The Quick Read: Usually yes, but only on cash that has already landed in your accounts. Lenders review your file on deposits, verified liquid assets, or property cash flow, and never on what your company stake might be worth later. Everything below is available through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting. This is not a commitment to lend.
- Paper equity, unvested shares, and a signed term sheet do not count as income or assets.
- Salary, draws, and distributions you actually pay yourself can qualify as bank statement deposits.
- Verified liquid savings, or proceeds already sitting in a brokerage account, can qualify through asset paths.
- Above $4,000,000, every file is reviewed case by case before submission.
- For a rental purchase, a DSCR loan may fit better than a personal-income loan.
Why Doesn’t My Company Valuation Count?
Your valuation is a number on a cap table. A lender cannot deposit it, sell it, or pay a mortgage with it. Until shares can be sold and the cash sits in an account you control, they are invisible to underwriting.
Brokers see founders make the same mistake again and again. They treat a high valuation, a committed funding round, or a signed term sheet as proof of wealth. Underwriters read each of those as a promise, not an asset.
Unvested options and restricted stock units (RSUs, which are company shares granted on a vesting schedule) are excluded the same way. Many RSUs are “double-trigger,” meaning they need both time vesting and a liquidity event before you owe or own anything, as Brex explains. Shares under a lockup, which is a period when you are barred from selling, sit on the wrong side of that line too.
Here is what changes the picture. Cash you pay yourself counts. Savings from earlier years count. Proceeds from a tender offer or secondary sale count once they are in your account and documented.
Key Terms Defined
Bank statement loan: a mortgage that is reviewed around deposits in 12 or 24 months of personal or business bank statements instead of traditional personal-income documentation.
Super jumbo: a loan large enough to trigger extra lender rules, usually starting around $3,500,000 on a primary residence and $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property.
Expense ratio: the share of business deposits the lender treats as operating costs and subtracts before it counts income.
Reserves: liquid personal money left over after closing, measured in months of housing payments.
Overlay: an extra rule a lender adds on top of its base program, often for larger loans.
Liquidity event: a sale, IPO, or secondary sale that turns company shares into cash.
Which Paths Can a Founder Use Before the Exit?
Five paths can work for a pre-exit founder, and some files combine them. Four are personal-income paths for a home you will live in. The fifth, DSCR, applies only to a rental. The right one depends on how you pay yourself, what liquid money you already hold, and what you are buying.
| Path | What the lender reads | Best fit | Main limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank statements | Deposits after an expense ratio | Founder paying self regularly | Thin pay means thin income |
| P&L method | Profit-and-loss statement | Clean books, accountant support | Income capped at 80% |
| Asset allowance | Liquid assets divided by months | Prior-sale cash or savings | Illiquid equity excluded |
| Assets only | Liquidity vs. loan amount | Large verified liquid balance | Must cover loan plus costs |
| DSCR (rental only) | Rent against the property’s payment | Founder buying an investment property | Not for a primary home |
A founder on a small salary often does better combining paths than leaning on one. A small salary plus a large verified savings balance can be a workable file when either alone is not.
How Is Deposit-Based Income Actually Read?
The lender takes eligible deposits, removes the noise, applies an expense ratio, and divides by the number of statement months. Scotsman Guide’s coverage of non-QM lending describes the same basic setup: a self-employed borrower supplies 12 to 24 months of statements. The walkthrough runs like this.
1. Pick the statement window. Most programs in the network use 12 or 24 consecutive months. The bank portfolio program, a bank-run jumbo program that carries large files to $30,000,000, uses 12. Statements must be consecutive, and a transaction history does not substitute for them.
2. Strip out what is not income. Transfers between your own accounts, loan proceeds, gifts, bridge notes, and investor money are removed. Founders get hit here because company wires and fundraising cash look like deposits and are not earnings.
3. Apply the expense ratio. On business statements, programs in the network use fixed ratios of 20% for a service business with no employees, 40% for one to five employees, and 50% for six or more employees or any product business. An accountant-provided ratio can replace the fixed one. Business statements require at least 25% ownership.
4. Average over the months. What remains, divided by the statement months, is your qualifying income.
5. Test the rest. Debt-to-income can run up to 50%, and credit and reserves follow the loan size.
Here is a modeled example, using assumptions rather than market data. Say your company has three employees, so the 40% ratio applies, and 60% of eligible business deposits counts as income. Now say you also move your pay from the company into a personal account. Transfers from the borrower’s own business into a personal account count at 100% on personal statements. The same pay can be worth more on the personal path, which is why the choice of statements matters.
Mixed accounts cause trouble. If personal and business money sit in the same account, the lender has to untangle them, and unclear deposits get excluded. Separate them well before you apply.
What Changes at Super Jumbo Sizes?
