Selling stocks for downpayment- timing, taxes etc.

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I would like to get pre-approved in the next month or so and we will be liquidating stocks for about 1/3 of our downpayment. I've seen some conflicting info on when we need to sell these stocks and would love to hear from folks here. Can we apply with a detailed list showing the stock accounts that will be sold prior to closing? Or should we sell the stocks before we apply at all? Also, will underwriters reduce the amount we can use to compensate for taxes? If they do reduce in anticipation of a tax bill, would selling and holding the cash in our account for 2-3 months prior to applying eliminate the reduction for taxes and allow us to use the whole amount?

Thanks in advance!

[tacpoly]

I would sell stocks at least 3 months before applying for a mortgage so that the funds are properly seasoned in your accounts. This approach is the most conservative and least stressful.

If you insist on hanging on to the stocks until the last minute, I don't think the underwriters proactively take taxes out (because they wouldn't know the cost basis, whether long or short-term, and the exact tax situation) but I'm not 100% sure. Please keep market fluctuations in mind if you are hoping to get a certain amount from your stock sales.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I'm leaning toward selling everything I plan to now just to eliminate some unknown variables. And that does feel less stressful. That makes sense about taxes as well, it would be pretty much guesswork for the UW to make an adjustment.