CaliLoanPro — Real Estate & Mortgage SolutionsChris Johnson · Affinity Mortgage
Equity Compensation Financing

Buying a Home on RSU or Stock Income in Silicon Valley

Chris Johnson has structured jumbo and conforming loans around RSU vesting schedules, stock options, and bonus income for Santa Clara County tech employees for over 30 years.

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Why RSU income is different

A restricted stock unit grant looks like income on your offer letter, but underwriters don't read it that way. Lenders don't treat 100% of your RSU value as usable income — they look at what actually vested, what actually appeared on your W-2, and whether that history is stable enough to project forward. A $400,000 four-year grant is not $100,000 a year of qualifying income until the vests prove it out.

Documentation is the heart of it. The typical standard is a 24-month average of vested RSU income, supported by pay stubs, W-2s, and grant agreements. Some lenders will work from a shorter documented history combined with a written vesting schedule showing continuing grants for the next three or more years. Either way, the vesting schedule is not optional paperwork — it's the document that determines whether your equity counts and how much of it counts.

Unvested RSUs generally cannot be used as qualifying income at all, because they're contingent on staying employed. They still matter, though: vested-but-unsold shares strengthen your asset and reserve position, and deep reserves can carry a jumbo file that's tight on ratios. Think of unvested equity as approval strength, not income.

Most importantly, treatment varies meaningfully by lender. One investor averages 24 months and stops there; another accepts 12 months plus a schedule; a third caps equity income at a percentage of total income. A single-lender bank gives you one answer and one outcome. As an independent broker with access to multiple wholesale lenders, I can place your file with the investor whose RSU guidelines actually fit your grant history — which frequently changes the approval number by six figures of purchase price.

RSU employers we work with

  • Apple
  • Google
  • Nvidia
  • Meta
  • Cisco
  • Adobe
  • Netflix
  • Intel
  • LinkedIn
  • Salesforce
  • eBay
  • Broadcom

Every equity plan vests differently — we match your documentation to the lenders who work with it.

RSU qualifying estimator

A quick way to see roughly where equity income puts you before we run the real numbers together.

Estimated Qualifying Income

$304,000

Base salary + 70% of averaged RSU income

Estimated Maximum Monthly Housing Payment

$9,693

43% back-end DTI ceiling, less your monthly debts

This is a simplified illustration. Actual lender treatment of RSU income varies and requires full documentation review. With $300,000 available for down payment, your purchase price range also depends on reserves, property taxes, HOA dues, and insurance.

This calculator provides a simplified estimate for educational purposes only and is not a loan pre-approval or guarantee of qualifying income. Contact Chris Johnson for an accurate assessment based on your full financial picture.

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Frequently asked questions

No. Lenders apply their own haircuts and averaging rules to equity compensation. Most will average your vested RSU income over the last 24 months, and many will further discount it or cap how much of your total qualifying income can come from equity. The vested dollars that actually hit your W-2 are what matter — not the headline value of your grant.

It's not automatically a dead end. Some lenders will accept a 12-month vested history combined with a documented, continuing vesting schedule showing at least three more years of grants. Others will not. This is one of the biggest points of variation between lenders, and it's exactly where shopping your file across multiple wholesale lenders pays off.

Generally not as qualifying income. Unvested shares are contingent on continued employment, so they can't be averaged into your monthly income. They can still help indirectly: vested-but-unsold shares count toward assets and reserves, and strong reserves can offset other weaknesses in the file, especially on jumbo loans.

Conforming loans follow agency guidelines, which are relatively standardized on how equity income is averaged and documented. Jumbo loans are underwritten to each investor's own overlays, so RSU treatment ranges from generous to restrictive. Since most Santa Clara County purchases exceed the $1,249,125 high-cost limit and land in jumbo territory, choosing the right jumbo investor for your equity profile is often the single biggest lever on your approval amount.

Typically: two years of W-2s and recent pay stubs showing the RSU vest line items, your equity grant agreements, a current vesting schedule showing future grants, two years of tax returns, brokerage statements for vested shares, and an employment verification. If you've changed employers, bring the grant and vesting documentation from both.

Local track record, not a call center

Rated 5.0 stars across 198+ verified client reviews, with three decades of Santa Clara County closings behind every recommendation.

5.0★

198+ verified reviews

30+

Years in business

1,200+

Families funded

15+

Loan & Real Estate Programs

Chris Johnson · NMLS #235072 · DRE #01131369 · Affinity Mortgage NMLS #252576

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Ready to see your real number?

Send me your grant agreements and vesting schedule and I'll tell you exactly how much of your equity income counts — and which lender counts the most of it.

Get an RSU-Based Pre-Approval