Mortgages for people relocating to California.
Some lenders will count the pay in a signed offer letter before your first paycheck, when the start date is close and the offer has no open conditions. A move for work puts a new job, a new housing market and often an unsold home into one application. Sam Batayneh works with people moving to California for a new job or a transfer, and explains how lenders read an offer letter and a home that has not sold yet.
What makes a relocation different.
Three things have to line up: the job, the old home and the new one.
A new job or a transfer
A transfer with the same employer is usually simple to document. A new employer means an offer letter, and some lenders will count that pay before your first paycheck.
Buying before you sell
If your current home has not sold, its payment generally stays in your file. Lenders also need to see where the down payment comes from, if not from that sale.
California prices and limits
Loan limits are set county by county, and many California homes need a loan above them. A loan that would be conforming where you live now may be a jumbo loan here.
How lenders generally look at a relocation.
Each lender sets its own rules. These are the questions most of them ask.
The offer letter
Lenders generally ask for a signed offer letter showing your pay and start date, with no open conditions. Some will close before you start, within a time they set; others want a first pay stub.
The same line of work
A move within the same field is read more easily than a change of career. Bonus and stock income from a new employer may not be counted until there is a history of it.
The home you are leaving
Until it sells, lenders usually count its payment. A signed sale contract, or in some cases a lease, can change how it is counted.
Your down payment
Money from a sale that has not closed is not available yet. Savings, documented gift money and a relocation benefit from your employer can each be used when they are documented.
Help from your employer
Some employers pay moving or closing costs, or buy the old home. Bring the relocation agreement, because lenders read what it promises.
What to have on hand.
You don’t need all of this for a first conversation. It makes applying quicker, and your list may differ.
- The offer letter. Signed, with your pay, start date and any bonus or stock terms.
- Pay. Recent pay stubs and W-2s from your current job.
- Your current home. The mortgage statement, and the listing or sale contract if it is for sale.
- Relocation agreement. Your employer’s, if there is one.
- Accounts. Recent statements for bank and investment accounts.
Programs to ask Sam about.
The county and the loan amount decide whether a loan is conventional or jumbo. Many California purchases need a jumbo loan.
Program names are OriginPoint’s. Which one fits depends on your own file, and naming a program here is not a promise that a loan will be approved.
Plain answers.
Can I get a home loan with an offer letter, before I start the job?
Can I buy in California before my current home sells?
Will I need a jumbo loan in California?
How is a relocation package from my employer treated?
Can I start before I move?
General education only. Each lender sets its own rules, and they change. Nothing here is a promise that a loan will be approved or of any terms. This is not tax, legal or investment advice: for those questions, ask your own CPA, attorney or business manager.
Limits where you’re buying.
Sam lends in all of California. Each of the eight region pages has its county’s 2026 limit and what is different there.
Moving for work?
Tell Sam your start date and where you’re looking. Sam will lay out the steps in plain words.