The Quick Read: It depends on how you will use the unit, how large the loan is, and whether the building is warrantable, but through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting, purchases up to a $2,000,000 loan typically need roughly 15% to 25% down. The number rises as the loan grows. Your bank statements decide whether you qualify. The occupancy type, loan size and building decide how much cash you bring.
- Primary residence: the leverage ladder is the most generous, up to 90% on a purchase at a loan size of $1,000,000 or less, but a condo’s own cap can pull that lower.
- Second home or investment property: each has its own ladder. The purchase ceiling runs anywhere from 0 to 15 points under the primary-residence figure, depending on the loan-size band. Read each figure from the occupancy’s own column in the table below.
- Non-warrantable building: leverage on a purchase tops out at 80% through select programs, so plan on at least 20% down.
- Condotel or hotel-style building: leverage on a purchase tops out at 75%, so plan on at least 25% down.
- Above $4,000,000: every file is reviewed case by case before submission, and leverage drops steeply. Every figure here varies by lender and program — guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.
Key Terms Defined
Loan-to-value (LTV) is the loan amount divided by the purchase price or appraised value, whichever is lower. Down payment is 100% minus LTV.
Warrantable condo means the building passes a lender’s project review. That review looks at owner-occupancy, how many units one owner holds, litigation, association finances and commercial space.
Non-warrantable condo means the building fails one or more of those tests. It is a financing label for the building. It is not a verdict on you or on the unit.
Condotel is a condo with hotel-style operations, such as a rental pool or front-desk management.
Reserves are liquid funds you keep after closing, counted in months of the housing payment.
Expense ratio is the share of your deposits that a lender treats as business costs before it counts the rest as income.
What Actually Sets the Number?
The down payment is set by the lower of two leverage limits: the leverage ladder for your occupancy type and loan size, and the cap for the property type. A beachfront condo hits both, which is why it often needs more cash than a house at the same price.
Here is how it works across the wholesale network Lendmire shops. Each program publishes a leverage grid. The grid moves with credit score, loan amount and how you will occupy the property. Then the condo cap applies on top. Warrantable condos run up to 85%, non-warrantable up to 80%, and condotels up to 75% on a purchase. Whichever number is lower wins.
Federal rules don’t set a minimum down payment for any of this. Each program writes its own limits, so the number moves with the program you land in.
The table shows ceilings on a purchase by loan amount, before the condo cap. Every figure is a maximum through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting, and each step also carries a credit-score requirement for that leverage.
| Loan amount | Primary residence | Second home | Investment property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to $1,000,000 | 90% | 85% | 85% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 | 85% | 80% | 80% |
| $2,000,000 to $2,500,000 | 80% | 80% | 80% |
| $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 | 80% | 75% | 75% |
| $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 | 75% | 65% | 60% |
| $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 | 65% on review | 65% on review | 65% on review |
Read the $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 row with care. On a purchase, a second home runs 65% and an investment property runs 60% across that whole band. A primary residence runs 75%. Never read a primary-residence figure as the number for a rental unit.
Above $3,500,000 on a primary residence, and above $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property, super-jumbo overlays apply. These include a 700 credit floor, a clean 24-month housing history, 48 months of seasoning after any credit event and no rural property. They also require U.S. citizen or permanent resident status. Above $4,000,000 the file is reviewed case by case before submission, so treat any figure in that row as a starting point for a conversation.
How Does the Building Change the Math?
Measured against the top primary-residence ladder, the building can add five to fifteen points of required equity. The table applies the condo cap to a purchase at the most generous leverage a program allows.
| Building type | Max leverage on a purchase | Minimum down |
|---|---|---|
| Warrantable condo | 85% | 15% |
| Non-warrantable condo | 80% | 20% |
| Condotel | 75% | 25% |
Now stack the two limits. Picture a second home with a loan between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000. The ladder allows 80% on a purchase. A warrantable building keeps you at 80%, so 20% down. A non-warrantable building also caps at 80%, so the answer stays 20% down. A condotel caps at 75%, so 25% down. Final terms depend on lender guidelines, property type, leverage, and the borrower’s complete credit picture.
