Can RSU Income Help You Buy a Home? What Every Tech Employee Should Know

Written by Lesley Guerrero | Mortgage Knowledge Made Simple

Chief Operating Officer | Mortgage Loan Originator | Mission Mortgage NMLS #1615801

Helping Texans make smarter home financing decisions through practical mortgage education.

In Texas, we love tech workers.  If you work for a technology company, there’s a good chance a meaningful portion of your compensation comes from Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) rather than salary alone.  Can this income be used in mortgage qualification?  The answer to that is nuanced and depends on specific underwriting guidelines.

Understanding how lenders evaluate RSUs before you start house hunting can make the mortgage process much smoother.

First, What Are RSUs?

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are shares granted by your employer that become yours once they vest (this is an important distinction that I’ll touch on later).

Depending on your company’s compensation plan, those vested shares may:

• Be deposited into your brokerage account
• Be automatically sold and paid to you as cash
• Have taxes withheld before you receive the remaining shares

Because RSUs represent real compensation, many mortgage programs allow them to be used as qualifying income provided they meet stability and continuance requirements.

Not All RSUs Are Treated the Same

One important distinction many borrowers don’t realize is that lenders evaluate two different types of RSU programs.

Time-Based Vesting

These are the most common RSUs. The only requirement for vesting is that you remain employed through the vesting date.

Example:

• 25% vests each year for four years.
• No performance goals are required.

Because these awards are generally more predictable, they require a shorter history before they may be used for mortgage qualification.

Performance Based Vesting

Some companies award RSUs that only vest after certain goals are achieved.

Those goals may include:

• Company revenue targets
• Earnings per share
• Stock price objectives
• Individual performance metrics

Because these awards are less predictable, lenders generally require a longer history of receiving them before counting the income.

How Much History Do You Need?

Time-Based RSUs

For RSUs that vest solely based on continued employment, lenders generally require:

• At least one year of receipt history
• Documentation showing the income is expected to continue

If you recently changed employers or just received your first grant, your lender will need to evaluate whether the income meets the program requirements.

Performance-Based RSUs

For performance-based awards, lenders generally look for:

• A consecutive two-year history of receipt from your current employer

There is an important exception.

If you’ve received this type of compensation for at least 12 months with your current employer and have a documented history of receiving similar RSU income over the previous five years with another employer, you may still qualify for consideration.

This is one reason it’s so important to work with a lender who understands equity compensation. A file that appears ineligible at first glance may still qualify with the appropriate documentation.

Why do lenders look at vested RSU rather than awarded?

Mortgage lenders qualify you based on income you’ve earned, not compensation you might earn in the future. While an RSU award represents potential future value, a vested RSU represents actual taxable compensation. That’s why vesting history is such an important part of the underwriting process.

How Is RSU Income Calculated?

Mortgage lenders don’t simply use today’s stock price or your most recent vesting event.

Instead, many conventional underwriting guidelines are designed to smooth out market volatility by using a 200-day simple moving average of the company’s stock price when RSUs are distributed as shares.

If Your RSUs Are Paid as Shares

For time-based RSUs, lenders generally:

1. Determine the total number of vested shares distributed over the previous year.
2. Multiply those shares by the documented 200-day simple moving average stock price.
3. Divide the result by 12 to determine monthly qualifying income.

For performance-based RSUs, the calculation is similar, but it uses the vested shares distributed over the previous two years and divides the result by 24 months.

Using a moving average instead of a single day’s stock price helps reduce the impact of short-term market swings.

If Your RSUs Are Paid as Cash

Some employers automatically liquidate vested shares and pay employees a cash equivalent. In those cases, lenders generally use the pre-tax cash amount received.

For time-based RSUs:

• Total pre-tax cash received over the previous year / 12 months

For performance-based RSUs:

• Total pre-tax cash received over the previous two years / 24 months

Why Don’t Lenders Use Today’s Stock Price?

Stock prices fluctuate… sometimes dramatically.

If a lender simply multiplied your current grant by today’s market value, your qualifying income could swing significantly depending on when your application was submitted.

Using a longer-term average provides a more stable picture of your ongoing compensation.

Here’s a checklist for items that you will want to have for your lender

Most lenders will request documentation such as:

• Recent pay stubs showing year to date RSU earnings
• W-2s
• RSU award agreements
• Vesting schedules
• Brokerage statements (when needed)
• Employer verification of continued employment

The goal is to verify both historical receipt and the reasonable expectation that the income will continue.

Common Misconceptions

“I have unvested RSUs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Those future awards typically cannot be counted as current income because they haven’t vested yet.

“I sold my shares immediately.”

That’s perfectly acceptable. Lenders are concerned with the compensation you received—not whether you held the stock afterward.

“I only started receiving RSUs six months ago.”

Depending on the vesting structure, that history may not yet be sufficient for qualifying purposes.

The Bottom Line

If a substantial portion of your compensation comes from RSUs, it’s worth having your income reviewed before you begin shopping for a home. Understanding how your equity compensation translates into qualifying income can help you set realistic expectations and avoid surprises during underwriting.

Note: The guidelines discussed here are based on conventional mortgage underwriting. Individual lenders and loan programs may have additional requirements, and all income must be documented and determined to be stable and likely to continue.  In contrast, FHA guidelines are significantly more restrictive, classifying unvested RSUs as deferred compensation and requiring that any qualifying restricted stock be fully vested and liquidated, with documented continuance for at least three years.

Disclaimer: Your milage may vary.  Guidelines change.  Work with your mortgage professional.

Reviewed: August 2026

Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Topics: RSU Income, Bonus Income, Equity Compensation, Conventional Loans, Mortgage Tips

About the Author

Mission Mortgage of Texas, Inc.

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Specializes in: Conventional, FHA, Non-QM

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