Mortgage

Banks underwrite cash. You earn equity. The translation between those two is where most tech employees get stuck — you show up with a $400k RSU-heavy income and find that the lender will only count two-thirds of it, or discount it entirely if the vesting history is under two years. Conforming-loan underwriting (Fannie, Freddie) assumes a stable W-2 stream and treats RSU income with a 24-month history requirement, a 3-year continuation test, and conservative assumptions about future vests. For the buyers this audience is, that usually means jumbo territory and a different set of lenders, or a different loan structure entirely.

How lenders actually treat RSU income

The RSU income mortgage-underwriting guide walks through the specific rules Fannie and Freddie apply: two years of vest history documented on W-2s, continuation letter from the employer, average over the lookback period. That excludes recent new hires, roles that just added equity, and anyone with a sub-two-year tenure at the current employer. Jumbo mortgage qualification — above the conforming limit of about $806k in 2025, higher in high-cost counties — is where equity-friendly lenders actually live. The jumbo rules vary by lender, but the good ones count recent RSU vests and may credit projected unvested comp in a way the GSE rules prohibit.

Alternatives to traditional income-qualified mortgages

For tech employees with large balance sheets but irregular income, asset-depletion loans qualify you on net worth rather than paycheck. The lender divides your qualifying assets by a factor (usually 7-10 years) and treats the quotient as your monthly income for DTI purposes. That works for founders between liquidity events, recent IPO winners, or employees whose RSU income is too new to qualify. Pledged-asset loans — where you collateralize part of a brokerage account instead of making a cash down payment — are another path, particularly for buyers who don’t want to sell appreciated RSU shares to fund a down payment.

The trade-off in both cases is rate. Non-QM loans (the umbrella term for asset-depletion and pledged-asset structures) typically price 0.5-1.5% above conforming. Whether that’s worth it depends on how badly you want the house, whether you’d otherwise have to sell concentrated stock, and how soon you expect refinance capacity.

Buying before an IPO

The pre-IPO home purchase scenario is surprisingly common and worth a specific look. Your total comp on paper is enormous; most of it is locked behind a liquidity event 12-18 months away. Lenders will generally not underwrite unvested pre-IPO equity as income, but they will sometimes accept it as a “compensating factor” at higher LTV or tighter DTI. Private banks at Goldman, JPMorgan, First Republic’s successors, and similar firms have programs specifically for pre-IPO tech employees willing to move their liquid assets to the lender.

Liquidity without selling: SBLOC and HELOC

After a liquidity event, cash management for tax and large expenses often comes down to whether to use a HELOC, an SBLOC (securities-backed line of credit), or a margin loan. The HELOC vs SBLOC article covers the trade-offs: HELOCs are cheaper but are tied to real estate collateral; SBLOCs are more flexible but carry call risk if your concentrated position drops. For covering an AMT bill after an ISO exercise, an SBLOC is often the better tool than selling more shares (which creates additional tax).

Refi and recasting

The recasting guide covers post-liquidity payment adjustments — paying down a large lump to a mortgage and re-amortizing the remaining balance without refinancing. It keeps your rate and saves closing costs while dropping the monthly payment. Refinancing during equity volatility — particularly during a large stock drop — is about timing: lender underwriting may re-check your balance sheet and disqualify you if your equity position has halved.

Next step

If you’re shopping for a home and have <2 years of RSU history, skip Fannie/Freddie lenders and start with mortgage brokers who specialize in tech-employee loans. If you’ve had an IPO in the last 12 months and haven’t re-evaluated your mortgage (refi, recast, or pay-down), match with an advisor who can run the after-tax math against your other liquidity needs.