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
The asset qualifier path reaches $4,000,000 when the usable assets cover the whole loan; the asset depletion path runs from $125,000 to $3,500,000 with the assets converted into income instead. Both are program ceilings, not offers, and the placing lender confirms the amount for the file.
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
90% under the age line, 100% at or past it: that is how a retirement balance is credited when the assets must cover the loan. When the assets are instead converted into income, the same balance counts at 70% whatever the owner’s age. The difference can decide which path fits.
| 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.
For informational purposes only. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit, an offer, or a quote. Program parameters shown are wholesale lender guidelines in force on the date shown, are subject to change without notice, and every figure depends on the borrower, the property, the occupancy, the selected path, and full underwriting. Asset credit percentages and the qualifying arithmetic shown are illustrative; the lender’s own calculation governs. 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 Madison 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 Alabama; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
The paths also differ in occupancy and purpose. When the assets cover the loan, the program reaches principal residences and second homes, on a purchase or a refinance. When the assets become income, investment property joins the list, and cash-out refinances have a published ceiling. A Madison buyer with a rental in mind is on the depletion path by definition.
The asset qualifier path
No employment and no income is documented on this path. That is not a loophole; it is the structure. The lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets themselves, which is why they must cover the whole loan rather than a share of it. A Madison retiree whose statements add up to the loan amount is read on those statements, without a tax return, a pay stub, or a bank statement income calculation.
The asset depletion path
The path exists for the household whose assets are substantial but short of the loan. The minimum is a stated pool of qualified assets or a multiple of the loan balance, whichever is less, with a floor on liquid assets when the depletion income is the only income in the file. When the asset income merely supplements documented earnings, the minimum-assets rule is waived and the combined ratio may run to forty-five percent.
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. A Madison buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
The calculator runs a Madison balance sheet through both paths at once. It credits cash, brokerage, and retirement balances at their shares, flips the retirement credit when the owner is past the age line, measures the total against the loan, and divides the haircut total into a monthly income beside the estimated payment. The arithmetic is illustrative; the lender’s own calculation governs.
Madison’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
Local context for a Madison 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.
Market context only. 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 Madison neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
The Madison market breaks into submarkets, and an asset-based mortgage reads differently in each: a condominium near the center, a second home on the water, an estate on acreage, a rental on the far side of town. The cards describe the typical file in each and what the path choice turns on there.
Second homes in the area
For a second home around Madison, the account rules are unchanged and the second-home row of the leverage table applies. A loan officer shows the usable total on both paths and the leverage the row allows before the offer. About 26% of Madison’s households rent — roughly 5,854 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Historic and estate homes
A grand older home in Madison is an appraisal question first. The asset rules do not change: the usable total is read, the path is chosen, and the loan the leverage allows follows the value the appraiser supports. A margin above the loan protects the path choice. Roughly 16,642 Madison households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 74% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Newer executive subdivisions
A Madison subdivision home bought on assets is read plainly: the comparable sales support the price, the statements are counted, the age rule is applied to retirement accounts, and the path is named. The calculator on this page is seeded to a price typical of such a subdivision. The median owner-occupied home value in Madison runs near $398,800 on the latest Census estimate.
Rural acreage and farmettes
For rural property near Madison, residential use and comparable sales are usually the hardest questions in the file. The usable total and the path are settled first so the buyer knows the loan the assets support before the appraisal answers whether the property qualifies. On a home in Madison 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.
The retiree buying on a portfolio
In a smaller market like Madison the balance sheet often covers the loan outright. When it does not, a supplemented depletion file with the pension and the derived income together is the common answer, with the minimum-assets rule waived. A loan officer runs both versions on the same statements. Median household income in Madison sits near $134,655 on the latest Census estimate.
Lakefront and view properties
Lakefront and view homes near Madison appraise on scarce comparable sales and often carry flood insurance, which enters the depletion path’s ratio as part of the housing payment. On the asset qualifier path the insurance is a cost of ownership; on the depletion path it is part of what the derived income must carry. Madison is home to about 60K people.
Submarkets change the appraisal and the price. They do not change the credit percentages, the haircuts, the divisor, the leverage ceilings, or the seasoning. A Madison file is qualified on those rules wherever the home is.
Four ways Madison buyers put their assets to work.
Four ways Madison 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.
Buy a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
A Madison buyer whose usable assets equal or exceed the loan buys a principal residence or a second home on the asset qualifier path: no employment verified, no tax returns, no income calculation. The down payment is at least the share of the price above the leverage ceiling, the statements cover two months, and the credit score sits at or above the published floor.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
After a sale, the question is documentation rather than qualification. The Madison loan officer traces the proceeds with the sale paperwork, confirms the accounts they landed in, counts the statements, and chooses the path the total supports. Cash-out proceeds from a refinance never count as assets on either path.
Keep the investments invested
For a Madison 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.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
Second homes are a natural fit: a Madison household with a portfolio and a principal residence elsewhere buys the second home on assets, covering the loan outright when the balances allow and depleting them into income when they do not. Rentals follow the depletion path’s investment ceiling and its cash-out rules.
Measure a Madison loan against the assets before requesting a review.
This is an asset coverage estimate, not an approval: it credits each account type the way the program does, switches the retirement credit at the age line, measures the total against the loan, applies the depletion haircuts and the divisor, and estimates the payment at the Freddie Mac benchmark. A Madison loan officer runs the lender’s own version before anything is written.
Madison asset coverage estimate
A worked Madison example to start from: price, loan, cash, brokerage, and retirement balances with the owner under the age line. The results show the asset qualifier verdict first and the depletion reading beneath it.
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 $550,000 price above the Madison 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 Alabama (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.
The same Madison household can often be written three ways. The asset qualifier path asks the assets to cover the whole loan and needs the least paperwork. The asset depletion path does not need the balances to cover the loan and brings the ratio test back. The bank statement loan ignores the balances and reads the deposits instead. Which one fits depends on where the money shows up.
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.
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.
A different question entirely: not what the household owns but what the business brings in. The bank statement loan suits the Madison owner with strong deposits and modest savings, where the asset-based paths suit the household with strong savings and modest deposits. 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 Madison 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 Madison 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. A Madison 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.
Local details that can change the loan.
The figures in the snapshot are the program’s; the details below are where a Madison 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 Madison 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 Madison 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.
- Read the credit report: the depletion path reviews the housing history; the qualifier path publishes a floor.
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. A Madison 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
The lender wants to see that the money has been the borrower’s for a while and is not a loan dressed as an asset. Recent transfers are traced to the account they came from; recent deposits are documented with their source. A Madison file with a clean trail seasons without friction; one with unexplained deposits waits.
Credit and housing history
The asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor; the depletion path reads the score against a matrix where the floor rises with the leverage and the loan amount, and it reads the housing history too: a clean recent record is expected, one late payment in the past year is tolerated, and a Madison file with a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning.
Occupancy decides the path
A principal residence or a second home can be written on either path. An investment property can be written on the asset depletion path only, at a lower leverage ceiling, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score. For a Madison buyer, naming the occupancy honestly is the first step, because it settles which path is open before the balances are read.
Leverage by purpose
The purchase ceiling and the refinance ceiling are not the same on the asset qualifier path, and on the depletion path a cash-out carries its own, lower ceiling on every occupancy. A Madison borrower refinancing on assets plans the new loan against the refinance figure, not the purchase figure, and a cash-out against the cash-out figure.
From a Madison asset review to keys in hand.
The process is short on paperwork about income and long on paperwork about accounts. A Madison buyer who understands that order, statements first, then contract, then underwriting, then closing, arrives at each step prepared.
Asset review
A Madison 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 Madison 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
The final figures arrive in the closing disclosure, the funds to close are wired from a documented account, and the Madison home records in the buyer’s name. Nothing about the portfolio changes unless the buyer chose to draw the down payment from it.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage licensed for consumer lending in sixteen states, and on an asset-based file the brokerage’s job is to read the balance sheet against both paths, place the loan with the wholesale program that fits, and put the terms in writing. The lender is never named on these pages; the arithmetic is.
Both paths, one set of statements
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Madison 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. A Madison 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 a Madison 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.
Madison asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions below are the ones a Madison 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?
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 Madison 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?
It converts assets into income. Cash and certificates of deposit count in full, securities at a lower share, retirement accounts lower still regardless of age, and real-estate equity lowest; the haircut total is divided by the divisor and treated as monthly income. The path reaches principal residences, second homes, and investment property.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
The age line is applied per owner and per account. A Madison 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 published floor opens the asset qualifier path. On the depletion path a first-time investor needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant, and larger loans at higher leverage want more. A Madison loan officer reads the report before the statements are counted, because credit decides the door.
Can I take cash out?
The depletion path has a cash-out row in the leverage table, lower than the purchase and rate-and-term rows. The asset qualifier path publishes a refinance ceiling without a separate cash-out figure, so the lender’s rule governs. Either way the proceeds are not counted toward the usable total.
How large can the loan be?
Up to the snapshot’s figure on assets alone, and up to the depletion path’s figure when assets are read as income, with a published minimum on the depletion side. A Madison file near either ceiling is read closely for how much the usable assets exceed the amount the path requires.
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 a Madison buyer watches; a loan officer plans the funds to close around it.
Do I need to show any income at all?
No tax returns, no pay stubs, no bank statement income calculation on the asset qualifier path. The file is the statements for the qualifying accounts, the credit report, and the appraisal. The depletion path adds a ratio test using the income the assets produce.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
Leverage is capped by path, purpose, and occupancy. The snapshot’s leverage table shows every row. For a Madison buyer the practical reading is the down payment: at least the balance of the price above the purchase ceiling, and more when the assets would not otherwise cover the loan.
Run the Madison asset numbers, then get the terms in writing.
Begin with an asset review: the statements, the loan, the occupancy, the purpose. A Lendmire loan officer sorts the accounts, runs both paths, and puts the written terms for the one that fits in front of you.
This guide covers Madison — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in Alabama, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in Alabama: Huntsville · Decatur · Muscle Shoals · Florence · Gadsden · Birmingham · Anniston · Hoover
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans