The Quick Read: You get through two separate reviews. One looks at your income file, and the other looks at the building. Lenders generally count only RSUs that have already vested and been delivered to you, not the grant you see on your compensation portal. The building has to pass its own review, and a strong borrower can still lose a deal on a weak project.
Key Takeaways
- Vested shares you actually received can count as income. Unvested grants generally do not.
- A sign-on stock grant that vests over time is usually excluded, even at a company you have joined for good.
- The building gets reviewed separately from you. HOA budget, reserves, insurance, and litigation all matter.
- A falling stock price can shrink your qualifying income, because lenders commonly average the price over a long window.
- Jumbo rules vary by lender, so your job is to ask the right questions early.
What Is a Condo Jumbo Loan, and Who Ends Up Needing One?
A condo jumbo loan is a mortgage on a condominium unit that is larger than the conforming loan limit for the county. Conforming limits are set by the federal housing finance regulator and differ by county. Jumbo starts one dollar above whatever your county’s limit is.
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.
Tech employees land here for a simple reason. Many live in expensive metro areas where even a condo loan clears the limit. Compare the loan amount, not the price, to the limit. A larger down payment can bring a loan back under it.
Lendmire’s jumbo loan programs are arranged through wholesale lenders. In the programs Lendmire places files with, the headline lane starts at a 660 decision score and reaches 90% leverage on a purchase. Loans go up to $5,000,000 on the largest lanes. Those are program guidelines, subject to full file review and not a commitment to lend. Several lanes stop at 80%, and a few reach 89.99% combined loan-to-value.
This article covers the home you live in. Occupancy decides the leverage, so a second home or rental sits on a different lane with different limits.
Key Terms Defined
RSU (restricted stock unit): A promise from your employer to give you shares once you meet a vesting condition.
Vesting: The date a share becomes yours. Before that date, the grant is only a promise.
Warrantable condo: A condo project that meets standard agency rules for budget, reserves, insurance, ownership mix, and litigation.
Non-warrantable condo: A project that falls outside those rules. It can still be financed, but only through lenders and lanes that allow it.
Project review: The lender’s check of the building, separate from your personal income and credit.
200-day moving average: The average of the stock’s price over roughly the last 200 trading days. Lenders can use it to turn shares into dollars.
Reserves: Cash and liquid assets left over after closing, measured in months of the full housing payment.
How Is the Loan Underwritten, Step by Step?
Underwriting runs in two tracks. Your income, assets, and credit form one. The building and the appraisal form the other. Both have to work.
Step 1: Confirm the loan amount against the county limit
Check the loan size against your county’s limit on the FHFA conforming loan limit announcement. The limit varies by county and does not drop when home prices fall. If your loan sits above it, you are in jumbo territory.
Step 2: Sort your RSUs into “vested” and “granted”
Jumbo loans are not sold to the federal housing agencies, so no single rulebook governs them. Each lender sets its own overlays. Many look to the agency approach as a common reference point, then run stricter or looser.
The Fannie Mae Selling Guide says restricted stock must be vested and distributed to you without restrictions. That is why the unvested grant on your portal usually counts for nothing. Sign-on bonuses paid in stock that vests over time are not eligible either. Freddie Mac’s guide covers the same ground with its own calculation details. Do not assume the two methods match.
Step 3: Show a history of receiving the stock
A lender wants proof that the RSUs are a pattern, not a one-time event. A mortgage insurer’s training job aid summarizing the agency approach describes about a year of history for time-based awards. Performance-based awards call for longer, though strong offsetting factors can shorten it. A lender need not verify continuance on recurring awards unless it has reason to doubt it. Where older training material conflicts with that page, the page wins.
Step 4: Turn shares into monthly income
The method matters more than most borrowers expect. For income paid in shares, a lender multiplies your vested shares by the 200-day moving average price. For income paid in cash from vested shares, it takes the pre-tax amount from the past year and divides by 12. Then it adds that figure to your base pay.
The practical effect: a falling stock price lowers your qualifying income. Picture a buyer whose shares dropped sharply during the month before application. The average lags the drop, but it still slides down. The ratio gets tighter, even though the paycheck did not change.
Step 5: Run the ratio and the reserves
Across the programs Lendmire places files with, the ratio ceiling is 50% on the fixed-rate lanes. It is 45% on the adjustable lane and 43% on the interest-only lane. Reserves are counted in months of the full payment, and they rise with the loan amount. Stock held in a brokerage account may count toward reserves, depending on the lender. Lendmire’s piece How a Jumbo Cash-Out Lender Counts RSUs and Deferred Comp as Reserves walks through that side in detail.
Step 6: Review the building and the appraisal
The appraiser values the unit using comparable condo sales. A low appraisal changes your loan-to-value ratio. On the largest loan amounts, a lane may require two appraisals once the amount passes its threshold.
What Documents Will You Need?
Start collecting these before you make an offer. Some come from your employer, and some come from your brokerage.
| Document | Where it comes from | What it proves |
|---|---|---|
| Recent paystub | Payroll portal | Current base pay and stock receipt |
| Two years of W-2s | Employer or payroll | Stock income reported over time |
| Vesting schedule | Equity portal | Past and future vest dates |
| Brokerage statements | Brokerage account | Shares actually delivered to you |
| Proof of public trading | Public market data | Stock is publicly traded |
| Verification of employment | Employer HR | Job is current and ongoing |
Expect a verbal check with your employer as well. Private-company equity is the weak spot. The agency documentation asks for evidence the stock is publicly traded, so pre-IPO shares generally cannot be turned into income.
What Does the Building Review Look For?
Agency-style project review looks at the health of the whole building. Many jumbo lenders run their own version, and the strictness varies.
| Factor | Why it matters | How to check before offering |
|---|---|---|
| HOA budget | Shows whether dues cover real costs | Ask for the current budget |
| Reserves | Pays for big repairs | Ask for the reserve study |
| Insurance | Gaps can sink the file | Request the master policy |
| Delinquent dues | Many unpaid owners strain the budget | Ask for the HOA questionnaire |
| Commercial space | Too much can change project type | Check the project documents |
| Owner concentration | One owner holding many units adds risk | Ask for the ownership breakdown |
| Pending litigation | Can make a project ineligible | Request the legal disclosures |
| Critical repairs | Raises assessment risk | Ask about open repair items |
Fannie Mae has been tightening and reshuffling its condo rules. Per trade legal commentary, the Limited Review path is retired for newer applications. Established projects generally move to a Full Review, or to a waiver of project review where eligible. A rise in the replacement-reserve minimum is also scheduled, and the same source notes that individual lenders may keep their own investor-concentration limits. Whether a given jumbo lender mirrors any of this varies, so ask.
What Structures and Variations Exist?
Fixed, adjustable, and interest-only structures are all available across the wholesale jumbo lanes. Your choice changes the ratio ceiling, as shown above. Pick the structure after you know how tight your ratio is, not before.
Leverage depends on the lane and purpose. On a purchase, the headline lane reaches 90%. Cash-out refinances sit at lower leverage than purchases, and the largest lanes put a cash cap on them. Occupancy changes leverage too, since primary homes, second homes, and rentals each have lane-specific limits.
Non-warrantable condominiums are accepted on two of the lanes. If the building fails standard agency rules, those lanes are where the file goes, often with different terms. Sort that out before you fall in love with a unit.
Where Does the General Rule Break?
The “vested only” rule is the general rule. These cases bend or break it.
- New hire. A sign-on grant is excluded as income. Refresh grants at a new employer may lack the history of receipt. Freddie Mac also has a separate section for income that starts after the note date.
- Private company stock. Pre-IPO equity does not fit the public-trading documentation, so it generally cannot support income.
- Time-based versus performance-based vesting. The history requirements differ, so a performance-based package can take longer to count.
- Shrinking vest schedule. Front-loaded grants vest in big chunks early, then taper. A schedule that looks like declining income may be a normal feature of how the grant was written. Bring the refresh grants and explain the pattern.
- Mostly-RSU pay. A low base with heavy stock is fragile, because the whole ratio depends on the averaging method and the share price.
- A failing building. Sometimes you qualify and the condo does not. The project can be ineligible even when your file is strong.
- Layoffs or job changes between application and closing. Lenders re-verify employment. Unvested stock that disappears when you leave does not come with you.
Where Do the Two Reviews Collide?
HOA dues are part of your monthly housing cost, and they feed straight into the ratio. When RSU averaging is already what makes the ratio work, a pricey HOA can erase the cushion. Higher reserve requirements for buildings may also push dues up over time. Terms vary by lender guidelines, property type, leverage, credit profile, and full file review.
Stock volatility adds a second pressure. A big price drop between contract and closing can shrink the averaged income. It can also shrink the value of shares you planned to count as reserves. Keep a cushion on both, so one bad month does not undo the file.
Should You Sell or Hold Shares for the Down Payment?
Selling vested shares for a down payment is common, but it leaves a paper trail. Keep the brokerage statements showing the sale, the proceeds, and the transfer to your bank. Lenders want to see where the money came from. Holding shares can help reserves, though lenders may apply a discount to stocks because of price swings. Tax treatment can depend on your situation; borrowers should speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction or credit.
What Does the Decision Look Like in Practice?
Work in this order:
1. Pick a target loan amount and compare it to your county limit.
2. Pull your vesting schedule, W-2s, and brokerage statements.
3. Ask a loan officer how they treat RSUs, then tell them the share price trend.
4. Request the HOA budget, reserve study, and insurance details before you offer.
5. Ask whether the building is warrantable for that lender, and what happens if not.
6. Keep documents current as vest dates pass, so the file does not go stale.
Run two tests before you commit. First, does the ratio still work if the stock drops? Second, does the building survive the lender’s project review? If the answer to either is shaky, adjust the loan amount or the building choice, not your optimism.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do unvested RSUs help me qualify?
Generally no. Under the agency approach, only vested, unrestricted shares count as income. Unvested units might show up in a conversation about your stability, but they rarely add to the ratio.
Can I use RSU stock for reserves?
Often yes, depending on the lender. Shares held in a brokerage account can count as assets, though some lenders discount them because prices move. Ask how your lender values them.
Does a condo change anything about the loan?
Yes. The building gets its own review, covering budget, reserves, insurance, litigation, and ownership mix. A non-warrantable project may need a lane that accepts it, with different terms.
Does a sign-on grant count?
No, not in the agency approach. Sign-on stock that vests over time is excluded. Later refresh grants can count once you have the required history.
Are jumbo loans exempt from lending rules?
No. A lender must make a reasonable, good-faith decision that you can repay the loan, whether or not it is sold to the agencies. Jumbo lenders choose their own methods, which is why the answers differ.
For your own numbers, request a scenario review with Lendmire.
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 conforming loan limit announcement
2. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.3-07: Restricted Stock Units and Restricted Stock Employment Income
3. Freddie Mac Guide Section 5303.1: Employed Income
5. Michigan Community Association Law Blog: Fannie Mae condominium lending guidelines
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 Clear a Solar Lien or PACE Loan Before a Jumbo Cash-Out in Texas · How to Qualify for a Jumbo Loan by Paying Off Debts at Closing · Is a Jumbo Loan on a Paid-Off Home Priced as a Cash-Out?
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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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.