Asset Depletion Mortgages In Port Aransas — The Quick Read: An asset depletion mortgage turns your savings, brokerage accounts, and retirement funds into a monthly income number a lender can underwrite, instead of relying on a paycheck. This matters most for buyers whose wealth sits in a portfolio rather than a W-2, and it works the same way in a coastal second-home market as it does anywhere else in the country. Nothing here is specific to any one town — the mechanics below are national, and every figure comes from either federal guidance or Lendmire’s own wholesale-network guidelines.
Key Takeaways
- Asset depletion converts eligible liquid assets into a hypothetical monthly income stream, added to (or replacing) documented income.
- There is no government-mandated formula. Each bank and non-QM investor writes its own policy on eligible assets, discounts, and divisors.
- Agency versions restrict this tool to primary and second homes, with tighter loan-to-value caps than most non-QM programs use.
- Non-QM programs, including the ones Lendmire places files with, offer far more flexibility on divisor length, asset types, and occupancy.
- Investment-property purchases usually run better through DSCR underwriting, which qualifies the property’s rent rather than the buyer’s balance sheet.
What Is an Asset Depletion Mortgage?
An asset depletion mortgage qualifies a borrower using liquid assets instead of, or alongside, earned income. A lender totals up eligible accounts and applies a discount. Then the lender divides the result by a set number of months. That monthly figure is treated as income for underwriting purposes.
The federal banking regulator that oversees national banks, the OCC, calls this method “asset dissipation underwriting.” Its own bulletin defines it plainly: the technique uses an applicant’s assets to build a hypothetical cash annuity stream, which then gets added to other income when the lender checks whether the applicant can afford the payment. That’s a useful reminder for anyone worried the lender is about to raid their brokerage account — it isn’t. The lender is modeling what the assets could produce. Nobody withdraws a dime.
Here’s the part most explainers skip: the OCC does not hand banks a formula. Its bulletin tells banks to write their own policy covering which transactions qualify, which assets count, and what discounts apply for liquidity and volatility. That single fact explains why asset depletion math varies so much from one lender to the next. There is no industry-standard haircut. Anyone who tells you otherwise is quoting one specific program, not a rule.
Key Terms Defined
Asset depletion (or asset dissipation): an underwriting method that turns liquid assets into a monthly income figure instead of using pay stubs or traditional personal-income documentation.
Divisor: the number of months a lender divides eligible assets by to calculate monthly qualifying income. Shorter divisors produce bigger monthly numbers.
Haircut (or discount): the percentage reduction applied to certain asset types — retirement accounts, for example — before they count toward the calculation.
Seasoning: how long an asset has to sit in an account before a lender will count it, meant to weed out funds parked right before an application.
DSCR (debt service coverage ratio): a separate underwriting method that qualifies a rental property on its own rent-to-payment ratio, not the buyer’s personal income or assets. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide covers that method in full.
How Underwriting Actually Treats Your Assets
The process runs in a fixed order, even though every lender’s numbers differ.
Step one — count what qualifies. Depository accounts and marketable securities almost always count. Retirement accounts usually count too, but at a discount. Business funds, gifts, trusts other than a revocable living trust, unvested stock, and cryptocurrency are commonly excluded outright — Fannie Mae’s own guide draws that crypto line explicitly, and most non-QM investors follow similar logic.
Step two — apply the discount. Retirement accounts often count at a reduced percentage of their vested value, with a better factor once the account holder clears the age-59½ early-withdrawal threshold. The IRS treats most withdrawals before that age as early distributions subject to an additional tax, so a dollar sitting in a pre-59½ retirement account genuinely isn’t as liquid as a dollar in checking. The discount reflects that reality, not an arbitrary penalty.
Step three — subtract committed funds. Anything earmarked for the down payment, closing costs, or required reserves comes out of the pool first. Only what’s left gets converted into income.
Step four — divide by the program’s month count. This is the single biggest lever in the whole calculation. A shorter divisor produces more qualifying income from the same asset balance; a longer one produces less. Fannie Mae’s guide uses a 360-month divisor for its agency version — one practitioner walkthrough shows the effect clearly: $360,000 in eligible assets divided by 360 months works out to a modest qualifying-income amount, according to Blueprint’s Fannie Mae asset depletion breakdown. That figure is small relative to the asset balance, which is exactly why agency asset depletion rarely gets a high-net-worth buyer very far.
Step five — blend or stand alone. The resulting monthly figure typically gets combined with any documented income and run through a standard debt-to-income calculation. Some structures skip that step entirely and qualify on assets alone.
Step six — document everything. Dated asset statements, standard ID, and a full credit pull are required across the board. The OCC’s bulletin is explicit that ability-to-repay evaluation still means weighing credit history and other debt obligations alongside the asset-derived figure — the asset math supplements underwriting, it doesn’t replace it.
One thing that speeds every file: consolidation. Five statements from two accounts document far more cleanly than fifteen scattered across eight, and underwriters move faster through a tidy file. Assets held steady in the same accounts for months, rather than assembled the week before applying, also read better to any underwriter — stability and clean sourcing matter as much as the balance itself.
The Structures and Variations That Exist
No two lenders build this the same way, and the network Lendmire works with is a good example of that range.
The asset allowance structure divides liquid assets by a set number of months, depending on the situation. It uses 36 months when supplementing other income at a moderate debt-to-income level. It uses 60 months when debt-to-income runs higher. It uses 84 months when the asset allowance stands alone, or when the loan sits above $3,500,000. This path applies to primary and second homes. It’s capped around 80% loan-to-value in most cases, subject to underwriting.
The assets-only structure skips debt-to-income math entirely. It requires U.S. liquid assets equal to the full loan amount, plus closing costs, plus roughly sixty months of any documented net loss on other residential real estate the borrower owns. It’s a conservative, high-liquidity path built for buyers who want zero income math in the file at all.
Retirement accounts generally count at 70% of vested value. This rises to 80% once the account holder turns 59½ or older — the same age-based logic described above. Business funds, gifts, non-revocable trusts, unvested stock, and cryptocurrency don’t count under either structure.
Compare that to the agency version. Fannie Mae’s asset depletion program applies only to primary and second homes, with loan-to-value capped at 70% for borrowers under 62 and up to 80% for borrowers 62 and older, according to Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide. Investment properties don’t qualify under that framework at all, and it doesn’t recognize DSCR-style rental income. That’s a materially tighter box than most non-QM programs offer, and it’s worth knowing before you assume every “asset depletion” ad is describing the same product.
Across our wholesale network, loan sizes on this kind of high-net-worth file run from $300,000 up to $30,000,000, spread across two overlapping wholesale programs — a portfolio non-QM program that carries files to $6,000,000, and a bank portfolio program that carries twelve-month bank-statement files to $30,000,000 on its own leverage ladder: roughly 65% at the smaller end of that range, stepping down to 60% and then 55% as loan size climbs, with interest-only capped at 60% or the band’s ceiling, whichever is lower. Anything above $4,000,000 goes through case-by-case review before it’s even submitted — every leverage figure at that size is a ceiling, never a promise.
Where the General Rule Breaks
Investment property is the biggest fork in the road. Asset depletion, as a consumer ability-to-repay tool, is built around whether the person can carry the payment. A DSCR loan asks a completely different question — whether the property’s rent covers its own payment. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties. Because they are business-purpose investor loans, they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. Under Fannie Mae’s framework specifically, investment properties don’t qualify for asset depletion at all, and market surveys of non-QM investment-property asset depletion commonly describe caps in the 70-75% loan-to-value range — a tighter, more conservative track than a standard rental purchase run through DSCR.
Retirement-account age is a real cliff, not a rounding error. The jump in eligible percentage at 59½ can change a borrower’s coverage figure meaningfully, especially for early retirees or business owners who exited a company before that age.
Crypto and restricted assets get excluded, full stop. Fannie Mae’s guide states directly that cryptocurrency is not eligible under its method, and converting it to cash first doesn’t create eligibility after the fact. Most non-QM programs, including the ones in Lendmire’s network, treat digital assets the same way.
Seasoning windows differ by account type. Funds that were just deposited, gifted, or inherited commonly face longer holding requirements or discounts to face value before a lender will count them at full strength.
