The Quick Read: Bonus and RSU income can count on a jumbo cash-out, but only the part you can prove. Lenders want a history of receipt, evidence the pay will continue, and records that agree with each other. Vested shares and paid bonuses are the usable pieces. Unvested grants and offer-letter promises are not. Each jumbo lender sets its own rules, so the paper trail matters more than the headline compensation number.
Why Variable Pay Gets Extra Scrutiny on a Jumbo Cash-Out
A jumbo cash-out files as a larger loan against a home you already own, and the lender has to rely on income it can verify. Salary is easy. Bonuses and stock are variable, so the lender asks two questions: has this income shown up reliably, and will it keep showing up?
A jumbo is simply a loan above the county conforming limit. You can look up where your county sits in the FHFA county loan limit file. Most jumbo lenders borrow the agency income methods and then add their own overlays. Across the wholesale programs Lendmire places files with, that pattern holds: the agency math is the starting point, and the investor on the file decides how strict to be.
That is why this article uses the agency guides as a benchmark, not as “the jumbo rules.” Your lender’s version may be tighter.
Key Terms Defined
RSU (restricted stock unit): A grant of company shares that you receive only after a vesting schedule is met.
Vest date: The day shares become yours, with no restrictions on them.
Vested and distributed: Shares that have been delivered to your brokerage account, free to sell or hold.
200-day moving average: The average share price over the last 200 trading days, used instead of a single day’s price.
Continuance: The lender’s confidence that the income will keep arriving.
Verification of Employment (VOE): A form or call in which the employer confirms your pay and status.
Reserves: Liquid funds left after closing, measured in months of the full payment.
What the Headline Jumbo Lanes Look Like
Jumbo lanes in the network cover a wide range. The headline lane works from a 660 decision score, with leverage up to 90% and loans up to $5,000,000. Fixed lanes carry a 50% ratio ceiling, while the adjustable lanes sit at 45% and the interest-only lanes at 43%. Cash-out is offered at lower leverage than purchase, and the largest lanes put a cap on cash taken out. Reserves and appraisals scale with the loan amount, and above a lane’s threshold amount, two appraisals are required. All of this is subject to lender guidelines and full file review, and none of it is a commitment to lend.
The ratio ceiling is where income documentation bites. Your qualifying income is the bottom half of that ratio. If a lender counts only part of your bonus and none of your unvested stock, the ratio rises and the cash you can take out shrinks.
You can read more about the program on Lendmire’s jumbo cash-out refinance program page.
How Bonus Income Gets Underwritten, Step by Step
The agency benchmark is the Fannie Mae Selling Guide section on bonus income. Fannie Mae restructured its income chapter in a March 2026 announcement and consolidated bonus treatment into one section. Older articles cite section numbers that no longer apply, so be wary of them.
Here is the sequence a lender follows.
1. Collect the proof of pay. The lender wants a completed employment verification form, or your most recent paystub plus two years of W-2s. A verbal check with the employer is also part of the file.
2. Establish the history. Two years of bonus receipt is the recommended history. A shorter record, down to 12 months, can be accepted when other strengths in the file offset it.
3. Identify the pattern. The lender looks at how often the bonus is paid, then compares year-to-date bonus pay against prior years.
4. Average it. If the bonus is stable or rising, the lender averages the year-to-date amount plus the prior year over the months covered. That monthly figure is what goes into your qualifying income.
5. Check the trend. A declining bonus is treated more conservatively than a stable one. Do not assume a down year gets averaged away.
6. Confirm continuance. The lender does not have to prove the bonus will continue unless something suggests it will not. A letter from the employer helps when the pay plan is unusual.
One point helps borrowers. Under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay guidance, a lender must verify income with reliable third-party records, but it does not have to verify income it does not rely on. If your bonus is thin or new, you can ask the lender to qualify you on base pay alone and leave the bonus out. Whether that leaves enough income is the real question.
How RSU Income Gets Underwritten
RSUs are stricter than bonuses. The Fannie Mae RSU guidance sets the benchmark.
