Less than most people fear. Guidelines call for a stable two-year employment history, and that leaves far more room than two unbroken years at a single employer. Situations that sound disqualifying are often fine: - Job change, same line of work. Move from one W-2 job to another in the same field and there's usually no waiting period at all. You can proceed right away. - Gaps. Workable when you can explain the gap and show the new position is stable. A decade on one job, a few months off, then several months in a new role is generally a non-issue. An 18-month gap followed by a single month on a new job is a much harder file. - FHA's specific rule. After an employment gap of six months or more, FHA counts the income only when you're back in the same line of work for at least six months, and you also had a two-year work history before the absence. Non-traditional patterns have their own logic. Short repeated W-2 assignments in the same industry, common on film and TV crews, can have the income averaged over time if your year-to-date matches the pattern. The risk shows up when a single assignment is confirmed to end with nothing established after it. And switching employers right as your pay structure changes (processor to loan officer, salaried to commission) is the genuinely tricky case that needs a strong file put together up front. Getting fully pre-approved early, so underwriting can weigh in before you're house hunting, is the cleanest way to know where you stand.