If a meaningful share of your compensation is stock, one rule decides your McDowell Mountain Ranch approval: vested equity that already ran through your W-2 generally counts as income, and unvested shares generally do not. A buyer with a large total compensation number can qualify for far less than expected, because the underwriter is using the part that has actually landed and is likely to keep landing.
McDowell Mountain Ranch draws exactly this buyer, and the vesting schedule is the document almost nobody thinks to bring.
The two tests every guideline applies
History. Typically a two year track record of receiving this income.
Continuance. Evidence it will continue, commonly for at least three more years. A grant that vests fully next year and stops fails this test no matter how large it is.
Both have to be satisfied. Documentation means two years of W-2s, recent paystubs showing the income, your vesting schedule and grant agreements, and often an employer letter confirming the arrangement continues.
Averaging. Equity income is generally averaged over the documented period, usually twenty four months. Front-loaded or lumpy vesting produces an average well below what last year alone looked like.
Price volatility. Where the income's value depends on a share price, expect conservatism: averaging across the period, a trailing price, or a haircut. Publicly traded, liquid stock on a steady vesting cadence is treated far better than thinly traded or restricted holdings.
Private company equity. Options or units with no liquid market are a different conversation. Generally not usable as qualifying income until there is a documented history of realized, recurring proceeds.
Bonus income follows the same structure: two year history, documented continuance, averaged. A first-year bonus usually does not count.
A new job with an equity package is the hardest version. An offer letter may support base salary on some programs, subject to start date rules, but an equity component with no receipt history generally does not. Plan around your base.
What McDowell Mountain Ranch adds
McDowell Mountain Ranch sits in north Scottsdale against the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a master-planned community with a wide product range from attached homes through larger single family, extensive trail access and a community-focused feel rather than a private club orientation.
Product range means both sides of the conforming line. The price band here spans the conforming loan limit, and which side you land on changes your reserve requirement, your ratio tolerance and your documentation depth. For an equity-compensated buyer whose qualifying income was already averaged down, the jumbo reserve test is the sharp edge. See Jumbo Loans in Scottsdale.
Attached product means project review. Condominium and attached units get underwritten as part of their project: owner-occupancy ratio, reserves, litigation, delinquencies and single-entity ownership. That review can fail independently of your file. See Scottsdale Luxury Condo Financing.
Layered associations. A master association plus, depending on the sub-community, a second one. Ask how many bill your address before you price the house. See HOA Dues, Club Dues and Assessments.
No mandatory club obligation the way the private equity club communities carry, which is genuinely favorable for your ratio compared to Troon North or Silverleaf. Confirm for your specific address rather than assuming, but this is one fewer thing stacked against you.
Good comparable data. A master-planned community with substantial transaction volume produces real comps, so appraisal risk is materially lower than in a far north custom community.
When the income test does not clear
If your documented equity history supports the purchase on a conventional or jumbo loan, take it. Cheapest money available. When it does not, each of these documents repayment capacity differently and prices differently than agency financing.
Asset depletion. Qualifying income derived from verified liquid assets rather than earnings. Frequently the right instrument for this buyer specifically: years of vested shares accumulated in a brokerage account can do work the income calculation will not. Retirement accounts typically discounted, and shares pledged against a line of credit usually stop counting.
Bank statement. For the buyer with consulting or self-employment income alongside the W-2. See Bank Statement Loans in DC Ranch.
No-ratio. No debt-to-income test at all. Credit, assets, reserves and the property carry the file.
One caution specific to this buyer: borrowing against your own portfolio to fund the down payment adds a payment to the very ratio you are trying to clear, and removes those assets from a depletion calculation. Run the comparison before you do it.
Before you write in McDowell Mountain Ranch
- Gather the vesting schedule and grant agreements now. This answers continuance and nobody brings it.
- Two years of W-2s, recent paystubs, and an employment letter confirming the arrangement continues.
- Ask how many associations bill the address.
- If the unit is attached, request the HOA questionnaire, budget, reserve study and master insurance certificate before removing contingencies.
- Count reserves honestly: after closing, at the applicable discount, excluding anything pledged.
- Get fully underwritten, not pre-qualified. A pre-qualification is a calculator fed your total comp number. An underwritten pre-approval means someone applied the history and continuance tests to your actual vesting schedule.
Why bring this file to us
- We ask for the vesting schedule on the first call. Most lenders ask for paystubs and find the problem in underwriting.
- We run the income both ways, as documented equity income and as asset depletion, and use whichever supports the house.
- Broker model. Equity compensation treatment varies meaningfully between investors.
- The full toolkit, agency and jumbo through asset depletion, bank statement 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 your vesting schedule and two years of W-2s before you write in McDowell Mountain Ranch, and I will tell you what actually counts.
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Equity compensation and bonus income treatment varies by investor and changes over time. Association obligations vary by community; confirm current terms with the association. Rates, terms, and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal, and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Non-QM and no-ratio financing carries different pricing and terms than agency financing. Consult your tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of selling or borrowing against equity holdings.
