Fountain Hills sits east of Scottsdale in a bowl between the McDowell Mountains and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, built out from the 1970s by McCulloch Properties around the fountain the town is named for. It draws exactly the buyer you would expect: people past the paycheck stage who want views, quiet, and a short drive to north Scottsdale.
Two things make those purchases interesting to a lender. The income is not employment income, and the lots are frequently on a hillside.
Qualifying with no paycheck
An underwriter's job is to document stable income likely to continue. Retirement income can do that cleanly, but the documentation is different from a pay stub and the gaps catch people out.
Social Security and pension income. Award letters, benefit statements, and evidence of receipt. Generally the easiest piece of the file, and the non-taxable portion of Social Security may be grossed up on many programs, which helps the ratio.
IRA, 401(k) and annuity distributions. The rule most retirees do not expect: a distribution generally has to be already established and documented as continuing to count as income. A buyer who intends to start taking distributions after closing often cannot use them to qualify. Starting them before you apply, with a documented history, changes the file. That is a conversation to have months before you shop, not weeks.
Investment and dividend income. Averaged from tax returns, with the underwriter looking for stability rather than one strong year.
Asset depletion, which is frequently the right answer. Rather than counting distributions, the lender derives a qualifying income from verified liquid assets. Retirement accounts are typically discounted to account for taxes and access, and pledged or encumbered assets are generally excluded. For a retiree with substantial portfolios and modest reportable income, this is often the difference between declined and approved. See Asset Depletion and Asset Qualifier Loans and Qualifying With No Paycheck.
A warning worth repeating: do not assume the same assets can both generate your qualifying income and satisfy your reserve requirement. Many programs will not let one dollar do both jobs. See Reserves vs Depletion.
What Fountain Hills adds on the property side
Hillside lots change the appraisal and the insurance conversation. A home built into a slope has retaining walls, engineered foundations and drainage features that an appraiser and an inspector both look at. None of that is disqualifying, and all of it is worth understanding before you are under contract with a closing date.
The housing stock is genuinely varied. Condominiums, townhomes, patio homes, tract homes from several decades, and large custom homes on view lots, sometimes within a few streets of one another. That variety makes comparable sales selection harder than it is in a uniform subdivision, so appraisals here deserve to be ordered early.
Condominium purchases need project review. If you are buying a condo or in some cases a townhome, the loan depends on the project qualifying, not just you. Owner occupancy ratios, budget and reserve adequacy, insurance coverage, litigation and the share of units held by a single owner all matter. A perfectly qualified buyer gets declined over a project they have no control over. Find out the project's status before you write. See Condo and Project Approval.
Association dues count against your ratio. Fountain Hills has communities with modest dues and gated country club communities such as Firerock and Eagle Mountain where the obligations are larger. Confirm the full picture for the address, including any club membership that is mandatory rather than optional. A required membership is a monthly obligation whether anyone calls it that or not. See HOA and Club Dues.
Some parcels on the town's edges are on well or septic. Less common than in Cave Creek but not rare. Ask about the specific parcel.
The structures that fit this buyer
- Conventional or agency jumbo, where documented retirement income supports the payment. Cheapest money, take it when it works.
- Asset depletion or asset qualifier, where the portfolio is strong and the reportable income is not.
- A larger down payment to reach a better pricing tier, which for a buyer with substantial assets and no need to preserve cash flow is sometimes simply the cleanest answer.
- Financing rather than paying cash, which is worth modeling honestly with your advisor. Liquidating appreciated assets has a tax cost that a mortgage does not, and a retiree who pays cash to avoid a payment occasionally pays more in capital gains than the interest would have cost. Your tax advisor, not your lender, should run that comparison.
Before you write in Fountain Hills
- Establish and document any distributions you intend to use as income, well before you apply.
- Ask whether the asset strategy or the income strategy produces the better approval. They are different calculations and one usually wins clearly.
- Confirm the condominium project's status before you write, if you are buying one.
- Get the full association and club obligation for the specific address in writing.
- Ask whether the parcel is on municipal water and sewer or a well and septic.
- Order the appraisal early given how varied the housing stock is.
- Get fully underwritten, not pre-qualified, so a human has read the award letters, statements and returns before you are in contract.
Why bring this file to us
- We read the documents ourselves, rather than handing them to a processor and waiting.
- Broker model. An unusual file needs multiple investors, not one bank's shelf.
- The full toolkit, agency and jumbo through bank statement, asset depletion, DSCR and no-ratio non-QM.
- You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending, NMLS #173141, lending in Arizona since 1999 and a 2025 Presidents Club Winner at CMG Home Loans. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.
EPiQ Lending is NMLS #1936984, at 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101 in Scottsdale. Verify all of it before you trust any of it: Ricky's EPiQ Lending profile, the Scottsdale branch, and the license itself at NMLS Consumer Access. Hold every lender to that standard, including us.
Send me the file before you write an offer, and I will tell you what it actually supports.
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Program guidelines, eligibility requirements and documentation standards vary by investor and change over time. Rates, terms and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Non-QM financing carries different pricing and terms than agency financing. Consult your tax advisor regarding your own situation.
Looking at a specific home? Send me the address and I will run the numbers: rickykhamis.com/analyze
