Can you use Meta RSU income to buy a home?

What lenders count

Those conditions come from Fannie Mae’s March 2026 guidance and apply to loans written under it; other programs set their own.[19]

Qualifying for the loan and having cash at closing are separate problems, though. A lender may count equity income you have not yet turned into a down payment, and shares still have to be sold, taxed, and settled before the money moves.

Expect the lender’s number to differ from your own arithmetic: for share-paid awards the guidance uses a 200-day moving-average price and your distribution history, not today’s price times your next vest.[19]

1. 01

   Qualify

   Have the lender review your pay, award history, and grant types before you set a price range. New-hire and ongoing awards are treated differently.

2. 02

   Fund

   Identify settled cash for the down payment, closing costs, and the tax reserve. Check sale restrictions and transfer timing before you promise a closing date.

3. 03

   Stress-test

   Run the payment against a lower share price and a year without a refresher. Keep the emergency reserve out of it.

From stock sale to closing-day cash

Five separate clocks run between a vest and a wire, and a closing date has to sit after all of them.

1. 01

   The vest settles

   Shares are delivered within 30 days of the vest date under the award, already net of the shares withheld for tax. Count the shares that arrive, not the units that vested.

2. 02

   You are allowed to sell

   Only in an open trading window, or through a standing plan set up while one was open. A vest that lands in a closed window cannot fund a closing that falls inside it.

3. 03

   The sale settles

   One business day after the trade, the T+1 cycle in force since May 2024. Proceeds are yours the next business day, not the same afternoon.

4. 04

   The cash moves

   Schwab has its own withdrawal and wire cutoffs, and a wire to a title company is usually a same-day request made before a midday deadline. Ask for the schedule before you set a date.

5. 05

   The lender sees it

   Large deposits shortly before closing get questioned. Keep the trade confirmation and the award statement so the money’s path from grant to bank is one page.

Settlement timing from the award agreement; the window rule from the trading policy; the settlement cycle from the SEC’s rule. A vest inside a closed window is the common trap at Meta: the window closes at the end of February, May, August and November, so a closing in those weeks needs cash from an earlier vest or an approved plan.[2][4][45]

What to gather: award agreements and Notices, vesting and distribution history, paystubs, W-2s, brokerage statements, and proof of available funds. Ask the lender which of your grants counts before you count on it.