The Quick Read: RSU income can support a jumbo loan on a condo or co-op, but only the part that has vested, shows a track record, and can be proven with paper. The building also has to pass its own review, separate from your income. Rules differ by lender, so treat the details below as the common pattern, not a promise.
Why Does a Condo or Co-Op Jumbo File Get Two Reviews?
A condo or co-op jumbo file gets two reviews: one of you and one of the building. Your income, credit, and reserves answer the first. The project’s finances, legal status, and appraisal answer the second. A strong borrower can still be stopped by a weak building.
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 jumbo loan is a mortgage above the county’s conforming limit, so Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not buy it. Asurity describes jumbo loans as falling outside the agency framework. You can check your county’s limit on the FHFA conforming loan limit page.
Here is the catch. No single rule book says how every jumbo lender must treat RSUs. Most lenders borrow the agency approach, and some add their own conditions. Across the wholesale programs Lendmire arranges files through, the pattern holds: the lender wants vested shares, a clear history, and documents that agree with each other.
Lendmire’s jumbo loan programs are built for this kind of file. The headline lane starts at a 660 decision score and reaches 90% leverage, with loans up to $5,000,000 on the largest lanes. Each lane sets its own reserves, ratio ceiling, and appraisal rules, all subject to lender guidelines and full file review.
What Counts as RSU Income (and What Doesn’t)?
Only RSUs that have vested and been delivered to you count. A restricted stock unit is a promise of company shares that you receive over time. Until the shares vest, meaning the waiting conditions are met, you cannot touch them. A lender cannot treat a promise as income.
Fannie Mae added this explicitly: the stock must have vested and been distributed to the borrower without restrictions. Freddie Mac’s bulletin on restricted stock makes the same point. Recipients cannot access granted shares during the restriction period.
Three quick sorting questions:
- Is the grant time-based or performance-based? Time-based awards vest on a schedule tied to staying employed. Performance-based awards depend on personal or company results.
- Has it vested and landed in your account? A grant letter alone does not count.
- Is your employer’s stock publicly traded? Fannie Mae asks for evidence of public trading. RSUs from a private company generally cannot be counted under that approach. A jumbo lender may decide differently.
You do not have to sell the shares for them to count. Under the agency approach, the test is vesting and delivery, not whether you sold. Selling or holding matters separately when the lender looks at assets for cash to close or reserves.
Why can you simply leave unvested RSUs out? A lender must verify the income it relies on, but not income it does not rely on. The CFPB’s compliance guide says so. Leaving them out causes no problem. It just lowers your qualifying income.
How Do Lenders Read Your RSU History?
Lenders want a record of receiving the shares, and the length depends on the award type. Time-based awards usually need about a year of history. Performance-based awards usually need about two. Less history often means the RSUs get dropped from qualifying income.
These figures come from mortgage-insurer training material that interprets the Fannie Mae guide, so treat them as secondary. MGIC’s RSU tool stops the analysis for time-based awards with under 12 months of history. For performance-based awards it stops under 24 months, with 12 to 24 months considered only by exception. Radian’s job aid allows 12 to 24 months with positive offsetting factors.
Freddie Mac’s stability rule adds another layer. Its guide expects income to continue, and it treats declining or short-remaining income with caution. In practice, a vesting schedule that ends soon can shrink the income a lender counts, or erase it.
Then comes continuance, meaning proof the income will last. Under Fannie Mae’s RSU section, a one-time award needs a schedule showing income continuing at least three years from the application. Recurring and performance-based awards generally need no extra proof unless the lender has a reason to doubt them.
Fannie Mae reorganized its income chapter in SEL-2026-02, so older articles cite an outdated section number. The substance matters more than the numbering.
How Is RSU Income Calculated?
The usual method averages what vested over time and values the shares at a moving-average price. It does not use your latest big vest. A lender averages the distributions and prices the shares using the 200-day moving average stock price, per the Fannie Mae section above.
That means your qualifying income can come in lower than a recent vest suggests. A share price swing between vests changes the result too. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can also produce different monthly figures from identical facts.
Some lenders use a cash-distribution approach instead. They take the pre-tax value distributed from vested shares over the past year and divide by 12. A jumbo lender can pick any of these. Ask early which method your file will use.
What Documents Do You Need?
Expect to prove four things: the award terms, the vesting record, receipt of the shares, and your current employment. The Fannie Mae section lists the standard items. Jumbo lenders often ask for the same set, sometimes more.
| Document | What it proves | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| RSU or award agreement | Grant terms and type | Employer or equity portal |
| Vesting schedule | Past and future vesting | Equity portal |
| Recent paystub plus two years of W-2s | Stock income reported through payroll | Employer |
| Brokerage statements | Shares actually landed | Your brokerage |
| Evidence of public trading | Stock has a market price | Public listing |
| Verbal verification of employment | You still work there | Lender calls employer |
Fannie Mae’s alternative to the paystub-and-W-2 pair is a completed Request for Verification of Employment (Form 1005) showing the restricted-stock distributions. Your equity portal may be Fidelity, Schwab, E*Trade, or Carta. Download the schedule and the vest history before you apply.
Common snags are predictable. A W-2 total that doesn’t match the paystub confuses the file. A missing vest record leaves a gap. An employer that won’t confirm future vesting weakens the continuance case. A short written explanation, attached early, fixes many of these.
What Does the Building Have to Prove?
The building must meet project standards on its own. Fannie Mae requires condo, co-op, and PUD projects to meet its project standards. Many jumbo lenders run their own project review, so expect a questionnaire for the management company.
| Review item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Owner-occupancy mix | Heavy investor ownership raises risk |
| HOA budget and reserves | Thin reserves can mean special assessments |
| Litigation | Lawsuits can drain reserves |
| Critical repairs | Unfinished safety work can fail review |
| Commercial space | Fannie Mae caps it at 35% |
| Project type | Timeshare and fractional projects are ineligible there |
For condo units, the appraisal uses a condominium form (Fannie Mae lists Form 1073). Co-op interests use a different form (Form 2090), per the Fannie Mae forms page. Across the lanes Lendmire works with, two appraisals are required above a lane’s threshold amount. Two lanes also take non-warrantable condominiums, which are condos that fail standard agency project rules.
How Is a Co-Op Different?
A co-op loan finances shares in a corporation, not a deed to a unit. That changes who can lend and who must approve. Fannie Mae says lenders need special approval to deliver co-op share loans, so the lender pool is narrower. Under Fannie Mae’s co-op project eligibility rules, the project must also qualify as a cooperative housing corporation under federal tax law. That is a pointer only, not a tax topic.
Then there is the board. Many co-op boards set their own financial review, often covering down payment and cash left after closing. Those standards are separate from the lender’s. You may submit two packages with two sets of rules.
Here is where RSU buyers get tripped up. The board may look at your total wealth, including unvested stock, while the lender counts only vested and documented income. Both views can be legitimate. Keep the two packages consistent, and don’t assume one approval carries the other.
How Do HOA Dues Change the Income You Need?
Monthly dues or maintenance get added to your housing costs, so they raise the income you need. Lenders compute your debt-to-income ratio, or DTI, which compares monthly obligations to monthly income. Dues sit in that housing total alongside principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.
On the fixed jumbo lanes Lendmire works with, the ratio ceiling is 50%. It is 45% on the adjustable lanes and 43% on the interest-only lanes, all subject to lender guidelines. A building with high dues or a special assessment pushes your ratio up. That can matter more than the price of the unit.
What Does a Worked Example Look Like?
Picture a buyer in a co-op who earns a base salary and receives time-based RSUs from a public employer. This is a made-up illustration, with no dollar figures.
- Base pay: carries the file on its own at a moderate ratio.
- RSU history: more than a year of vesting, shown on the equity portal and on brokerage statements.
