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
Loan size follows the path. Covering the loan outright with usable assets reaches $4,000,000; spreading a pool of assets into a monthly income reaches $3,500,000 and starts at $125,000. The amount on either path is a program parameter, subject to the lender’s guidelines at lock.
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
On the asset qualifier path a purchase reaches 80% of the price and a refinance 75% of the value, on a principal residence or a second home. On the asset depletion path a purchase or rate-and-term refinance reaches the same 80% on those occupancies, and a cash-out refinance stops at 60%.
Credited under 59½, and at 59½ or older, when assets cover the loan; 70% at any age when assets become income
The age line at 59½ is a program rule, not a tax rule, though it echoes one: below it the asset qualifier path credits 90% of a retirement balance, above it 100%. The asset depletion path ignores age and counts 70% of the balance before dividing by the months.
| 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.
Not a commitment to lend, not an offer of credit, not a quote. The figures shown are current wholesale program parameters that change without notice and apply only after full underwriting of the borrower and the property; the lender is never named on this page and no rate, fee, or payment is quoted. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, licensed to broker consumer mortgages in sixteen states. NMLS #2371349.
What an asset-based mortgage is — and how the two paths qualify a file.
An asset-based mortgage is a consumer mortgage qualified on what a household owns rather than what it earns. The program behind these pages offers two ways to prove ability to repay from assets, and the choice between them is the first decision in a Chico file: cover the loan outright, or convert the assets into income. The cards below walk through the paths, the account rules, and the seasoning.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program, or the statewide guide at Asset-Based Mortgage in California; 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. A Chico 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 a Chico 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. A Chico 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 is the proof that the assets are the borrower’s to keep: two months of statements on the asset qualifier path, older statements plus the current one on the asset depletion path. Large recent deposits inside that window are read, not ignored: a transfer between the borrower’s own accounts is documented as such, a sale of property or a business with its paperwork, and a gift under the lender’s gift rules. A Chico file that shows the trail cleanly meets fewer questions in underwriting.
Two paths, one set of inputs. The calculator shows the largest loan the assets would cover on the asset qualifier path inside the leverage ceiling, and the monthly income the same accounts would produce on the asset depletion path, so a Chico buyer can see which path the balance sheet favors before a loan officer confirms it.
Chico’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
Local context for a Chico asset-based file: how many people live here, what a typical home is worth, how many households own rather than rent, and how large the owner pool is. None of these figures enters underwriting; all of them shape the price a loan officer sees first.
Read the figures as backdrop. 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.
Distinct Chico neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
Where a Chico buyer is looking shapes the file as much as the balance sheet does. The cards below walk through the city’s submarkets and the asset-based questions each raises: the price the assets must cover, the occupancy the path allows, and the valuation the appraiser faces.
Close-in architect-designed homes
A distinctive Chico house is a distinctive appraisal. The asset side of the file is unaffected, but the leverage ceiling is applied to the appraised value, so a buyer on the asset qualifier path plans the usable total with room for the value to land under the contract. On a home in Chico priced at or above the median, the asset qualifier path finances up to 80% of the price on a purchase — the balance of the price is the down payment, and the usable assets must cover the loan itself.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Small multi-unit buildings in Chico attract the asset-rich buyer who wants rental income beside the portfolio. Financed as an investment, the file is a depletion file: haircut assets divided into income, the investment leverage row, and a stronger score for a first-time investor. About 57% of Chico’s households rent — roughly 24,304 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
A newer Chico home at the top of the market rarely draws condition notes; the question is whether the balance sheet covers a loan that size or converts into an income that carries it. The loan officer reads the statements against the program ceiling before the contract. Roughly 18,639 Chico households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 43% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
Chico’s high-rise and luxury condominiums draw the buyers the program is built for: a household downsizing from a house it owns outright, with the proceeds in a brokerage account and no salary to show. The unit is a principal residence or a second home on either path, the dues enter the depletion ratio, and the lender’s project review runs alongside the asset review. Chico is home to about 102K people.
Estate properties
An estate purchase on assets is sized against the program ceiling and the usable total at once. A Chico buyer near the ceiling is read closely on the margin, on which accounts count, and on the age rule for retirement money, because a small change in the credited total moves a large loan. The median owner-occupied home value in Chico runs near $468,100 on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
A Chico pied-à-terre bought by a household whose principal residence is elsewhere is a second-home file at the second-home leverage on either path. The asset qualifier path covers the loan with the statements; the depletion path converts them. Neither asks about the income that supports the other home. Median household income in Chico sits near $66,977 on the latest Census estimate.
