The Quick Read: A jumbo lender counts RSU income only after the shares vest, and it turns that income into a monthly figure by averaging it, not by using your latest vest or today’s stock price. Most lenders borrow the method Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use. Because jumbo loans are not sold to those agencies, each lender can follow it, tighten it, or replace it. The result: the same package can qualify at one lender and shrink at another.
Key Takeaways
- Only vested, distributed shares count as income. Unvested grants do not.
- The lender averages your vesting over up to 24 months, using an averaged share price.
- A short history, a one-time award, or a job change can make the income disappear from the file.
- Jumbo lenders set their own rules, so lender choice can change eligibility, not just pricing.
- If the stock income does not count, vested shares may still help as assets or reserves.
What Does “Counting RSU Income” Mean?
Counting RSU income means the lender converts your stock pay into a steady monthly number it can add to your salary. That number sets how large a payment the lender will approve.
Jumbo payment estimate
The starting figures are an example price in the jumbo range with ten percent down on a thirty-year fixed. Replace them with yours.
Editable benchmark: 7.40% as of October 15, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not a jumbo loan quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $1,000,000 price in the jumbo range, ten percent down on the top-leverage lane, a thirty-year fixed structure at the current Freddie Mac conforming benchmark, and property taxes and insurance estimated at typical national rates. Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conforming benchmark, a market reference and not a jumbo loan quote; jumbo rates are set by the lender and the lane at lock and differ from the conforming benchmark. An adjustable-rate scenario is shown at the benchmark for the whole term; the rate after the initial period is unknown. Reserve months and appraisal counts follow the lane sheet for the amount band; the automated finding may require more. Taxes, insurance and dues are editable estimates; closing costs are not included. On most lanes the conforming limit for the county decides whether a loan is jumbo at all; two lanes start at a stated dollar floor instead. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages.
A restricted stock unit (RSU) is a promise of company shares that arrive on a vesting schedule. “Vested” means the shares are yours. “Distributed” means they landed in your brokerage account. Your offer letter might show a large grant value. The lender does not care about the headline. It cares about what actually vested, was delivered, and is likely to keep coming.
A jumbo loan is any mortgage above the county’s conforming limit, which the FHFA sets every year (FHFA conforming loan limits). Limits vary by county and by number of units. Lendmire arranges jumbo loan programs through wholesale lenders for loans in that range.
Across the wholesale jumbo programs Lendmire places files with, the envelope is wide: a 660 decision score on the headline lane, leverage up to 90%, loans up to $5,000,000, and a 50% ratio ceiling on the fixed lanes. Every figure is subject to lender guidelines and full file review. Nothing here is a commitment to lend.
What Does the Lender Check First?
The lender checks, in order, whether the shares have vested, whether the stock is public, how long your history runs, and whether the income will continue. Fail an early gate and the later ones never matter.
Here is the sequence a jumbo underwriter typically walks:
1. Vested and distributed? Under the Fannie Mae Selling Guide, restricted stock must have vested and been distributed to you without restrictions. Unvested units do not count. A sign-on bonus paid in restricted stock that vests over any length of time is not eligible either.
2. Publicly traded? The lender must document that your employer’s stock trades publicly. Pre-IPO equity is a different conversation, covered below.
3. Time-based or performance-based? Freddie Mac defines the two types separately in Bulletin 2024-16. Time-based awards vest on a calendar. Performance-based awards vest when targets are hit.
4. How long is the history? Fannie Mae recommends a two-year history for performance-based awards. A shorter history of at least 12 months can work with offsetting factors. Freddie Mac’s matching rules call for a two-year consecutive history, with one to two years sometimes acceptable.
5. Will it continue? For time-based awards, the vesting schedule must show income continuing at least three years from your application date. For recurring awards, continuance is generally not questioned unless something gives the lender reason to doubt it.
That order matters because most surprises happen at step one or four. Borrowers assume a big grant counts. The lender sees only what has already hit the brokerage account.
How Does the Lender Build the Monthly Figure?
The lender totals your pre-tax vested shares over the most recent 24 months, multiplies by an averaged share price, and divides by 24. The price is not today’s price, and it is not the price on vest day.
For income paid in shares, the agency formula is the 200-day moving average share price times total pre-tax vested shares distributed in the last 24 months, divided by 24. For income paid in cash, the lender adds the pre-tax cash from vested shares over the same 24 months and divides by 24.
Short history changes the divisor. With 12 to 24 months of history, the lender may divide by the actual number of months you received the income. Freddie Mac also allows a shorter window, not under 12 months, with a written analysis and compensating factors.
Freddie Mac used to average the stock price over 52 weeks. Bulletin 2024-16 replaced that with a 200-day simple moving average. Older blogs still quote the 52-week version. Skip them.
One more history note: Fannie Mae only began accepting RSUs and restricted stock as income for loans starting March 1, 2024, per Announcement SEL-2023-11. Before that, restricted stock was not eligible. If a friend was turned down years ago, that may be why.
A Stock-Heavy Example (No Dollars, Just Shape)
Picture a borrower whose salary is modest next to a large RSU grant. Say the grants have grown each year. The lender averages 24 months of vesting, so the qualifying figure lands below the most recent year’s vest. Now picture the opposite: grants that shrank. Averaging pushes the figure above the latest year. Same borrower, same company, different outcome depending on which direction the grants moved.
Add a falling stock. A dropping 200-day average pulls the qualifying income down even if the share count holds steady. No agency rule sets a “haircut” amount, so any extra discount is the lender’s call.
Why Do Lenders Value the Same Stock Differently?
Lenders differ because the agency method is a template, not a mandate on jumbo loans. Some follow it. Some are stricter. Some use a discounted current price instead of an average.
| Valuation approach | What it rewards | Where it can hurt you |
|---|---|---|
| 200-day average (agency method) | Steady stock, steady vesting | A falling stock drags it down |
| Discounted current price (some lenders) | A recent rally | A dip in price right before application |
| Vest-day value (seen in some blogs) | Strong vest-day prices | Not the agency method; do not count on it |
Treat the last row with caution. The Fannie Mae method for share-paid income uses the averaged price, so a lender quoting vest-day value is applying its own rule, not the agency’s.
The practical point: ask any lender up front which price basis it uses. That one answer can move your qualifying income more than almost anything else on the file.
When RSUs Dominate Your Package
When stock is most of your pay, the file leans on the part lenders trust least. Expect more questions, more documents, and a closer look at the averaged figure.
Practitioners report that some jumbo and portfolio lenders cap how much of your total qualifying income can come from RSUs. That is an overlay a lender adds, not a federal rule, and it varies. A cap means part of your stock income might not count even when it passes every agency test.
Here is what tends to strengthen a stock-heavy file:
- Forward vesting at least as large as past vesting. This is a standard offsetting factor for a short history.
- A prior-employer history. The history must come from your current employer, so a job change resets the clock. A prior record can help as a compensating factor.
- Reserves. Reserves are the cash and liquid assets left after closing, measured in months of the full payment. On jumbo lanes they rise with the loan amount. Vested shares you hold may help here, often at a discount for volatility.
- Clean documents. More on that next.
From the broker’s chair, the pattern is consistent. Files with heavy stock pay rarely fail on the math. They stall on paperwork that does not match: a vesting schedule that shows grants, a paystub that shows withholding, and a brokerage statement that shows a different share count. Lining those up before applying prevents most of the friction.
What Documents Prove Your RSU Income?
You need paperwork showing the grant, the vests, and the deposits. Each document answers a different underwriting question.
| Document | What it proves |
|---|---|
| Verification of employment (Form 1005) or recent paystub | Stock distributions actually reached you |
| Two years of W-2s | Reported pre-tax stock income |
| Current vesting schedule | Past and future vesting |
| Evidence the stock is public | Publicly traded status |
| 200-day average stock price | The price used for share-paid income |
| Brokerage or bank statement | Prior-year distribution landed |
Fannie Mae also requires a verbal verification of employment. Freddie Mac asks for documentation that vesting is time-based, such as the award agreement or offer letter. Missing paperwork can hold up approval, so gather it early.
Where the General Rule Breaks
The agency method is a starting point. These edge cases are where jumbo files often turn.
Unvested RSUs. They do not count as income under the agency method. Some lenders treat vested or held shares as assets instead, usually at a discount for volatility and liquidity risk.
Pre-IPO or recently listed stock. The agency method requires publicly traded stock. Practitioners describe lenders declining equity that has not been public for a full year. Treat that as lender-specific.
Job changes. History must come from the current employer. A move resets it, and the shorter history needs a written analysis and compensating factors.
Asset-depletion style qualification. This is a separate path from RSU income. The lender divides eligible assets over a set number of months, and the divisor is not standardized across programs.
Second homes and rentals. RSU income is not generally treated differently by occupancy. Occupancy mainly changes leverage, reserves, and pricing, and the jumbo lanes set leverage by occupancy.
Other loan types. FHA and VA have their own handbooks. This article covers conventional and jumbo only.
What Is the Rule Behind All This?
Federal law requires lenders to make a reasonable, good-faith determination, based on verified and documented information, that you can repay. The CFPB’s small-entity compliance guide explains that a lender generally cannot rely on what you say about your income. It must use reasonably reliable third-party records such as W-2s or payroll records.
The rule requires verified income. It does not say how to value an RSU grant. That gap is why the agency guides matter, and why jumbo lenders can fill it differently.
What Does the Decision Look Like for You?
Your decision comes down to four moves: estimate a conservative number, pick lenders that fit your package, decide how to use shares you hold, and plan a fallback.
1. Estimate conservatively. Add your pre-tax vested shares from the last 24 months. Use an averaged price, not today’s. Divide by 24. If your history is shorter than 24 months, expect the divisor to shrink to the months you have, subject to lender review.
2. Ask lenders which method they follow. Ask about the price basis, any cap on stock as a share of income, and how they treat a short history.
3. Hold your shares until you ask. If a lender counts those shares as income, selling them may change both your income and your reserves. Confirm with your loan officer first. This is a practical inference from the guidelines, not a stated rule.
4. Plan a fallback. If stock income does not count, you may qualify on salary alone, or use vested shares as assets, or look at a different lender lane.
A short history or a one-time award can mean RSU income does not count at all. Better to learn that before you write an offer than after.
Tax treatment can depend on your situation; borrowers should speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction or credit.
Key Terms Defined
RSU (restricted stock unit): A promise of company shares that arrive on a vesting schedule.
Vested: The shares have become yours under the grant terms.
Distributed: The vested shares have been delivered to your brokerage account.
200-day moving average: The average of a stock’s price over its last 200 trading days, used to smooth out swings.
Conforming limit: The maximum loan size Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will buy in a given county. Loans above it are jumbo. Terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, the leverage, and a full review of the credit profile.
Reserves: Liquid assets left after closing, measured in months of the full payment.
Continuance: The lender’s test of whether the income will likely keep arriving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do unvested RSUs count toward my mortgage income?
Generally no. Under the agency method, shares must have vested and been distributed before they count. Some lenders look at vested shares you hold as assets or reserves instead, often at a discount for volatility. Unvested grants may still help the lender see that future vesting supports a short history.
Does my stock price today set my qualifying income?
No. The agency method uses a 200-day moving average for share-paid income, divided over 24 months. Some jumbo lenders use their own price basis, such as a discounted current price, so ask which one applies.
Can I qualify if I recently changed jobs?
Possibly, but the history resets. RSU history must come from your current employer. A shorter history, at least 12 months, can work with a written analysis and compensating factors, such as future vesting at least as large as past vesting or a prior-employer record.
Do I have to sell my shares to buy a home?
Not necessarily. But if the lender counts those shares as income, selling them can change both income and reserves. Talk to your loan officer before selling.
Does a jumbo loan have looser rules for stock pay?
Not automatically. Jumbo lenders set their own rules. Some follow the agency method and some are stricter, and federal law still requires verified income.
If you are buying a home and want to see whether a jumbo loan fits your file, Lendmire can help you compare the options and what each one asks of the file.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage brokerage serving homeowners and home buyers in 16 states. FHA, VA, conventional and jumbo purchase and refinance loans are arranged through wholesale lending channels; Lendmire brokers the financing and the lender underwrites each application. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. FHFA conforming loan limit data
2. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.3-07
3. Freddie Mac Guide Bulletin 2024-16
4. Fannie Mae Announcement SEL-2023-11
5. CFPB ATR/QM Small Entity Compliance Guide
This article is part of Lendmire’s jumbo loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: How to Qualify for a Jumbo Loan for Qualifying on Assets Instead of Income · How Jumbo Loan Contract Income Rules Work for a New Physician With Student Loans · How to Remove a Co-Borrower From a Jumbo Loan on W-2 Income
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Disclosures. The information presented in this article is general market commentary, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage (NMLS# 2371349) — not a direct lender or depository institution — and loan placement is subject to lender underwriting. Nothing in this content represents a commitment to lend. Loan terms, pricing, and program availability vary based on borrower qualifications, property characteristics, and state of subject property, and are subject to change at any time. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity requirements. Consumer access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.