The Quick Read: This loan replaces your existing first mortgage, pays you part of your equity in cash, and is reviewed around twelve or twenty-four months of bank deposits instead of traditional personal-income documentation, which helps business owners whose write-offs shrink their reported income, though leverage, credit, and reserves tighten sharply as the balance climbs. Underwriters do not count every deposit. They remove transfers and one-time items, apply an expense ratio to business deposits, and average what is left. Everything below runs through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting.
- Size: Loans run from $300,000 to $30,000,000 across two programs, and every file above $4,000,000 is reviewed case by case before submission.
- Leverage: On a primary residence, cash-out tops out at 80% for loans to $1,500,000 and steps down as the loan grows.
- Income: Qualifying income is eligible deposits, less an expense ratio, divided by the statement months, and your ownership share matters.
- Credit and reserves: A 660 credit floor applies on the portfolio non-QM program. Reserves run 3, 6, or 9 months depending on loan size.
- Proceeds: Cash-out is unlimited at or below 60% LTV on the portfolio program, with a $1,500,000 cap above that. Terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, the leverage, and a full review of the credit profile.
Key Terms Defined
Super jumbo: a market label, not a legal one, for loans far above standard jumbo size. In practice it means files in the millions, where lenders tighten leverage and review each file individually.
Bank statement loan: a mortgage that qualifies your income from deposit history instead of tax-return net income. It is not a no-paperwork loan. It requires consecutive statements and a line-by-line deposit review.
Cash-out refinance: a new first mortgage that pays off the old one and hands you the extra equity in cash. Its leverage ceiling is lower than a rate-and-term refinance, which only changes the loan terms without pulling cash out.
Expense ratio: the percentage of business deposits the lender treats as operating cost instead of income.
Reserves: liquid assets you must hold after closing, counted in months of the new obligation.
Portfolio non-QM program: a wholesale program that reaches loans up to $6,000,000 and sets its own income and credit rules.
Bank portfolio program: a wholesale program from a bank that keeps its loans on its own books. It carries twelve-month-statement files up to $30,000,000 on its own size ladder, which begins above $4,000,000 and overlaps the portfolio non-QM program to $6,000,000.
Why Tax Returns Undersell a Business Owner
Traditional personal-income review measures the bottom line of your return. Depreciation, owner perks, and legitimate write-offs lower that number. Many founders, physicians, attorneys, and practice owners show less income on paper than they actually move through their accounts.
A bank statement program starts from cash instead. It asks what actually came in and how much of it was real operating profit. That is a different question from the one a tax return answers, and for a self-employed borrower it often produces a truer number.
Documented income still has to hold up. The lender checks credit, debt-to-income (DTI), reserves, and the property. The method for proving income changes. The need to prove it does not.
How Underwriting Builds Your Income, Step by Step
Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, the sequence is consistent even when the details differ.
1. Pick the statement window. Most programs accept 12 or 24 consecutive months of personal or business statements. The bank portfolio program uses 12. Statements must be consecutive, and a transaction history never substitutes for them.
2. Pick the account type. Personal statements work when deposits clearly trace to your business or profession. Business statements require at least 25% ownership of the business.
3. Strip the non-income deposits. Underwriters go line by line and remove transfers between your own accounts, one-time deposits, loan proceeds, and anything unrelated to the business.
4. Apply the expense ratio. On business statements, the lender cuts deposits by a percentage. Fixed ratios vary by program and business type, with lower ratios generally applied to a service business with no employees and higher ratios applied to businesses with more employees or any product business. A ratio from your accountant can replace the fixed one. A profit-and-loss method is also available, capped at 80%.
5. Credit your ownership share. If you own 60% of the business, only 60% of the adjusted deposits count.
6. Average over the window. Eligible deposits, after the expense ratio, are divided by the number of statement months.
7. Run DTI and reserves. The result goes against the new obligation and your other debts. DTI can reach 50% through select programs.
One detail helps owners with a personal account. Transfers from your own business into your personal account count at 100%, because the expense burden was already absorbed on the business side.
A Modeled Walkthrough
This is an illustration, not a quote. Say you own 100% of a consulting firm with three employees and you submit 12 months of business statements. After the lender removes transfers and one-off deposits, the 40% fixed ratio leaves 60% of eligible deposits as income. That is spread across 12 months.
Now say your accountant documents a lower true expense ratio. Some programs will use it, which raises qualifying income without any change to your deposits. The lender sets the ratio, though, not you. Beyond the accountant’s ratio and a fixed bracket, a profit-and-loss method is another way some programs qualify the same borrower.
Where the Documentation Paths Split
Deposits are one of several ways to qualify at this size. Your best path depends on where your wealth sits.
| Path | Best fit | What you provide |
|---|---|---|
| Bank statements | Owner with strong deposits | 12 or 24 months of statements |
| Profit-and-loss method | Owner with a clean accountant file | P&L, capped at 80% |
| Asset allowance | Owner with large liquid assets | Liquid asset statements |
| Assets-only | Asset-rich, income-light borrower | Liquid assets equal to the loan plus costs |
| DSCR | Rental portfolio owner | The property’s rent against its payment |
The asset allowance divides liquid assets by 36, 60, or 84 months to create income. It applies to primary and second homes only, with an 80% maximum. Assets-only needs no DTI. It requires U.S. liquid assets equal to the loan amount plus closing costs, plus sixty months of any net loss on other residential property. Retirement accounts count at 70%, or 80% at age 59.5 and older. Business funds, gifts, unvested stock, and cryptocurrency never count.
Bank statement files build a personal income number from deposits. DSCR loans do not. They test rent against the property’s full monthly obligation. A business owner with strong deposits and one property fits bank statements. An investor with a large rental portfolio often fits DSCR better. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide covers that path.
How Leverage Steps Down as Loans Get Larger
Leverage ceilings fall as the loan grows, and cash-out ceilings sit below purchase and rate-and-term. The figures below are cash-out ceilings on a primary residence, through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting.
| Loan size | Cash-out ceiling | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| $300K–$1M | 80% | 680+ |
| $1M–$1.5M | 80% | 700+ |
| $1.5M–$2M | 75% | 720+ |
| $2M–$2.5M | 70% | 720+ |
| $2.5M–$3M | 70% | 720+ |
| $3M–$3.5M | 65% | 720+ |
| $3.5M–$4M | 65% | 760+ |
| $4M–$5M | 60%, on review | 680+ |
| $5M–$6M | 55%, on review | 680+ |
| $6M–$10M | 55%, on review | 680+ |
| $10M–$20M | 50%, on review | 680+ |
| $20M–$30M | 50%, on review | 680+ |
Above $4,000,000, every figure is reviewed case by case before submission. Treat those cells as a starting point for a conversation, not a promise. A second home or investment property typically runs about five points lower at every size. For example, an investment-property cash-out in the $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 band tops out at 60%.
You can read a deeper comparison in Lendmire’s piece Rate-and-Term vs Cash-Out on a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Refinance. The short version is that cash-out costs you leverage in exchange for proceeds.
Cash-Out Limits and Reserves
Cash-out is unlimited at or below 60% LTV on the portfolio non-QM program. Above 60%, proceeds are capped at $1,500,000 cash in hand. The bank portfolio program publishes no cap. Interest-only structures exist at this size, but they never lift a cash-out ceiling. The exact numbers vary by lender and program and follow a full review of property, leverage, and credit.
Reserves run 3 months up to $500,000, 6 months up to $1,500,000, and 9 months above that. Each additional financed property adds 2 months, up to a 12-month maximum. First-time investors carry 12 months. Above the super-jumbo line, the cash you pull out cannot satisfy those reserves. You need the liquidity from somewhere else.
The Super-Jumbo Overlays
Above $3,500,000 on a primary residence, and above $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property, extra rules apply:
- A 700 credit floor and a 0x30x24 housing history.
- 48 months of seasoning after any credit event.
- U.S. citizens and permanent residents only, with no non-occupant co-borrowers.
- No rural property, and ten acres maximum.
Credit floors vary by program. Pricing and available terms vary by lender, borrower profile, property type, and full underwriting review.
Where the General Rule Breaks
The step-by-step above covers most files. These edge cases are where deals get restructured.
Lumpy or seasonal deposits. Averaging smooths a strong quarter, but it also drags in a weak one. A 24-month window helps an owner whose income is rising or lumpy, but it can hurt if the earlier year was strong and the recent one is soft. A 12-month window helps in the opposite case.
Commingled accounts. Some programs allow business and personal money in one account and some do not. Across the network, this is one of the most common reasons a file moves to a different program.
Below 25% ownership. If you own less than a quarter of the business, its statements will not carry the income. Personal statements or an asset path may fit better.
Texas home-equity loans. A Texas 50(a)(6) loan takes a 5-point LTV reduction and stops at $3,000,000 on the portfolio program.
Condos and special property. Warrantable condos reach 85%, non-warrantable 80%, and condotels 75% on a purchase and 65% on a cash-out (50% on the bank program). Second homes are one unit only. Rural property tops out at 80% on ten acres or less and never above $3,000,000.
Short-term rentals. The appraisal’s rent schedule form was not built for them, so rental income needs extra support.
Purpose Decides the Paperwork
The same loan can carry different rules depending on what you do with the money. Cash-out from a primary residence is a consumer-purpose loan. Cash-out that funds a business or an investment property is business-purpose, and it is reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage.
The label on the property is not what decides it. The federal rule on business-purpose credit, Regulation Z section 1026.3, looks at the loan’s primary purpose. Its commentary points to the share of income tied to the purchase, the size of the transaction, and your stated purpose.
For a consumer-purpose cash-out, a bank statement loan still has to meet the ability-to-repay standard. Bank statements are a way to document income. They are not a way around that test.
When the proceeds fund a rental, a business expansion, or other business use, lenders typically collect a business-purpose certification. Lendmire’s piece on how a bank statement lender underwrites business-use cash-out walks through that file.
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.
What the Decision Looks Like in Practice
Picture a physician-owner of a four-doctor practice. Her returns show modest net income after equipment write-offs, but her business account shows strong, steady deposits. She wants cash out of her primary residence for a practice buildout and a rental purchase. She owns more than 25% of the practice, has strong credit, and a loan in the $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 band.
Her path looks like this. Through select wholesale programs, the cash-out ceiling for that band on a primary residence is 65%, with 720+ credit. Above 60% LTV, the portfolio non-QM program caps cash in hand at $1,500,000. Reserves run at the 9-month tier. Her income comes from deposits after the expense ratio for a practice with employees. If her DTI lands under 50%, the file can go to underwriting. Final terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, and the borrower’s complete credit picture.
Run the other way and the answer changes. If she wants more than the cap allows, she can ask whether a lower LTV unlocks unlimited proceeds, since the cap disappears at or below 60%. If her deposits are thin, an asset path might fit better. If the rental purchase is the real goal, DSCR might carry that property on its own rent.
A few questions to settle before applying:
- Do I need the maximum proceeds, or would a lower LTV leave me more flexibility?
- Is my accountant’s expense ratio lower than the fixed bracket, and can it be documented?
- Do I have liquidity for reserves that does not depend on the cash-out?
- Does this loan beat a second lien or a rate-and-term refinance for what I actually need?
Cash-out here usually costs more in leverage and flexibility than a conventional loan. It buys you a qualification path that traditional personal-income documentation cannot offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do this without traditional personal-income documentation?
Yes, on programs built for self-employed borrowers. You document income with 12 or 24 months of consecutive statements, a P&L method, or an asset path. You still provide credit, reserve, and property documentation, and lender guidelines apply.
Should I use personal or business statements?
It depends on where your income lands. Personal statements work when deposits trace clearly to your business. Business statements need at least 25% ownership and take an expense ratio, but they show the full operating picture. Transfers from your own business into your personal account count at 100%.
Does the cash I pull out count toward reserves?
Not above the super-jumbo line. Above $3,500,000 on a primary residence, and above $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property, cash-out proceeds cannot satisfy reserves. Below those sizes, reserve treatment depends on the program.
Is there a limit on how much cash I can take?
On the portfolio non-QM program, proceeds are unlimited at or below 60% LTV and capped at $1,500,000 in hand above 60%. Above $4,000,000, every file is reviewed case by case before submission. Each figure is subject to lender guidelines and a complete review of property type, leverage, and credit.
Where is this offered?
Lendmire’s consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states: AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, IN, MI, MT, NM, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WA. Programs change, and every file is underwritten individually.
Next Step
If you are financing a high-balance property on business or personal bank statements and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare super jumbo bank statement loan options based on your deposits, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals. Lendmire is a broker that shops multiple wholesale programs and is not the lender. Nothing here is a commitment to lend.
A deeper walk-through of investment-property equity extraction lives in Lendmire’s guide to cash-out refinance on an investment property.
Self-employed borrowers can compare both super jumbo programs on Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page.
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Informational only. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
About Lendmire
Lendmire, NMLS# 2371349, is a non-QM mortgage broker serving real estate investors in 41 markets, including Washington, D.C., through DSCR investor loan programs. Qualification is generally reviewed around the subject property’s rental income, not the borrower’s W-2 history — a practical fit for LLC-titled portfolios and self-employed investors. All scenarios remain subject to lender review and program guidelines. Two consecutive Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace recognitions (2025, 2026).
This article is part of Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Super Jumbo Bank Statement LTV on Purchase vs Cash-Out · Can a Founder Use a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Cash-Out to Invest? · Reserve Requirements for Super Jumbo Bank Statement Cash-Out Refinance
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Legal disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage that arranges financing through wholesale lender relationships. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or registered financial advisor. The discussion above is general informational content about real estate financing — it is not financial, legal, or tax advice, and readers should consult licensed professionals for guidance on their individual circumstances. Loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not represent a commitment to lend. Loan terms, rates, and qualification standards vary by borrower, property, and state, and are subject to change at any time. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.