Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
One guideline source feeds every number here, and the page updates when the source does. The four cards carry the headline figures; the tables underneath show how each account type is credited on the asset qualifier path, how each is haircut on the asset depletion path, and what leverage each path and occupancy allows. The wholesale lender is not named.
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
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.
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.
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 San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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
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 San Rafael 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 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 San Rafael file that shows the trail cleanly meets fewer questions in underwriting.
Every input below is yours: the San Rafael 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.
San Rafael’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 San Rafael’s population, typical home value, and ownership, the ground an asset-based file sits above.
Market context only. These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. A typical value sets the scale of the loan, the ownership share says how many households are likely to be buyers rather than renters, and the owner count says how wide the comparable pool is when the appraisal is written.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct San Rafael neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
The San Rafael 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.
Estate properties
At the top of the San Rafael 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 47% of San Rafael’s households rent — roughly 10,770 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
A San Rafael 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 San Rafael runs near $1,355,600 on the latest Census estimate.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
San Rafael’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. Median household income in San Rafael sits near $119,435 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
New luxury construction in San Rafael appraises cleanly, so the file is about the amount: a loan near the top of the program needs usable assets to match on the asset qualifier path, or a depletion income large enough to carry the payment. The calculator on this page shows both readings for a price in that range. San Rafael is home to about 60K people and sits within the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Small multi-unit buildings in San Rafael 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. Roughly 12,140 San Rafael households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 53% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Close-in architect-designed homes
A distinctive San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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.
Whichever San Rafael 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 San Rafael buyers put their assets to work.
What a San Rafael buyer does with an asset-based mortgage depends on the balance sheet and the occupancy. The four uses below cover the typical purchases and refinances, with the path, the leverage, and the account rules that apply to each.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
A San Rafael 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.
Buy a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
A San Rafael 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
A liquidity event produces exactly the balance sheet the program is built for: assets well above the loan and earnings that have paused. A San Rafael buyer in that position covers the loan on the asset qualifier path with no income in the file, or, if the proceeds are smaller, converts them into income on the depletion path with the seasoning excused.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
Second homes are a natural fit: a San Rafael 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 San Rafael loan against the assets before requesting a review.
The starting figures are a San Rafael price above the median, a loan at a share of the price inside both paths’ purchase leverage, and a balance sheet split among cash, brokerage, and retirement accounts with the owner under 59½. Change any of them. The verdict, the margin, the depletion income, and the payment update as you type.
San Rafael asset coverage estimate
The starting figures are a San Rafael price in the upper part of the market with a loan at seventy percent of it and a balance sheet that covers the loan at the under-59½ retirement credit. Every field is editable, and the benchmark updates weekly from the Freddie Mac series.
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 $1,900,000 price above the San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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.
The deposit route reads the statements for inflows rather than balances. For a business owner whose accounts turn over, it can produce 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 a San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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.
These are the questions a San Rafael loan officer asks before recommending a path, because each can change the loan: the retirement credit, the seasoning, the eligible accounts, the occupancy, and the leverage for the purpose. None is a surprise if it is asked early.
Use these checks to keep the San Rafael file clean and fundable.
The checklist for a San Rafael asset-based file starts with the accounts: the age of each retirement owner, the months of statements, the eligibility of each account type. The path and the leverage follow from the answers.
- 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.
- Explain the deposits: transfers between the borrower’s own accounts are traced, not assumed.
Retirement accounts and the age line
The age line is applied per owner and per account. A San Rafael 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
Seasoning is the detail that most often sets the calendar for a San Rafael asset-based purchase. The asset qualifier path is the shorter wait; the depletion path is longer except where the funds came from the sale of a business, an inheritance, or a legal settlement. A loan officer reads the statements against the path’s clock before the contract is signed.
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 a San Rafael 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.
Reserves by path
On the asset qualifier path reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage; above it the lender sets the requirement. On the depletion path the program lists no reserve months for the path itself, though the assets that produce the income are, by nature, in reserve. A San Rafael loan officer confirms what, if anything, must be held after closing.
Credit and housing history
Score and credit history decide whether a path is open, and the assets decide what is behind it. For a San Rafael buyer, that order matters: the credit question is answered before the statements are counted, and a weak score is not repaired by a strong portfolio. The report is pulled once and read against the path chosen.
From a San Rafael asset review to keys in hand.
Four steps carry a San Rafael asset-based loan from review to closing. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend; the written terms come from a licensed loan officer after the review, and the appraisal and the underwriting decide the rest.
Asset review
The first conversation settles the shape of a San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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 San Rafael statements, and written terms for the one that fits.
Both paths, one set of statements
Before any recommendation, the San Rafael statements are run through the asset qualifier path and the asset depletion path on the lender’s own rules: the credit shares and the age line on one side, the haircuts and the divisor on the other. The buyer sees the usable total against the loan and the derived income against the payment, and the path is chosen on the result.
The account rules explained before the offer
Reading the statements early is the whole method. A San Rafael 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
Asset-based mortgages on a principal residence or a second home are consumer loans, placed under Lendmire’s consumer licensing in sixteen states with the disclosures that attach to any consumer mortgage. A San Rafael buyer gets the terms in writing from a licensed loan officer, and nothing on this page is an offer or a quote.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
San Rafael asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions below are the ones a San Rafael 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?
It is a mortgage where the statements, not the pay stubs, make the case. Two paths run under the program: cover the loan outright with usable assets and document no income, or deplete the assets into a qualifying income and run the usual ratio test. A San Rafael buyer is written on whichever path the balances support.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
It covers the loan with the balances. Brokerage, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit count in full; retirement accounts count at a reduced share under 59½ and in full from 59½ on; the accounts combine. A San Rafael buyer whose credited total reaches the loan is written on this path with two months of statements per account.
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 San Rafael 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?
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 a San Rafael buyer can see the difference on the actual balances.
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 San Rafael loan officer reads the report before the statements are counted, because credit decides the door.
Can I take cash out?
A San Rafael 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.
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 a San Rafael loan officer confirms the treatment before a refinance is structured.
How large can the loan be?
The asset qualifier path reaches the larger ceiling, shown in the snapshot, provided the usable assets cover the loan; the asset depletion path runs between its own minimum and maximum, also shown. Both figures are program parameters, subject to the lender’s guidelines at lock.
What sets the timeline on an asset-based mortgage?
The timeline is set by the appraisal, the title work, and the documentation of the accounts, not by the program. A San Rafael file whose statements are complete and whose deposits are documented moves on the ordinary purchase calendar; one with unexplained deposits or missing pages waits for them.
Qualify on what you own in San Rafael, with both paths read.
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 San Rafael — 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: Novato · Richmond · Berkeley · Vallejo · Petaluma · Daly City · Oakland · Alameda
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans