flagged that my RSU screenshot lacked page numbers; I added them. Catching those details internally saved another round of lender conditions later.

Sunday 1:00 p.m. — Upload with context

When I finally uploaded everything to the lender’s portal, I did not just drag-and-drop. I submitted the storyboard as a single PDF, then added a cover note inside the portal: “This package contains all income sources, VOE, transcripts, and commentary. Please start with page two for the summary table.” I also emailed the processor with a bullet list of highlights so they knew what to expect when presenting the file to underwriting.

Monday 10:15 a.m. — Outcome

By late Monday morning, the underwriter cleared every income condition in one pass. They even commented that the storyboard saved them “at least an hour” because it eliminated guesswork. More importantly, removing those conditions early meant our rate lock stayed intact without paying extension fees. The processor now uses my packet as a training example for other borrowers who juggle mixed income streams.

What to steal for your own hackathon

1. Treat income types like product lines. Each one deserves its own documentation strategy.
2. Write the memo. Narrative context prevents misinterpretation and reduces back-and-forth.
3. Bundle intelligently. Underwriters are humans; give them a clean PDF roadmap.
4. Align with credit actions. Show how income timing supports your Middle Credit Score® plan so the lender sees a cohesive story.
5. Invite internal reviewers. Fresh eyes find the messy bits before underwriting does.

Conforming files reward rehearsal. When you package income with this level of clarity, you stop reacting to conditions and start dictating the pace of the file. That confidence carries into every rate conversation, because you know the math backing your approval is bulletproof.