Only vested shares count. Shares must have vested and been distributed to you without restrictions. An unvested grant on your compensation statement is not qualifying income. Sign-on awards paid as restricted stock that vests over time are not eligible either.
The lender documents the stock, not just the pay. The file typically needs:
- a verification of employment showing stock distributions, or a recent paystub showing RSU receipt plus two years of W-2s;
- evidence the company’s stock is publicly traded;
- the current vesting schedule, showing past and future vesting;
- the 200-day moving average share price, for income paid in shares;
- a brokerage or bank statement showing you received prior distributions.
History matters here too. Two years is the recommended history for performance-based awards, and 12 months or more can be accepted with offsetting strengths.
The calculation differs by how the award settles. Cash-settled RSUs use the pre-tax distributions averaged over the months received. Share-settled RSUs use total shares times the 200-day average price, spread over the months received. These formulas come from a mortgage insurer’s worksheet built on the agency guides. Treat it as an illustration and rely on the guides for authority.
The 200-day average is deliberate. A recent spike in the share price does not inflate your income, and a dip does not wipe it out.
Agencies and lenders can read vesting runway and averaging differently, so the same facts can produce different monthly income. A jumbo lender may follow Fannie Mae’s approach, another agency’s, or its own. Same paystubs, different coverage figure. Ask which method the lender is using before you assume a figure.
Assembling the File: What to Gather and Where It Comes From
A document checklist works best when you know the source. Each item is usually one request away.
| Document | What it proves | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Recent paystub | Current pay and YTD bonus or RSU | Payroll portal |
| Two years of W-2s | Bonus and RSU history | Payroll or HR portal |
| Employment verification form | Employer confirms pay | HR or payroll team |
| Vesting schedule | Past and future vests | Equity plan portal |
| Brokerage statements | Shares or cash actually received | Brokerage account |
| Award agreement | Grant type and terms | Equity plan portal |
| Proof of public trading | Stock is publicly traded | Exchange or company filings |
A common problem is a mismatch. Shares withheld for taxes, sell-to-cover transactions, and a vest that lands just before or after year-end can make the paystub, W-2, and brokerage statement look like they disagree. Line them up before the lender does. A short written note walking through each vest date and the matching deposit saves back-and-forth and a likely condition request.
Another common mismatch involves the employer name. A grant from an acquired company, or a payroll entity that differs from the name on your award, will draw questions.
A Combined Example, in Percentages and Plain Words
Picture a borrower with base pay, a bonus paid every year for the past two years, and RSUs that vest on a regular schedule at a public company. The lender treats the base pay as stable. It averages the bonus over the months covered. For RSUs, it counts only shares already vested and delivered, using the 200-day average price if the shares were held, or the cash distributions if they were sold at vest.
Now add a wrinkle. The borrower also has a large unvested grant. That grant adds nothing to qualifying income. The borrower asks for a cash-out near the top of the lane’s leverage. With the bonus and vested RSUs counted, the ratio fits under the 50% ceiling on a fixed lane. With the RSUs left out, it may not. That is the decision in practice: how much cash you want, and how much of your pay the lender will accept as stable.
Where the General Rule Breaks
Newly public employer. A 200-day average needs trading history. A company that recently went public may not have it yet, and RSU income may have to wait until the history requirement is met.
Private-company stock. The agency documentation list requires proof the stock is publicly traded. Private-company RSUs generally do not qualify under agency rules. A jumbo lender may treat them differently, so ask.
Sign-on RSUs. Restricted stock paid as a sign-on bonus that vests over time is not eligible under the Fannie Mae rule.
Job change. For performance-based awards, history is counted with your current employer. A shorter history may still work with a written analysis and strong offsetting factors, depending on the investor.
Short vesting runway. If your grant vests out in a year, expect questions about whether the income will continue.
Sell versus hold. Shares sold at vest are documented as cash distributions. Held shares use the share-price method. Brokerage statements are the proof either way.
Declining bonus. A shrinking bonus is not averaged like a stable one.
Can Unvested RSUs Count as Reserves?