Loan size drives everything: leverage steps down, credit expectations rise, and review gets stricter. Loans run from $300,000 to $30,000,000 through two wholesale programs. A portfolio non-QM program carries files to $6,000,000. The bank portfolio program carries twelve-month-statement files to $30,000,000 and begins above $4,000,000, overlapping the first program to $6,000,000.
This table shows the best available purchase leverage on a primary residence, through select wholesale programs and subject to full underwriting. Credit is the score that leverage level needs, not a program floor.
| Loan size | Best purchase LTV | Credit for this leverage | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| To $1M | 90% | 680+ | Portfolio |
| $1M–$2M | 85% | 700+ to $1.5M, 720+ above | Portfolio |
| $2M–$3M | 80% | 720+ | Portfolio |
| $3M–$4M | 75% | 720+ to $3.5M, 760+ above | Portfolio |
| $4M–$5M | 65%, on review | 680+ | Bank portfolio |
| $5M–$10M | 60%, on review | 680+ | Bank portfolio |
| $10M–$30M | 55%, on review | 680+ | Bank portfolio |
Second homes and investment property use their own ladders. Their purchase ceilings equal the primary-home figure in some bands and sit as much as 15 points under it in others. An investment property purchase tops out at 85% to $1,000,000 with 700+ credit, for example. Take every figure from the occupancy’s own ladder, never by subtracting from the primary figure.
The portfolio program’s credit floor is 660 up to the super-jumbo line and 700 above it. The bank portfolio program keeps its own 680 floor at every size, so the 680+ in the table’s bank rows is that program’s floor, not an exception to the 700 rule. A lower score does not end the conversation. It moves you to a lower leverage cell in the same band.
Above $3,500,000 on a primary residence, and $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property, extra overlays apply on the portfolio program. They include a 700 credit floor, a clean housing payment history, 48 months of seasoning after any credit event, and U.S. citizen or permanent resident status. They also bar non-occupant co-borrowers and rural property, and cash-out proceeds cannot satisfy reserves.
The comparison across lenders is where a broker earns the fee. Most programs in the network handle the middle of this ladder similarly. The strictest overlays show up at the top, and a few lenders will look harder at founder files than others.
Where Can Your Reserves Come From?
Reserves have to be personal, verified, and yours. Company cash is not your cash, even when you own the company. Programs in the network typically ask for 3 months of reserves to $500,000, 6 months to $1,500,000, and 9 months above that. Each additional financed property adds 2 months, to a 12-month maximum, and first-time investors need 12 months.
| Source | Counts as reserves? |
|---|---|
| Personal checking or savings | Yes, with statements |
| Brokerage account with sale proceeds | Yes, once settled and sourced |
| Retirement accounts | Yes, at 70% (80% at 59.5+) |
| Company operating cash | No |
| Unvested or locked-up shares | No |
| Gifts, crypto, non-revocable trusts | No |
Vested RSUs are treated as wage income, so the cash you can count may be smaller than the headline value; tax treatment varies, so consult a qualified professional.
Asset-based paths use the same liquid money differently. An asset allowance divides liquid assets by 36, 60, or 84 months to create income. The 84-month divisor applies to standalone files and any loan above $3,500,000. Those paths are for primary and second homes, at 80% leverage at most. An assets-only file needs no debt-to-income test when U.S. liquid assets equal the loan plus closing costs. Each figure is subject to lender guidelines and a complete review of property type, leverage, and credit.
Timing: Before, During, and After the Deal
The best moment to apply depends on where the deal sits, and that is where founders lose the most ground. This timeline shows what a lender tends to see at each stage.
| Stage | What the lender sees | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Fundraising | Pay and deposits only | Pay yourself consistently |
| Term sheet signed | Nothing new to underwrite | Do not count on it |
| Lockup running | Shares still excluded | Apply on deposits or savings |
| Tender or sale done | Cash in your account | Source it, then use asset paths |
| After acquisition | Income may change | Disclose and re-verify |
If you have a signed letter of intent and apply now, expect the lender to ask what changes if the deal closes mid-file. Disclose it. A pending sale can change your employment, your ownership, or your liquid balance before closing, and a surprise on any of those can stall a file. Most programs re-check these items near the end.
Post-exit is a different story. Once proceeds are verified, you become an asset-allowance candidate with no new income to season. Waiting for liquid money can unlock a bigger loan than applying early on a thin salary.
For a related look at the other side of the exit, read Lendmire’s piece on whether a post-exit founder can build with a super jumbo bank statement loan.
What About Equity-Backed Credit and Cash-Out?
Borrowing against vested shares or taking a secondary sale are liquidity tools, not mortgages. They generate cash, which can then become documented assets. A mortgage lender will not accept the share value as collateral for a home loan.
If you already own property, cash-out is another route, with limits. On the portfolio program, cash-out is unlimited at or below 60% LTV, with a $1,500,000 cash-in-hand cap above 60%. Cash-out leverage on a primary residence tops out at 80% for loans to $1,500,000 and steps down from there. At the largest sizes, cash-out proceeds cannot count toward reserves. Leverage, reserves, and pricing vary by lender and program; the final terms follow the full file review.
Buying a Rental? A Different Test Applies
A founder buying a rental does not have to use personal income at all. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties. Because they are business-purpose investor loans, they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. Compliance Alliance notes that not every investment property is treated the same way, since occupancy, loan purpose, and unit count all matter.
A DSCR loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Your personal debts stay out of that calculation, and so does the stock you hold. Select lenders in the network offer programs below 1.00 coverage, though leverage and terms adjust.
The tradeoff is size and use. DSCR works for rentals, not your own home. Bank statements, by contrast, count your other debts in the debt-to-income test. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide covers the mechanics.
Where Founder Files Go Wrong
Four problems come up most often.
Treating non-QM as no paperwork. Non-QM means the loan does not fit agency rules. It still is reviewed on documented income under the applicable program, subject to lender guidelines. The CFPB’s small-entity compliance guide says a lender must consider eight factors, including income or assets, debts, and credit history, and verify what it relies on with reliable third-party records. Bank statements are acceptable records.
Mixed accounts. Company wires, bridge notes, and personal deposits land in one account, and the lender has to guess. Unclear deposits get dropped.
Counting what does not count. Business funds, unvested stock, and gifts never satisfy asset tests.
Skipping disclosure. A pending deal that surfaces late can reset the file.
Which Path Fits Your Situation?
| Founder situation | Likely best path | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Regular salary or draws | Bank statements | Separate accounts, 12 months |
| Distributions, no salary | Bank statements, 25%+ owner | Show consistent transfers |
| Equity only, no pay | Not yet | Build deposits or wait for sale |
| Prior-sale savings | Asset allowance | Document the source |
| Signed deal, cash not in | Wait or use pay | Disclose, plan post-close |
| Buying a rental | DSCR | Run the rent coverage |
The “not yet” row deserves honesty. If your only wealth is equity, a super jumbo bank statement file will not work today. A few months of consistent pay, or a completed secondary sale, can change that.
Pre-Application Checklist
- Twelve or 24 months of consecutive statements, with business and personal accounts separated.
- Proof of your ownership percentage for business statements.
- Source documents for any large deposit, such as a proceeds statement.
- A list of every financed property, since each one adds to reserves.
- A plain summary of any pending sale, LOI, or term sheet.
- Credit pulled and reviewed in advance, since score decides the leverage cell.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can unvested stock or options ever count?
Not through the programs in the network. Unvested, unexercised, and locked-up shares are excluded until they can be sold. Once you sell and the cash is documented, it can count as assets.
Does a signed term sheet or committed round help my file?
No. Lenders review the file on what has happened, not what is promised. A term sheet is worth disclosing, but it adds no income or assets until money moves.
Do I need to disclose a pending acquisition?
Yes. A deal that changes your ownership, employment, or liquid assets can affect the file, and lenders re-check before closing. Disclosing early lets your broker structure around it.
Can I use business statements if I own part of the company?
Typically yes, if you own at least 25%. The lender applies an expense ratio of 20%, 40%, or 50% based on the business, or accepts an accountant-provided ratio. Personal statements work too, and transfers from your own business count at 100%.
Is the loan available in my state?
Consumer mortgage lending through Lendmire is licensed in 16 states: AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, IN, MI, MT, NM, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WA. Programs change, every file is underwritten individually, and nothing here is a commitment to lend.
Next Step
Call 828-256-2183 or request a quote.
If you are financing a high-balance property on business or personal bank statements and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare super jumbo bank statement loan options based on your deposits, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals.
Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page presents both super jumbo programs, bank statement and DSCR, side by side.
About Lendmire
As a mortgage broker, Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) helps self-employed and high-net-worth borrowers in 16 states qualify on bank statements, a profit-and-loss statement, 1099s or liquid assets instead of traditional personal-income documentation, through wholesale lenders. Lendmire is never the lender; program terms are set by the lender and its guidelines. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Brex, Stock Options vs. RSUs
2. Scotsman Guide, Rev Up the Engine for Non-QM Lending
3. Compliance Alliance, Regulation Z and Investment Properties
4. CFPB ATR/QM Small Entity Compliance Guide
This article is part of Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Can You Get a Fixed Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan Over an IO ARM? · How Much Can You Borrow With a 40-Year Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan? · How Much a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan Lends a Founder After a Sale
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Compliance and disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage broker and is not a direct lender, depository institution, financial advisor, or tax professional. Content in this article is general market analysis and educational information — not financial, legal, or tax advice for any specific situation. Lendmire does not guarantee loan approval; every transaction is subject to underwriting by the funding lender. Mortgage pricing and loan program guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice and vary by borrower characteristics, property type, and state regulations. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensure verification: NMLS Consumer Access.