Conventional loans · Fannie Mae B3-3.3-03Buying a home with a job offer letter: Fannie Mae's rules

A buyer who is about to start a new job can qualify on the income in the offer letter. The lender needs the fully executed, non-contingent offer or contract – accepted by a signed agreement, a confirming email or other verifiable means – showing the employer, the borrower, the position, the type and rate of pay and the start date, and it uses the monthly income in the offer as qualifying income. The borrower cannot work for a family member or for an interested party to the transaction. There are two paths. In the first, the lender gets the borrower's first paystub supporting that income, plus a verbal verification of employment, before it delivers the loan (or, if the job starts on or after the note date, the employer's confirmation that the terms are unchanged). In the second, the loan can close without a paystub only for a purchase of a one-unit principal residence qualified on fixed base pay, with a start date no earlier than 30 days before and no later than 90 days after the note date; any conditions of employment must be satisfied before closing, and on top of the usual reserves the buyer must show either six months of the new home's payment or enough resources to cover all monthly debts until the job starts, plus one month.