Run the same building as an investment property with a loan between $3,000,000 and $3,500,000. The ladder allows only 60% on a purchase. The condo cap no longer matters, because the ladder is already the lower number. That means 40% down. Size changes the answer more than the building does at that level. These specifics are subject to lender guidelines and a full review of property, leverage, and credit.
For primary residences up to $1,000,000, the ladder says 90% on a purchase. A warrantable condo caps at 85%, so the real minimum is 15% down. A non-warrantable one lands at 20% down. Terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, the leverage, and a full review of the credit profile.
Why Do Beachfront Buildings Often Land Outside the Usual Rules?
Beachfront buildings are often investor-heavy, rental-heavy or run like a hotel. Those traits are exactly what a project review screens for. Many oceanfront towers also carry large association budgets, aging structures and big insurance bills, which draw extra attention.
The common triggers fall into a few groups:
- One owner or a few owners holding a large share of the units.
- Low owner-occupancy because most units are second homes or rentals.
- Hotel-style management, rental pools or mandatory rental programs.
- Pending litigation, especially over construction or structural issues.
- Commercial space on the ground floor.
- Special assessments or thin association reserves.
Not every beachfront building trips these wires. A smaller, owner-occupied building on the water can pass cleanly. The point is to find out before you spend money on an appraisal.
Flood coverage is the coastal wrinkle most buyers miss. Associations in participating flood-insurance communities can buy a master policy from FEMA. Per the OCC’s HelpWithMyBank site, the building must be at least 75% residential by floor area, and the maximum building coverage is the lesser of replacement cost or the number of units times $250,000. For a tall, expensive tower, that cap can sit below the cost to rebuild. A lender may look hard at that gap. You may also need your own coverage for interiors and contents.
Beachfront also raises a practical question for rental use. Short-term rental rules can vary by city, county, HOA, and property type, so investors should confirm local rules before relying on projected rental income.
How Do Bank Statements Qualify You?
Bank statement loans qualify you on deposits instead of traditional personal-income documentation. That is the whole reason they exist for founders, physicians, attorneys, entertainers and other owners whose returns understate what they earn.
The mechanics are consistent across the programs Lendmire places files with:
- You provide 12 or 24 consecutive months of personal or business statements. One bank program uses 12.
- Business statements need at least 25% ownership.
- Eligible deposits are divided by the number of statement months, after an expense ratio.
- Fixed expense ratios vary with the type and size of the business, and an accountant can provide a ratio instead.
- A profit-and-loss method is also available, capped at 80%.
- Transfers from your own business into your personal account count at 100%.
- Statements must be consecutive. A transaction history never substitutes.
Other qualifiers are consistent too. The portfolio program’s credit floor is 660, with 700 required above the super-jumbo line. Debt-to-income can run up to 50%. The new payment, including association dues, goes into that ratio. The loan stays a non-QM product, so it is not a way around underwriting. Lenders still make a good-faith determination that you can repay, which the CFPB’s ability-to-repay compliance guide describes. The documentation method changes. The repayment test does not.
Two asset-based paths exist for buyers whose deposits look lumpy. An asset allowance divides liquid assets by 36, 60 or 84 months to create qualifying income, on primary and second homes only, at 80% maximum. An assets-only path needs liquid U.S. assets equal to the loan plus closing costs. Retirement accounts count at 70%, or 80% at age 59.5 and up. Business funds, gifts, cryptocurrency and unvested stock never count toward those asset tests.
What Cash Do You Need Besides the Down Payment?
Plan for the down payment, closing costs, reserves and a cushion for building-level surprises. The percentage on the grid is only the first line of the cash budget.
Reserves are the line that catches people. Through select programs they run 3 months up to a $500,000 loan, 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 are typically asked for 12 months. On super-jumbo files, cash-out proceeds cannot be used to satisfy reserves.
A coastal condo adds three more cash questions:
- Insurance: wind and flood coverage may be required, and the premiums feed your payment ratio.
- Dues: association dues count in your debt-to-income calculation, so a high-dues building uses up room.
- Special assessments: a pending assessment can hit your cash or your qualifying ratio, depending on how it is billed.
The source of the down payment matters as well. Self-employed buyers often run personal and business money through the same accounts. A lender will want to see where large deposits came from. Move money early and keep a paper trail.
Should You Use a Bank Statement Loan or DSCR on a Beachfront Rental?
For a pure rental, a DSCR loan is often the better fit, because the property carries the file instead of your personal income. A bank statement loan adds the new payment to your personal debt-to-income. Each added property uses up room.
A DSCR loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Dues, taxes, insurance and any association assessments all go into that payment, so a high-cost beachfront building can shrink coverage. Programs below 1.00 coverage are available through select lenders in the network, but leverage and terms adjust. The complete DSCR loans guide walks through the coverage math.
Here is the honest call. If you plan to live in the unit part of the year, the bank statement route usually wins, because the primary and second-home ladders are more generous than the investment ladder. If you plan to rent it year-round and own several properties, DSCR usually scales better.
What Should You Check Before You Make an Offer?
Request the building’s paperwork before you pay for an appraisal. A short list does most of the work:
- The association’s budget and reserve study.
- Any pending or recent special assessments.
- The owner-occupancy split and the largest single owner’s share.
- Whether any litigation is open.
- The master insurance policy, including flood coverage and its limits.
- The association’s rules on short-term rentals.
- Whether the building has hotel-style management or a rental pool.
Then ask your broker which programs accept the building before you commit. Lenders differ on how they treat the same building, and a few programs in the network will take a file another passes on.
When Does It Make Sense to Put More Down?
Put more down when the building is non-warrantable, when your deposits are declining, or when the extra equity lifts a file into a better tier. More equity also makes the file easier for a lender to approve. It can also strengthen your reserve position, and some programs adjust terms at lower leverage.
Bring less when the building is clean, your cash is better spent on a second property, and your income documents comfortably support a higher-leverage tier. A beachfront condo is also harder to resell if the building slips from warrantable to non-warrantable, because the pool of buyers shrinks. That exit risk argues for more equity, not less.
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
Is there a minimum down payment for a beachfront condo on a bank statement loan?
No single figure applies. The minimum is 100% minus the lower of the occupancy ladder and the condo cap. Through select wholesale programs, that works out to roughly 15% on a warrantable primary-residence condo at a loan size of $1,000,000 or less, and meaningfully more for second homes, investments and larger loans. The exact numbers vary by lender and program and follow a full review of property, leverage, and credit.
Does being beachfront raise the down payment on its own?
Location alone does not, but what comes with it often does. Beachfront buildings tend to have investor concentration, rental programs, large assessments or litigation. Those traits can make a building non-warrantable or a condotel, which lowers the leverage ceiling to 80% or 75% on a purchase.
Can I use a bank statement loan on a condotel?
Yes, through select programs, with tighter limits. Condotels run up to 75% on a purchase and 65% on a cash-out, and the bank portfolio program caps the cash-out at 50%. Expect a smaller lender pool and a heavier building review. Final terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, and the borrower’s complete credit picture.
Do I need reserves on top of the down payment?
Yes. Reserves are counted separately from the cash you put down. They typically run 3, 6 or 9 months depending on loan size, with extra months for additional financed properties.
Can gift funds cover the down payment?
Sometimes, depending on the program. Gifts do not count toward the asset-based qualification paths, and large deposits need documentation. Ask your broker which program fits before you move money.
Next Step
Bank statement consumer lending is licensed in 16 states: AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, IN, MI, MT, NM, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA and WA. Call 828-256-2183 or request a quote at Lendmire. Nothing here is a commitment to lend.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan programs page.
Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page presents both super jumbo programs, bank statement and DSCR, side by side.
About Lendmire
As a non-QM mortgage broker (NMLS# 2371349), Lendmire facilitates DSCR investor loans across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C. DSCR eligibility is generally reviewed around property-level rental income instead of personal income documentation, subject to lender guidelines, serving LLC-structured portfolios and self-employed borrowers who don’t fit conventional boxes. A two-time Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace (2025, 2026).
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References
1. OCC HelpWithMyBank: Residential Condominium Building Association Policy
2. CFPB Ability-to-Repay/QM compliance guide
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: How to Qualify for a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan in Florida · How to Qualify for a Bank Statement Loan as a Contractor or Builder · How to Qualify for a Bank Statement Loan as a Dentist Who Owns the Practice
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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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.