- Calculation: the lender averages the vested distributions and prices the shares at the moving average.
- Result: the averaged RSU income is lower than the buyer’s best recent vest.
- Building: the co-op passes review, but its maintenance is high, so the ratio rises.
The buyer qualifies only if the combined income still fits under the lane’s ratio ceiling. If the buyer had only seven months of vesting, the lender would likely drop the RSUs. Base pay would then have to carry the ratio alone. That is the decision in practice: does the file work with RSUs, or without them?
What Order Should You Do Things In?
Start with the paper, not the offer. Pull equity records first, because those take the most effort to untangle.
1. Download the award agreement, the vesting schedule, and the vest history.
2. Gather two years of W-2s, a current paystub, and brokerage statements showing deposits.
3. Check your county’s conforming limit to confirm the loan is jumbo.
4. Ask the lender how it counts RSUs and whether it applies an overlay.
5. For a condo, request the project questionnaire early. For a co-op, ask about the board package.
6. Hold off on big moves, like selling shares you’ll need to show as assets, until you’ve confirmed how they’re counted.
Collecting documents early helps because the building review and employment verification add steps of their own.
What If the Standard Path Doesn’t Fit?
You have options, with trade-offs. If your RSU history is too short, base pay alone may carry the file at a lower loan amount. If the building is non-warrantable, a lane that accepts non-warrantable condominiums may apply, with lane-specific leverage. Occupancy matters too: primary, second-home, and investment use each carry their own leverage, so say how you’ll use the home. Non-QM lenders must still make a reasonable ability-to-repay decision, so thin documentation isn’t a free pass.
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 you receive after meeting vesting conditions.
Vesting: The point when you earn the right to the shares and can take delivery.
DTI (debt-to-income ratio): Your monthly debts divided by your monthly income.
Warrantable condo: A condo project that meets standard agency rules for owner-occupancy, finances, and legal status.
Continuance: Proof that income will likely keep coming.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do unvested RSUs count toward qualifying?
No, not under the agency approach most lenders follow. Only shares that have vested and been delivered count. Unvested grants can still matter in showing your overall financial picture, such as to a co-op board.
Do I have to sell my shares for them to count?
No. The test is vesting and delivery, not sale. Selling matters only when you need those funds for cash to close or reserves, which is a separate review.
What if I just started a new job?
Usually the RSUs get left out when history is under about a year. Base salary then has to carry your ratio. Some lenders look at a refresh grant or offsetting strengths, so ask before assuming.
Does a co-op treat RSUs differently from a condo?
The lender’s income rules are the same. The difference is the board, which may apply its own financial review, and a narrower pool of lenders who make co-op share loans.
What if my building is non-warrantable?
Many lenders will decline it. Some lanes accept non-warrantable condominiums, usually with lane-specific leverage and added conditions, all subject to lender guidelines and full file review.
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. You can request a scenario review with Lendmire.
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. Asurity
2. FHFA conforming loan limit page
4. Freddie Mac Guide Bulletin (RS/RSU)
5. CFPB ATR/QM compliance guide
8. Freddie Mac Guide 5303.1: Employed income
9. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.3-07: RSU income
11. Fannie Mae B2-3-01 General Property Eligibility
12. Fannie Mae B4-2.1-03: Ineligible projects
14. Fannie Mae B4-2.1-01 General Information on Project Standards
15. Fannie Mae B4-2.3-02: Co-op project eligibility
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 on Assets Instead of Income · How to Get a Jumbo Loan Using Retirement Accounts and No Paycheck · How to Remove a Co-Borrower From a Jumbo Loan on W-2 Income
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
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Legal disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage that arranges financing through wholesale lender relationships. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or registered financial advisor. The discussion above is general informational content about real estate financing — it is not financial, legal, or tax advice, and readers should consult licensed professionals for guidance on their individual circumstances. Loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not represent a commitment to lend. Loan terms, rates, and qualification standards vary by borrower, property, and state, and are subject to change at any time. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.