Pre-IPO Stock Loans in California

What Are Pre-IPO Stock Loans in California?

Your equity is worth more than the house you want to buy. The problem is your bank cannot see it. You work at a pre-IPO company, your shares are worth seven figures on paper, and the loan officer still qualifies you on base salary alone because the stock is not public yet.

Pre-IPO stock loans fix that. This is not a separate loan so much as a way to qualify. We count your private company stock as income through asset depletion, then add it to your regular full-documentation income. You keep the shares. They just finally count.

California’s pre-IPO workforce is huge and almost entirely ignored by traditional underwriting. If your wealth is locked in private stock, a stock award loan for public RSUs or a standard asset depletion loan on liquid savings will not fit your situation. This program is built for the gap between them.

Why Banks Decline Pre-IPO and Private Company Stock

Nearly every lender writes the same rule into their guidelines: stock must be publicly traded to count. The reasoning is simple. They want a share price they can verify and a clean way to cash out, and private stock offers neither in the form they are used to, so the entire position gets dropped from the income calculation as if it were worth nothing.

That rule sweeps up a lot of genuinely wealthy borrowers. Early employees at companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe, or Anduril often hold more value in private shares than in their bank accounts. On a standard application, none of it shows up, and a six-figure earner with eight figures in equity gets treated like a renter who barely qualifies.

We work the exception instead of the rule. The right portfolio lender will count pre-IPO stock when you can show a regular way to turn it into cash. That single distinction is the whole game, and it is the reason a broker with the right lender relationships can get you approved when your bank cannot.

How Pre-IPO Stock Counts as Income

The mechanism is asset depletion, used as an added income stream rather than your only one. The lender takes your qualifying net assets and divides by a set number of months to produce monthly income. On the portfolio program we use most for this, that divisor is commonly 84 months, which is aggressive in your favor compared with the 120 to 360 months many programs use.

Here is the math in practice. Say you have $1.5 million in qualifying net assets, counting the eligible portion of your pre-IPO stock. Divide by 84 and you add roughly $17,850 a month in qualifying income, stacked right onto your W-2 salary. That is often the difference between qualifying for an $800,000 loan and a $2 million one. Treat this as an example rather than a quote, since your exact divisor and figures depend on the program and the week.

Two things matter most here:

• You need at least $500,000 in net assets to use this income stream.
• Using it costs you nothing on rate or loan-to-value, so it is added qualifying power, not a trade-off.

The Liquidity Exception: When Private Stock Actually Qualifies

Publicly traded stock is the norm for a reason, and plenty of pre-IPO shares still will not qualify. The exception turns on one question: can you reliably sell?

The clearest case is a company that runs regular liquidity events. SpaceX, for example, has historically let shareholders sell into a company buyback about twice a year. That recurring, predictable path to cash is exactly what a portfolio lender needs to treat the stock as a real asset rather than a lottery ticket. I have closed pre-IPO deals on this basis, including stock from companies like SpaceX and OpenAI.

This gets underwritten case by case, never rubber-stamped. Bring the details of how and when you can sell your shares, and I will tell you honestly whether a lender will count them.

Pre-IPO Stock vs. Stock Award vs. Asset Depletion

These three programs sound similar and get confused constantly. The difference comes down to what kind of stock you hold and how the lender uses it.

Already trading on an exchange? Start with stock award loans. When your wealth sits in cash and public investments and you would rather qualify on assets alone, asset depletion loans fit better. Private, not-yet-public equity is the case this program was built for.

What Counts as Net Assets

Net assets are what you own minus what you owe against it. For this program the lender wants at least $500,000, and your qualifying pre-IPO shares can count toward that total alongside more familiar holdings.

Typical qualifying assets include:

• Checking and savings, usually counted in full
• Brokerage accounts, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, often discounted
• Retirement accounts, with discounts based on your age and access
• Eligible pre-IPO or private company stock with a documented sell path

The pre-IPO portion is the piece that takes judgment and the right lender. Valuation, vesting, and how you can sell all factor in, which is why the documentation in the next section matters so much.

Loan Amounts, Rates, and Structure

The portfolio programs we use for pre-IPO borrowers run from $500,000 to $30 million, so they cover everything from a Bay Area starter home to a high-end purchase in Atherton or Hillsborough. Most are adjustable-rate mortgages with fixed periods of 5, 7, or 10 years. That structure suits buyers who expect a liquidity event or a refinance down the road.

Rates move week to week, and yours will hinge on credit, down payment, loan size, and the rest of your profile, so any number I print here goes stale fast. Using your stock for income does not push that rate higher. Call for a real quote.

Who This Is For

This program fits a specific and growing group of Californians:

• Early employees at private tech and defense companies with large equity stakes
• Founders holding significant private shares before an exit
• Senior staff whose equity dwarfs their cash compensation
• Buyers who were already declined because their stock “is not public”

If that sounds like you, your income on paper is probably hiding most of your real financial strength. The point of this program is to put that strength back into the qualification.

Pairing With a Bridge Loan

Pre-IPO buyers often face a second timing problem: they want the next home before selling the current one, and they would rather not sell shares at the wrong moment to free up cash. A bridge loan solves that, letting you buy now and sell later without forcing your hand on the equity.

The two programs work well together. You qualify on your stock-backed income, and the bridge handles the gap between buying and selling. Ask about combining them when we talk through your purchase.

The Process and Timeline

A pre-IPO stock loan moves like a jumbo loan with one extra step: documenting how your shares turn into cash. We map your equity, confirm the sell path, calculate the added income, and place you with a portfolio lender who makes the exception. From there it is appraisal, underwriting, and closing.

Expect a little more underwriter scrutiny than a plain loan. The stock piece gets reviewed carefully. Line up the documentation early and these still close on a normal purchase timeline.

Explore More Special Income Documentation

This program sits alongside our other options for people whose income does not fit a standard W-2 box. Public equity? Start with stock award loans. To qualify on assets instead, the asset depletion loan is your path, and when you need room to buy before you sell, a bridge loan covers that gap.

When you are ready, call A Good Lender at (510) 589-4096. Bring your equity details and we will tell you exactly what it qualifies you for.