No. Unvested shares cannot be counted as reserves. Vested shares you hold can be documented as assets, but do not count the same shares as both income and reserves without checking how the lender handles it. Reserves on the jumbo lanes are measured in months of the full payment and rise with the loan amount.
How the Cash-Out Itself Changes the Picture
A cash-out refinance replaces your whole mortgage with a new, larger one, and the new terms apply to the full balance. The Federal Reserve describes it as borrowing more than you owe and receiving the difference as cash, which leaves you owning less of your home. The CFPB’s home equity guide adds that the monthly payment and terms can change. A higher payment with lower qualifying income raises the ratio fast.
Fannie Mae’s cash-out rules generally call for the existing first mortgage to be at least 12 months old, with a delayed-financing exception for recent cash purchases. Jumbo lenders set their own seasoning. Occupancy also matters: leverage differs for primary homes, second homes, and investment properties, as the Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix shows for its own loans.
If you only need a smaller sum and want to keep your current first mortgage, a second lien is a different product. Compare both.
Mistakes That Cost Borrowers Income
- Counting the grant value on the offer letter as income.
- Assuming the lender uses the vest-day or today’s share price.
- Applying with only one bonus year and no explanation.
- Letting paystubs, W-2s, and brokerage statements disagree without a note.
- Applying months before a vest instead of after it, when the latest paystub and statement are fresh.
- Assuming the lender must accept your word on bonus size. It must verify.
Timing is practical advice, not a rule. A file built right after a vest has current paperwork behind it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do unvested RSUs count as income for a jumbo cash-out?
No. Only shares that have vested and been delivered to you, free of restrictions, are usable. An unvested grant adds nothing to qualifying income and cannot serve as reserves.
How long a history do I need for bonus income?
Two years is the recommended history under the agency benchmark. A shorter record, down to 12 months, can be accepted when other parts of the file offset it. Each jumbo lender sets its own standard.
Which share price does a lender use?
For share-settled RSUs, the agency method uses a 200-day moving average, not the vest-day price. That keeps a short-term spike or dip from distorting your income. Cash-settled RSUs use the actual distributions.
Can I leave my bonus out and qualify on base pay?
Often yes. A lender does not have to verify income it does not rely on. The question is whether base pay alone keeps your ratio under the ceiling, which is 50% on the fixed jumbo lanes.
Do jumbo lenders follow Fannie Mae’s rules?
Not automatically. The agency guides are a useful benchmark, and the lender’s guidelines control.
Next Step
If you are weighing a cash-out refinance against keeping the loan you have, Lendmire can help you compare the programs and the equity each one reaches. Tax treatment can depend on your situation; borrowers should speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction or credit.
For your own numbers, request a scenario review with Lendmire.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s jumbo loan programs page.
About Lendmire
Lendmire — NMLS# 2371349 — is a mortgage broker that arranges FHA, VA, conventional and jumbo home purchase and refinance financing in 16 states through wholesale lenders. Every option is subject to the lender’s guidelines and full underwriting. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. FHFA county loan limit file
2. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.3-02, Bonus Income
3. Fannie Mae announcement SEL-2026-02
4. CFPB Ability-to-Repay and QM Small Entity Compliance Guide
5. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.3-07, Restricted Stock Units
6. mgic.com: Magicminutes Rsu Tool
8. CFPB, Using Home Equity guide
9. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-1.3-03, Cash-out
10. Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix
This article is part of Lendmire’s Jumbo Loans series — every loan program’s qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the loan options page.
Related reading: Jumbo Cash-Out Cash-in-Hand Limits for Each Lane · How to Document Retirement and Brokerage Reserves for a Jumbo Cash-Out · Can You Get a Jumbo Cash-Out While a Divorce Is Pending?
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Required disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) operates as a licensed mortgage broker, not a direct lender or depository. The discussion in this article is general in nature and should not be relied upon as financial, legal, or tax advice — every investment scenario is unique and should be reviewed by a qualified professional. Any loan inquiry is subject to lender underwriting, and this article is not a commitment to lend or a guarantee of approval. Mortgage rates, loan terms, and program guidelines vary by borrower, property, and state, and may change without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. Verify licensure at NMLS Consumer Access.