Field Notes · No. 1 · Oct 2026
Do you have the cash, or just the paper?
This is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Everyone’s situation is different, so review yours with a CPA, attorney, or wealth advisor as appropriate.
Many buyers whose wealth is in stock describe their position as “I have $3 million in cash.” What they often mean is “I own $3 million of something that may become cash.” In an SF offer, that difference can decide who wins and who gets burned.
We sort stock wealth into three buckets.
1. Cash you have
Sold, settled, and sitting in your account. This is the only money a seller treats as real. Public-stock sales generally settle the next business day, so a sale can become usable cash quickly.
2. Cash you’re scheduled to have
- Tender offers. Your company lets you sell vested shares at a set price. Eligibility, caps, and payout dates are set by the company, and proceeds can arrive weeks after the window closes.
- 10b5-1 plans. A pre-arranged selling schedule, mostly used by insiders. For directors and officers, the SEC requires a cooling-off period of up to about four months before the first sale. For most other people it’s 30 days. The upside is predictability: you can see what’s coming and when.
This money is good for planning, not for waiving contingencies. Don’t write an offer that depends on a payout you don’t control.
3. Cash you might have
Unvested RSUs, illiquid private shares, and options you haven’t exercised. Lenders generally won’t count these as assets, and sellers won’t either.
Three common traps
- Under-withholding. Employers commonly withhold federal tax on RSUs at a flat supplemental rate that doesn’t adjust to your actual bracket, so it can fall well short of what high earners owe. Spending your gross proceeds can leave a tax bill with nothing set aside to pay it. Treat the tax portion as not yours.
- Lender timing. Many lenders want RSU and stock income documented over time, and large deposits need a paper trail. If your down payment comes from a recent sale, ask your lender early what they’ll need to source it.
- Closing on a moving target. If your stock drops between offer and close, a plan that looked comfortable can become tight. Decide in advance how much cushion you want.
If you borrow instead of selling
Some buyers take a securities-backed line of credit and keep their shares. That can avoid selling at a bad time or triggering a tax bill. It adds risk, though: if the stock falls, the lender can require more collateral or sell shares for you, and mortgage lenders may treat the new debt differently. Ask your advisor how much cushion you’d have before you rely on it.
A simple pre-offer test
Before touring seriously, write down three numbers: cash in hand today, cash scheduled with dates, and the tax you expect to owe on those sales. Your real offer budget is the cash in hand, plus only the scheduled cash that lands before closing, minus the tax you still expect to owe. Everything else is upside.
Your CPA or advisor owns the tax strategy. Our job is to turn those numbers into an offer that’s competitive and safe.
If your wealth is in stock or options and you’re wondering when buying makes sense, get in touch. We’re happy to talk it through, no pitch.
+ONE Properties · San Francisco
This is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Everyone’s situation is different, so review yours with a CPA, attorney, or wealth advisor as appropriate.