There is no universal haircut. Anyone quoting a flat “70% on everything” or “80% across the board” is describing one program’s guideline, not an industry standard. Every lender and non-QM investor sets its own table.
Asset Depletion vs. DSCR: The Investor Decision
For a rental-property investor, asset depletion usually works alongside DSCR financing — it doesn’t replace it. A DSCR loan is reviewed mainly on whether the property’s rental income covers the payment, subject to lender guidelines. No personal income documentation is required. Lendmire’s DSCR vs. no-income-verification comparison explains this distinction in more depth.
Asset depletion often comes up on an investor’s personal side. This might happen when a buyer purchases a primary or second home while also holding a rental portfolio. It might also happen with a reserves-and-down-payment question. Or the buyer’s net worth might sit mostly in a brokerage or retirement account instead of a paycheck. Some non-QM lenders will layer asset-based qualification directly onto an investment-property purchase. Sometimes they combine this with a DSCR structure, so the property’s own cash flow also helps carry the file. But this combined approach typically runs on tighter leverage and heavier reserve requirements than a standalone DSCR loan.
The practical question comes down to documentation burden versus leverage. If a rental property’s rent comfortably covers its full monthly obligation, it can often qualify without touching the buyer’s personal income or asset statements at all. Asset depletion trades that simplicity for a different path — one based on the buyer’s personal balance sheet. This path can close gaps that a property’s own numbers don’t cover on their own.
Reserve requirements scale with loan size across the network. Lenders commonly require 3 months of reserves up to $500,000, 6 months up to $1,500,000, and 9 months above that. They also add two extra months per financed property, up to a 12-month ceiling. First-time investors are often held to a flat 12 months instead. Documentation runs on 12 or 24 consecutive months of bank statements, depending on the program. Lenders divide eligible deposits by the statement count after applying an expense ratio. Transfers from a borrower’s own business into a personal account count in full.
Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; investors should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does asset depletion mean the lender takes control of my accounts? No. The lender models a hypothetical monthly income figure from your asset balance. You keep the accounts, keep investing, and never make a required withdrawal to satisfy the loan.
Is the discount always the same percentage everywhere? No, and treating any single number as universal is a mistake. Each lender writes its own policy on eligible assets, discounts, and divisor length, subject to full underwriting.
Can I use asset depletion to buy a rental property? It depends on the lender. Fannie Mae’s version excludes investment property entirely. Some non-QM programs will extend asset-based qualification to a rental purchase, often at tighter leverage than a standard DSCR file, reviewed case by case.
Does my age affect how much of my retirement account counts? Yes. Retirement funds commonly count at a lower percentage before age 59½ and a higher percentage after, reflecting the early-withdrawal tax the IRS applies below that age.
What if my income comes mostly from investments instead of a job? That’s exactly the profile this method was built for. Founders, retirees, and investors whose wealth sits in a portfolio rather than a salary are common candidates, subject to lender guidelines and full underwriting.
If you’re weighing an asset-based purchase against a straight rental purchase, Lendmire can help you compare DSCR loan options based on the property’s income, your credit profile, available leverage, and your broader goals as an investor.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan programs page.
Self-employed borrowers can compare both super jumbo programs on Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page.
About Lendmire
A non-QM mortgage broker (NMLS# 2371349), Lendmire arranges DSCR financing for real estate investors in 40 markets — 39 states plus Washington, D.C. Because deals are underwritten primarily on property cash flow rather than personal income documentation, the structure suits self-employed buyers and entity-owned portfolios. Lendmire places loans through wholesale investor lenders; it is not a direct lender. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
2. Fannie Mae Selling Guide — General Income Information
3. Blueprint — Fannie Mae Asset Depletion
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Disclosure information. Lendmire is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage under NMLS# 2371349. Lendmire is not a depository institution, direct lender, or financial advisor — all loans referenced are placed through wholesale lender partners and are subject to each lender's underwriting standards. This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not a commitment to lend, nor does it constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Loan programs, terms, rates, and qualification standards change without notice and depend on borrower profile, property type, and the state in which the subject property is located. Equal Housing Opportunity provider. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