Whichever Chico neighborhood the home sits in, the asset-based questions are the same: which accounts count, at what share, whether the total covers the loan, and if not, what income the depletion path produces. The cards are context; the snapshot is the rule.
Four ways Chico buyers put their assets to work.
Four ways Chico 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.
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. A Chico 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.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
Depletion is the path for the household with meaningful savings and a modest paycheck, or no paycheck at all. The assets are read as income rather than as collateral, the leverage matches the qualifier path on a purchase, and the ratio test comes back into the file. A Chico loan officer runs both paths before recommending this one.
Keep the investments invested
Borrowing against the strength of a balance sheet rather than spending it is the program’s quiet use. The Chico buyer keeps the brokerage account, the retirement accounts, and the savings in place; the lender reads the statements and writes the loan. Which path fits depends on whether the credited total reaches the loan and on the occupancy, since a rental is a depletion file.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
A Chico 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.
Measure a Chico loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Use the calculator to see which path a Chico balance sheet favors. If the usable assets cover the loan, the asset qualifier path is open and no income enters the file; if they fall short, the depletion reading beside it shows the monthly income the assets would produce and the payment that income would need to carry.
Chico asset coverage estimate
The calculator is seeded with a Chico price above the median, a loan inside the purchase leverage, and accounts split three ways. Edit the price, the loan, the balances, the age switch, the benchmark, or the carrying costs, and both paths recompute.
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 $650,000 price above the Chico 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 California (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.
Three routes to the same closing table, compared on what each one counts: the balance sheet in full, the balance sheet as income, or the deposit history of a business owner. A Chico loan officer prices the route the file supports best, and the comparison below explains how the choice is made.
Assets that cover the loan, assets as income, or deposits as income.
When the credited balances reach the loan, nothing else about income needs to be shown. The trade is the threshold: the assets must cover the loan itself, not a share of it, and investment property is not on this path. Reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage, and the file is the statements, the credit report, and the appraisal.
The path for the household whose savings are real but smaller than the loan. It can carry a loan the balances would not cover outright, widens the occupancies to include rentals, and adds a cash-out ceiling; in exchange it brings the ratio back and counts retirement money at a flat haircut.
Business or personal deposits over a run of statements, read as income with an expense factor, for the self-employed owner whose tax returns understate the business. Balances are not the point; cash flow is. Leverage and reserves follow that program’s own matrix. 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 a Chico 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 a Chico scenario review.
An asset-based file is documented through statements rather than pay stubs, so the preparation is account-centered: every eligible account, every page of every statement for the required months, and the paperwork behind any large or recent deposit. The list below is the usual Chico set.
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.
Local details that can change the loan.
A handful of details decide whether a Chico asset-based file closes as planned, closes on a different path, or needs a larger down payment. The lead items below are the age rule on retirement accounts and the seasoning; the others rotate by file.
Use these checks to keep the Chico 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. A Chico file that clears those three rarely surprises anyone in underwriting.
- Confirm the age rule: each retirement account is credited by its owner’s age on the asset qualifier path.
- Count the months: the depletion path wants a statement at least four months old plus a current one.
- Check the minimum: the pool is measured after the haircuts, not at face value.
Retirement accounts and the age line
The owner’s age decides how much of a 401(k) or IRA counts on the asset qualifier path: a reduced share under 59½ and the full balance from 59½ on. For a Chico file built mostly on retirement money, a birthday can be the difference between covering the loan and falling short, and a loan officer checks the date against the age line before the path is chosen.
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. A Chico buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
The minimum-assets rule on the depletion path
When depletion income is the only income in the file, the pool of qualified assets must meet a minimum: the lesser of a stated amount or a multiple of the loan balance, and never below a liquid floor. A Chico buyer with a small loan clears it easily; a buyer with a large loan and a modest pool may not, and the minimum is read before the income is even calculated.
Reserves by path
The practical question for a Chico file is whether the down payment and closing costs come out of the same accounts that cover the loan. They can, but the lender reads the balances after those draws, so a file that just clears the threshold before closing may not clear it after. The calculator’s margin is the figure to watch.
Supplementing income with asset income
Standalone or supplemented is a choice the loan officer makes with the borrower. Standalone depletion income needs the minimum pool; supplemented income needs documented earnings and a combined ratio within forty-five percent. A Chico file is run both ways when the earnings exist, and the version with the better ratio is the one placed.
From a Chico asset review to keys in hand.
The process is short on paperwork about income and long on paperwork about accounts. A Chico buyer who understands that order, statements first, then contract, then underwriting, then closing, arrives at each step prepared.
Asset review
The first conversation settles the shape of a Chico file: which path the balances support, what leverage the purpose allows, how long the accounts have seasoned, and whether the usable total clears the loan with a margin. The review names the path, and the loan officer writes the outcome down before any offer is drafted.
Contract and appraisal
A Chico buyer on assets competes like any financed buyer: the contract, the appraisal contingency, and the timeline are the usual ones. What differs is that no employment verification sits in the path on the asset qualifier side, so the file is often quieter than an income file at this stage.
Underwriting
Conditions, when they come, are usually documentary: a missing statement page, a deposit without its source, an account that needs its holdings shown. A Chico buyer who gathered the list on this page meets most of them before they are asked. The underwriter’s questions are the loan officer’s questions asked a second time, on the same statements.
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 a Chico file keeps a margin above the threshold.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
The program behind these pages is placed with select lenders in Lendmire’s wholesale network, and Lendmire is never the lender. What the brokerage adds is the comparison: the asset qualifier path against the depletion path against a bank statement loan on the same Chico statements, and written terms for the one that fits.
Both paths, one set of statements
A Chico file is never assumed onto a path. The balances are read both ways, and when the depletion income would supplement documented earnings that version is run as well. The recommendation is the version with the cleanest file and the leverage that fits the purpose. The loan officer shows the arithmetic, not just the answer.
The account rules explained before the offer
Which accounts count, how retirement money is credited by age, how long each account must season, what a large deposit needs behind it: a Chico buyer hears these before the contract is signed, not after the underwriter asks. The margin above the threshold is shown, so the down payment and the closing costs can be planned around it.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, and the lender behind these pages is never named. The program parameters shown are wholesale guidelines, subject to change and to full underwriting; the Chico loan officer’s written terms are what the buyer relies on.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Chico asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions Chico buyers bring to an asset-based mortgage, answered in order: the two paths, the age rule, the seasoning, the eligible accounts, the leverage, the occupancies, and the comparison with a bank statement loan.
What is an asset-based mortgage?
Asset-based means the ability to repay is shown through accounts. The program behind these pages reaches principal residences and second homes on the path that documents no income, adds investment property on the path that converts assets into income, and is placed with select lenders in Lendmire’s network.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
On this path the assets are the ability to repay, which is why they must cover the loan itself rather than a share of it. A Chico loan officer calculates the usable total before the offer, and a shortfall is usually answered with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan to what the assets cover.
How does the asset depletion path work?
The lender haircuts each eligible account by type, adds up what remains, and divides the total by a fixed number of months to produce a monthly qualifying income. That income is then run through the debt-to-income test with the new payment and other debts. A Chico buyer whose assets are meaningful but short of the loan is written this way.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
The age line is applied per owner and per account. A Chico couple with accounts on both sides of 59½ sees each credited by its own owner’s age, and the sum counts against the loan. The accounts are not drawn on; the rule governs the credit, not the custody.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
The asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor, shown in the snapshot above. The asset depletion path reads the score against the documentation suite’s matrix, where the floor rises with the leverage and the loan amount. On the depletion path the housing history is reviewed as well, and a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning; the qualifier path publishes the floor alone.
How is this different from a bank statement loan?
A bank statement loan reads the deposits flowing into a self-employed owner’s accounts as income; an asset-based mortgage reads the balances sitting in the accounts. The first suits the Chico business owner with strong cash flow and modest savings; the second suits the household with strong savings and little or no income. Lendmire places both.
What sets the timeline on an asset-based mortgage?
The program sets no closing date of its own; the contract, the appraisal, and the completeness of the file set the pace. The seasoning is the one timing rule the program itself imposes: two months of statements on the asset qualifier path, longer on the depletion path except for excused funds. A Chico loan officer reads the calendar at the review.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
Yes to both, on different paths. For a second home a Chico buyer covers the loan on the asset qualifier path when the balances allow and depletes them into income when they do not. For a rental only the depletion path is open, and it is read with the investment-property row of the leverage table.
How large can the loan be?
Large. The path that covers the loan with assets reaches well into the jumbo range, and the path that converts assets into income reaches nearly as far. For a Chico buyer the practical limit is usually the balance sheet rather than the program: the loan the assets cover, or the payment the derived income carries.
Are reserves required?
Not on the asset qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage; above it the lender sets the requirement. The depletion path lists no reserve months of its own, though the assets producing the income are by nature in reserve. A Chico loan officer confirms what, if anything, must be held after closing.
Keep the portfolio invested and finance the Chico home on it.
When you are ready, a Chico review sizes the loan, settles the path and the leverage, and produces written terms. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend.
This guide covers Chico — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in California, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in California: Yuba City · Redding · Lincoln · Rocklin · Roseville · Woodland · Citrus Heights · Davis
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans