Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
The block below is the asset-based program reduced to the figures that decide a file, read from Lendmire’s single guideline source and refreshed on this page when the wholesale sheets change: the loan ceiling on each path, the credit floor, the leverage by purpose and occupancy, and the share of each account type that counts. Everything else on the page is explanation.
Up to $4,000,000 on assets alone; $3,500,000 when assets become income
Up to $4,000,000 on assets alone, and up to $3,500,000 when assets are read as income: the two paths carry different ceilings because they prove ability to repay in different ways. A loan officer confirms which path the file fits before the amount is settled.
The asset qualifier path’s published floor; the depletion path follows the suite’s score and amount matrix
The published floor is 600 for the asset qualifier path. The asset depletion path prices by score tier inside the documentation suite’s matrix, and the leverage available at a given score falls as the loan grows. Either way the score is one input among several, settled in underwriting.
That ceiling on a purchase and 75% on a refinance when assets cover the loan; 60% on a depletion cash-out
The leverage ceilings are 80% for a purchase and 75% for a refinance on the asset qualifier path, and 80% for a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% for a cash-out on the asset depletion path, both on a principal residence or second home. The leverage table shows the investment-property row.
Credited under 59½, and at 59½ or older, when assets cover the loan; 70% at any age when assets become income
A 401(k) or IRA is credited at 90% of its balance for an owner under 59½ and 100% for an owner at 59½ or older on the asset qualifier path; the asset depletion path counts a flat 70% of the balance. Brokerage, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit count in full when the assets cover the loan.
| Account type | Credit toward the loan |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts (stocks, bonds, funds) | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Money market accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Savings and checking | 100% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner under 59½ | 90% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner 59½ or older | 100% of the balance |
| Account type | Share counted |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Securities (stocks, bonds, funds) | 80% of the balance |
| Private stock | 75% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (any age) | 70% of the balance |
| Real-estate equity | 60% of the balance |
| Path and occupancy | Purchase | Rate-and-term | Cash-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier — primary residence or second home | 80% | 75% | set by the lender |
| Asset depletion — primary residence | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — second home | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — investment property | 65% | 65% | 60% |
Two paths behind these pages: on the asset qualifier path the usable assets must equal or exceed the whole loan and no employment or income is documented; on the asset depletion path the usable assets are divided across the published number of months (the table above) into a qualifying income that carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. Reserves are not required on the qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage; the depletion path asks for statements at least one hundred twenty days old plus a current one. Minimum assets on the depletion path: the lesser of one million dollars or one and a quarter times the loan, never below a quarter million liquid when assets are the only income. Lendmire is a broker, not the lender, and the lender is not named.
Current asset-based snapshot · updated October 21, 2026 · a Lendmire loan officer confirms the path, the asset credit, and the leverage for the file before an offer.
Informational only; not a commitment to lend, an approval, or a quote. Every figure on this page is a program parameter read from Lendmire’s guideline source, built on wholesale program sheets, and may change without notice; eligibility, the path, the leverage, and the amount are decided in underwriting. Nothing here is tax or investment advice, and the assets described are never required to be sold or moved by this page. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What an asset-based mortgage is — and how the two paths qualify a file.
The asset-based program is one program with two doors. Through the first, an Ohio buyer walks in with statements that add up to the loan and leaves employment and income out of the file entirely. Through the second, a buyer whose balances do not cover the loan walks in with the same statements and the lender turns them into a monthly figure to test against the payment. The cards below describe each door and the rules at the threshold.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
Think of the two paths as two thresholds. On the asset qualifier path the threshold is the loan amount itself: the credited balances must reach it. On the asset depletion path the threshold is a ratio: the credited balances, divided into monthly income, must carry the housing payment and the other debts. An Ohio file with a large balance sheet usually clears the first; a file with a moderate one is often written on the second.
The asset qualifier path
Two months of statements for each qualifying account document the path, and the balances are read as they stand after the credit percentages. The credit floor is published; the leverage is published; the largest loan is published. What the lender settles file by file is which accounts are eligible and how the age rule applies to each retirement account, and an Ohio loan officer settles that before an offer is written.
The asset depletion path
Occupancy widens on this path: principal residences and second homes at the published purchase and rate-and-term leverage, investment property at a lower ceiling, and cash-out refinances at their own ceiling on every occupancy. Cash-out proceeds never count as assets. An Ohio buyer financing a rental on assets is on this path, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant.
Seasoning, statements, and what counts
Seasoning means how long the money has been where the statements say it is. On the asset qualifier path, two months of statements for each qualifying account is the rule. On the asset depletion path the lender wants statements at least four months old plus the most recent one, with the sale of a business, an inheritance, or a legal settlement excused from the wait. An Ohio buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
Every input below is yours: the Ohio price, the loan, the balances by account type, the owner’s age against the age line, the benchmark, and the carrying costs. The calculator credits the accounts the way the asset qualifier path does, converts them the way the asset depletion path does, and shows the loan against each, with a thirty-year payment at the benchmark for context.
Ohio’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The scale of an asset-based loan in Ohio follows the market: the median value sets the loan size, the ownership figures set the depth of the buyer pool. The figures below, from the U.S. Census Bureau, give the state’s population and median value, then the ownership across the markets Lendmire tracks.
Statewide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Population and owner households describe the depth of the market; the median value describes its height. An asset-based file turns on the second more than the first, because the loan the assets must cover or carry follows the price.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Where Ohio’s asset-rich buyers borrow — market by market.
Each of these Ohio markets has an asset-based guide of its own. The credit shares, the haircuts, the divisor, the seasoning, and the leverage are identical across them; the prices, the housing stock, and the typical buyer are what differ.
Columbus
Columbus carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Ohio footprint, near 172,360, about 44% of households, and in a metropolitan market of that depth the households whose wealth sits in accounts rather than paychecks are a market of their own. Census context: median value near $252,900, median household income near $66,082, population near 915K.
Cleveland
Cleveland carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Ohio footprint, near 70,804, about 42% of households, and in a metropolitan market of that depth the households whose wealth sits in accounts rather than paychecks are a market of their own. Census context: median value near $102,000, median household income near $40,801, population near 366K.
Toledo
Near 63,199 Toledo households own (53% of the total); at the top of that market are the retirees, business sellers, and investors who buy on assets rather than income, and the asset-based paths are written for them. Census context: median value near $114,500, median household income near $49,724, population near 267K.
Cincinnati
Near 57,468 Cincinnati households own (40% of the total); at the top of that market are the retirees, business sellers, and investors who buy on assets rather than income, and the asset-based paths are written for them. Census context: median value near $230,900, median household income near $52,909, population near 311K.
Akron
Akron ranks fifth by owner households in Lendmire’s Ohio footprint, near 42,929, about 51% of households, and in a metropolitan market of that depth the households whose wealth sits in accounts rather than paychecks are a market of their own. Census context: median value near $122,000, median household income near $48,076, population near 189K.
Dayton
Dayton ranks sixth by owner households in Lendmire’s Ohio footprint, near 28,295, about 48% of households, and in a metropolitan market of that depth the households whose wealth sits in accounts rather than paychecks are a market of their own. Census context: median value near $100,600, median household income near $45,247, population near 137K.
The account rules are the same in every Ohio market: which balances count, the credit shares and the age line on the asset qualifier path, the haircuts and the divisor on the asset depletion path, the seasoning, and the leverage by purpose and occupancy do not change with the city. The lender’s property rules and any state rule on a refinance are confirmed by a Lendmire loan officer for each file.
Four ways Ohio buyers put their assets to work.
Four ways Ohio buyers put the program to work, from a principal residence bought on assets alone to a rental financed on depletion income. Each use names the path and the detail that most often decides the file.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
An Ohio buyer whose assets are substantial but short of the loan uses the asset depletion path: the eligible accounts are haircut by type, added up, and divided by the divisor into a monthly income that carries the new payment through the debt-to-income test. The minimum-assets rule applies when that income stands alone, and is waived when it supplements documented earnings.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
An Ohio owner with a mortgage written on income that no longer exists on paper refinances on the asset qualifier path when the usable assets cover the new loan. The refinance leverage sits below the purchase leverage; whether cash can be taken out on this path, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
A second home is reachable on either path at the same purchase leverage; an investment property is reachable on the asset depletion path only, at a lower ceiling. An Ohio buyer financing a rental on assets is qualified on the depletion income, the rental is underwritten as an investment occupancy, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score.
Keep the investments invested
For an Ohio buyer weighing a cash purchase against a mortgage, the asset-based program offers the mortgage without the income file. The assets are counted on paper, the home is financed, and the portfolio stays invested. A loan officer shows the two paths on the actual balances before the offer is written.
Measure an Ohio loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Enter an Ohio price, the loan wanted, and the balances by account type, then choose whether the owner of the retirement accounts is past the age line, and the calculator shows whether the usable assets cover the loan on the asset qualifier path, the largest loan they would cover inside the leverage ceiling, and the monthly income the same accounts would produce on the asset depletion path beside a thirty-year payment at the benchmark.
Ohio asset coverage estimate
Illustrative Ohio figures, all editable: the price, the loan, three account buckets, the age switch for the retirement credit, the benchmark, taxes, insurance, and other monthly debts for the ratio.
Editable benchmark: 7.40% as of October 15, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not an asset-based mortgage quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $500,000 price above the Ohio median, a loan at seventy percent of the price, a balance sheet split among cash, brokerage, and retirement accounts with the owner under 59½, a thirty-year payment at the current Freddie Mac conforming benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for Ohio (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The credit percentages, the haircuts, and the divisor are wholesale program parameters hydrated from Lendmire’s guideline endpoint; the lender’s own calculation governs, and which accounts count, how they season, and what the age rule allows are settled in underwriting. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conforming benchmark, a market reference and not an asset-based mortgage quote; the terms on an asset-based mortgage are set by the lender at lock. Taxes and insurance are estimates. Nothing here is tax or investment advice.
Same buyer, three ways to document the file.
For an Ohio buyer with assets and an unconventional income picture, the comparison is between covering the loan, depleting the assets, and documenting deposits. The cards set out the strengths of each, and the fourth card says where each one fits.
Assets that cover the loan, assets as income, or deposits as income.
Usable assets equal to the whole loan, no employment or income documented, principal residences and second homes, purchase and refinance at the path’s leverage, two months of statements, reserves not required at or below the refinance leverage. The path with the fewest questions, and the one that asks the assets to cover the whole loan.
Haircut assets divided by the divisor into a monthly income, then the debt-to-income test with the new payment. Principal residences, second homes, and investment property; purchase, rate-and-term, and cash-out at published ceilings; a minimum-assets rule when the income stands alone; longer seasoning.
The deposit route reads the statements for inflows rather than balances. For a business owner whose accounts turn over, it usually produces a larger qualifying income than depleting the balance would; for a retiree with no deposits, it produces nothing. See Lendmire’s bank statement loan program.
Assets that cover the loan, assets that become income, deposits that become income: three answers to one question, and the right one for an Ohio household is read off its statements. The comparison on this page is run for real on every file before the lender’s terms are put in writing. Loans above the conforming limit on documented income: Lendmire’s jumbo loan program.
What to prepare for an Ohio scenario review.
Because the assets are the whole case on the asset qualifier path and most of it on the depletion path, the lender reads them carefully. An Ohio buyer who assembles complete statements, with the transfers and the deposits explained, is far less likely to meet the questions that stall a file.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the transaction, the property, the path, the accounts, and the credit picture. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice.
Details that can change the loan.
The figures in the snapshot are the program’s; the details below are where an Ohio file moves. Which side of the age line the owner stands on, how long the money has been in place, which accounts the lender will count, and which path the occupancy allows are settled before the terms are written.
Use these checks to keep the Ohio file clean and fundable.
Before the statements go in: confirm the retirement credit by age, confirm the seasoning by path, and confirm which accounts the lender counts. An Ohio file that clears those three rarely surprises anyone in underwriting.
- Confirm the age rule: a birthday close to the age line can change the usable total and the path.
- Count the months: a sale of a business, an inheritance, or a settlement is excused from the depletion wait.
- Explain the deposits: every large recent deposit is documented with its source.
Retirement accounts and the age line
Retirement balances are the most age-sensitive figure in the program. On the asset qualifier path they are credited by the owner’s age; on the asset depletion path they are haircut at a flat share whatever the age. An Ohio household with a large retirement account and a modest brokerage account is read carefully on both, because the usable totals can land on opposite sides of the loan.
Seasoning by path
Seasoning differs by path. Covering the loan with assets needs two months of statements for each qualifying account. Depleting the assets into income needs a statement at least four months old plus a current one, with sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds excused. An Ohio buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
Large and recent deposits
Sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds are excused from the depletion path’s seasoning but still documented with their source. For an Ohio file, the paperwork behind the deposit is as important as the balance, and gathering it early is what keeps the calendar. The source documents travel with the statements.
The minimum-assets rule on the depletion path
The rule exists so that the depletion income rests on a real pool rather than on arithmetic. It is waived when the asset income supplements documented earnings, which is why an Ohio household with a part-time income and meaningful savings is often written as a supplemented file rather than a standalone one.
Occupancy decides the path
The occupancy also moves the leverage. On the depletion path the investment-property row sits below the owner-occupied rows for a purchase and matches them for a cash-out. An Ohio rental financed on assets is a depletion file at the investment ceiling, read with the rental’s own appraisal and the program’s investor rules.
From an Ohio asset review to keys in hand.
From the first conversation to the keys, an Ohio asset-based file passes four stages. The first is the one that differs from an income loan: the statements are read, the accounts are sorted, the usable total is calculated on both paths, and the path is chosen before anything else happens.
Asset review
An Ohio asset review is a sizing exercise with the account rules open: the balances by type, the share credited on each path, the total against the loan, the income against the payment. The loan officer writes the outcome down for the offer. Nothing is assumed; every account is read from its statement.
Contract and appraisal
With the path settled, the Ohio offer is written to the leverage the path allows, and the appraisal is ordered once the contract is signed. The appraised value, not the price, sets the leverage on a refinance, and the lower of the two on a purchase.
Underwriting
Underwriting on an asset-based file is about the accounts: every page of every statement, every large deposit explained, every retirement owner’s age confirmed, the seasoning counted. On the depletion path the ratio is calculated with the new payment; on the asset qualifier path the total is confirmed against the loan.
Closing
At closing the down payment and the closing costs are paid, the loan funds, and the accounts that qualified the file stay where they were. The lender reads the balances as they stand after the funds to close are drawn, which is why an Ohio file keeps a margin above the threshold.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
A single lender with one asset program sells that program. A brokerage with both paths on the table can say which one an Ohio file supports and why. That is the service: the statements read twice, the usable totals shown side by side, the recommendation following the numbers.
Both paths, one set of statements
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Ohio file: assets that cover the loan beside assets that become income beside deposits read as income, and the written terms follow from it. The buyer sees the usable total on each path, the margin above the loan, and the derived income beside the payment before anything is signed.
The account rules explained before the offer
Reading the statements early is the whole method. An Ohio loan officer sorts the accounts, confirms the owners’ ages against the age line, counts the months, and names the usable total on each path, in writing, before an offer is drafted. The aim is a file with as little as possible left to be discovered in underwriting.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Every figure on this page is a program parameter drawn from one guideline source. The written terms for an Ohio file come from a licensed loan officer after the review, the credit report, and the appraisal; the page is where the method is explained, not where the loan is made.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Ohio asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions below are the ones an Ohio loan officer hears first from a buyer who has assets and no income on paper. The answers describe the program’s rules in words; the figures live in the snapshot above.
What is an asset-based mortgage?
Think of it as the mortgage for the buyer who could pay cash but would rather not. The accounts stay invested, the lender reads them on paper, and the loan is sized to what the usable assets cover or to the income they produce. For an Ohio household with wealth and little income on paper, it is often the mortgage that fits.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
The lender adds up the eligible accounts, credits each at its share, and compares the total with the loan. If the total equals or exceeds the loan, the Ohio file is qualified on assets alone: no employment verification, no tax returns, no income calculation. The leverage is a share of the price on a purchase and a lower share of the value on a refinance.
How does the asset depletion path work?
The depletion path can carry a loan the balances would not cover outright, but it brings the ratio back. When the asset income stands alone, a minimum pool of qualified assets applies; when it supplements documented earnings, the minimum is waived and the combined ratio may run to forty-five percent. An Ohio loan officer runs both versions where earnings exist.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
Under 59½, the asset qualifier path credits most of a 401(k) or IRA; at or past 59½, all of it. The depletion path ignores age and applies its own haircut before dividing by the months. The calculator on this page has a switch for the age line so an Ohio buyer can see the difference on the actual balances.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
Assets do not replace credit. An Ohio borrower needs the score at or above the floor for the path; the depletion path also reads the housing history, tolerates one late housing payment in the past year at a cost, and does not accept repeated bankruptcies. The score is read from the report at application.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
Second homes are a natural asset-based file in Ohio: the household has a principal residence elsewhere and a portfolio, and the second home is financed on the statements. Rentals are depletion files by definition, underwritten as investment occupancies on the program’s investor rules.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
Yes, and the program is built for it. Once two months of statements show the proceeds in the account, the asset qualifier path reads them toward covering the loan with no income in the file. On the depletion path, sale-of-business funds are excused from the usual seasoning and documented with the sale paperwork instead.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
On the asset qualifier path a purchase reaches the purchase share of the price shown in the snapshot and a refinance the lower refinance share of the value; on the asset depletion path a purchase or rate-and-term refinance reaches the same share and a cash-out stops lower. Whether cash-out is offered on the asset qualifier path, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and not published, so an Ohio loan officer confirms the treatment before a refinance is structured.
Are reserves required?
Not at or below the refinance leverage on the asset qualifier path, and the depletion path lists no reserve months; above the refinance leverage the lender sets the requirement. The practical reserve question is different: a file that just clears the asset threshold before closing may not clear it after the down payment leaves the account, and the calculator’s margin is the figure an Ohio buyer watches; a loan officer plans the funds to close around it.
Can I take cash out?
An Ohio owner refinancing on assets plans a cash-out against the depletion path’s cash-out ceiling, which sits below the rate-and-term ceiling on every occupancy. The usable total is read before the proceeds, never after, because cash-out proceeds are excluded from the assets by rule.
Buy on assets in Ohio on the path that fits.
An asset-based review is the first step, and it asks only for the statements. The statements are read against both paths and a bank statement loan, and the recommendation follows the numbers.
This guide covers Ohio — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans