Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
Four cards and three tables carry every figure an asset-based file turns on, drawn from one source built on the wholesale program sheets: amount, credit, leverage, and the retirement credit in the cards; the account-by-account credit, the depletion haircuts, and the leverage by occupancy in the tables. The prose around them explains how the figures are used.
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 asset qualifier path publishes a 600 decision-score floor. The asset depletion path follows the score and loan-amount matrix of the documentation suite it belongs to, where the floor rises with the leverage and the amount. The score is read from the credit report at application; it is never promised here.
That ceiling on a purchase and 75% on a refinance when assets cover the loan; 60% on a depletion cash-out
Leverage tops out at 80% on a purchase whichever path carries the file. The paths part on the refinance: 75% when the assets cover the loan, and on the depletion side 80% for a rate-and-term and 60% for a cash-out. Investment property, available on the depletion path only, is capped lower.
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.
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.
The asset-based program is one program with two doors. Through the first, an Orange 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, or the statewide guide at Asset-Based Mortgage in California; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
The asset qualifier path and the asset depletion path share a premise and differ in arithmetic. Both qualify an Orange buyer on eligible accounts rather than earnings. The first requires the usable assets to equal or exceed the entire loan and documents no employment or income; the second does not require the assets to cover the loan: it converts them into a monthly income and runs that income through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
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 Orange loan officer settles that before an offer is written.
The asset depletion path
On this path the eligible balances are reduced by account type, the total is spread over the divisor, and the monthly figure is read as income against the housing payment and other debts. Seasoning is longer here than on the asset qualifier path: statements at least four months old at application plus a current one, unless the money came from the sale of a business, an inheritance, or a legal settlement. An Orange loan officer sorts the eligible accounts from the ineligible ones at the start.
Seasoning, statements, and what counts
The statements are read twice on an Orange file: first for seasoning, two months on the asset qualifier path and a statement at least four months old plus the latest one on the asset depletion path, then for how much of each eligible account counts. Covering the loan credits most accounts in full and retirement accounts by the owner’s age; converting assets into income applies haircuts by account type and ignores age. The same balance sheet produces two usable totals, and the loan officer shows both before underwriting settles the path.
Enter the Orange price and the loan wanted, then the balances. The first result is the asset qualifier verdict: the usable assets cover the loan or fall short by a stated margin. The second set of results is the asset depletion reading: the haircut assets, the monthly income they produce, and the housing payment at the benchmark against that income.
Orange’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The local median home value is the floor of the conversation for a buyer who qualifies on assets, not the ceiling: the program’s loan amounts run well past it. The Census figures below give Orange’s population, typical home value, and ownership, the ground an asset-based file sits above.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Read the value figure against the leverage ceiling: the asset qualifier path finances a share of the price and the assets must cover the loan, so a higher median moves the asset threshold up with it. The ownership figures describe the market an appraiser values the home within.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Orange neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
No single asset-based file describes Orange. The cards below differ in housing stock, price, occupancy, and the kind of borrower who buys there, and each describes how the program reads a file in that part of the market. The rules do not change with the street; the file does.
Close-in architect-designed homes
A distinctive Orange 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 Orange 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
An Orange two-to-four-unit home bought to live in one unit is an owner-occupied file and can sit on either path where the lender’s property rules allow; bought as a rental it is an investment occupancy on the depletion path at the investment ceiling. The occupancy is settled first because it decides which path and which leverage apply. Median household income in Orange sits near $117,113 on the latest Census estimate.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
An Orange condominium bought on assets is an asset-based file with the building added. Established projects usually pass review; the account rules are the same as for a house, and the asset qualifier path keeps income out of the file when the usable total covers the loan. Two months of statements season the proceeds. Orange is home to about 138K people and sits within the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
An Orange 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Orange runs near $945,800 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
A newer Orange 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 25,720 Orange households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 57% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Estate properties
At the top of the Orange market the question is rarely whether the household can afford the home; it is how the lender documents that it can. The asset qualifier path answers with statements; the depletion path answers with a derived income; a loan officer shows both before the offer. About 43% of Orange’s households rent — roughly 19,609 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
The rules do not change with the street. Every Orange file is checked the same way: eligible accounts, credit share or haircut, usable total against the loan or divided into income, leverage against the ceiling for the purpose and occupancy, seasoning, and credit. The submarket shapes the price and the appraisal, nothing more.
Four ways Orange buyers put their assets to work.
Four ways Orange 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 after a liquidity event, before the next venture
The seller of an Orange business, the founder after an exit, the household after an inheritance: the money is new, large, and often unaccompanied by income. The asset qualifier path reads it once the two months of statements exist; the depletion path excuses the usual seasoning for sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds.
Keep the investments invested
For an Orange 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
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 Orange 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
When the balances will not cover the loan, the depletion path turns them into a monthly figure instead. For an Orange buyer that means a longer seasoning, haircuts by account type, retirement balances counted at a flat share regardless of age, and a file that is read like any income file once the income is derived.
Measure an Orange 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. An Orange loan officer runs the lender’s own version before anything is written.
Orange asset coverage estimate
The calculator is seeded with an Orange 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 $1,325,000 price above the Orange 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.
An Orange buyer who cannot document income the conventional way has three documentation routes in this program family, and the routes are not interchangeable: assets that cover the loan, assets converted into income, or business deposits read as income. The cards below put the three side by side on the questions that separate them.
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.
A different question entirely: not what the household owns but what the business brings in. The bank statement loan suits the Orange 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 an Orange 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 Orange 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 Orange 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.
The figures in the snapshot are the program’s; the details below are where an Orange 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 Orange file clean and fundable.
Settle the age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible accounts first. Everything else in an Orange file, the path, the leverage, the loan amount, is arithmetic once those three are known.
- Confirm the age rule: each retirement account is credited by its owner’s age on the asset qualifier path.
- Count the months: a sale of a business, an inheritance, or a settlement is excused from the depletion wait.
- Check the minimum: standalone depletion income needs a minimum pool of qualified assets.
Retirement accounts and the age line
The age line is applied per owner and per account. An Orange couple where one spouse is past 59½ and the other is not sees each account credited by its own owner’s age, and the sum is what counts against the loan. The accounts stay where they are; the age rule governs the credit, not the custody. The birthday is checked against the date of the application.
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. An Orange file with a clean trail seasons without friction; one with unexplained deposits waits.
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. An Orange 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.
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. An Orange 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.
Supplementing income with asset income
Supplementing changes the arithmetic without changing the accounts: the same haircut total, the same divisor, the same monthly figure, added to a documented income instead of standing alone. An Orange retiree with Social Security and a portfolio is the typical supplemented file, and the combined ratio is read within forty-five percent.
From an Orange asset review to keys in hand.
An asset-based purchase runs in a fixed order: a review of the statements that settles the path and the leverage, a contract and an appraisal, underwriting of the accounts and the credit, and closing. The steps below describe each for an Orange file.
Asset review
An Orange 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
The contract sets the price the loan is measured against; the appraisal confirms the value supports it. On an Orange file where the assets just cover the loan, an appraisal that lands under the price is answered with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan the assets must cover.
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 Orange 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
An Orange 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
The age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible-account list are the three places an asset-based file surprises people. Lendmire walks an Orange buyer through all three at the review, with the statements open, so the file that goes to underwriting is the file the buyer expected. The margin above the threshold is written down too.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Every figure on this page is a program parameter drawn from one guideline source. The written terms for an Orange 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.
Orange asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions Orange 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?
The path has three tests: the usable assets must cover the loan, the loan must sit inside the leverage for the purpose, and the credit score must be at or above the published floor. Reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage. Income is never asked for.
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 Orange loan officer runs both versions where earnings exist.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
On the asset qualifier path a retirement account is credited at a reduced share of its balance while the owner is under 59½ and at the full balance from 59½ on; the age line is the lender’s, and it tracks the age at which retirement plans generally allow withdrawals; what a withdrawal would cost is a question for a tax adviser. On the asset depletion path retirement accounts are haircut at a flat share regardless of age. The figures are in the snapshot above.
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.
Are reserves required?
The program is light on reserves because the qualifying assets are the reserves. The practical question for an Orange buyer is whether the down payment and closing costs are drawn from the same accounts that cover the loan, since the lender reads the balances after those draws.
Which accounts count, and which do not?
Brokerage accounts, savings and checking, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts count on both paths. Custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow balances, foreign funds, cash on hand, stock options, unvested restricted stock, and funds held at non-regulated companies do not. Real-estate equity and private stock count on the depletion path only.
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 Orange loan officer confirms the treatment before a refinance is structured.
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.
What sets the timeline on an asset-based mortgage?
On any mortgage the appraisal and the title are the long poles, and an asset-based file adds the account review while removing the income review. An Orange buyer plans the seasoning ahead of the offer; the program promises no timeline.
Qualify on what you own in Orange, with both paths read.
Tell us the price, the loan wanted, and the accounts, and we will show the usable total on each path, the margin above the loan, and the depletion income beside the payment, in writing.
This guide covers Orange — 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: Santa Ana · Tustin · Garden Grove · Placentia · Fountain Valley · Anaheim · Fullerton · Westminster
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans