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
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 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
The leverage ceilings are 80% for a purchase and 75% for a refinance on the asset qualifier path, and 80% for a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% for a cash-out on the asset depletion path, both on a principal residence or second home. The leverage table shows the investment-property row.
Credited under 59½, and at 59½ or older, when assets cover the loan; 70% at any age when assets become income
A 401(k) or IRA is credited at 90% of its balance for an owner under 59½ and 100% for an owner at 59½ or older on the asset qualifier path; the asset depletion path counts a flat 70% of the balance. Brokerage, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit count in full when the assets cover the loan.
| Account type | Credit toward the loan |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts (stocks, bonds, funds) | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Money market accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Savings and checking | 100% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner under 59½ | 90% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner 59½ or older | 100% of the balance |
| Account type | Share counted |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Securities (stocks, bonds, funds) | 80% of the balance |
| Private stock | 75% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (any age) | 70% of the balance |
| Real-estate equity | 60% of the balance |
| Path and occupancy | Purchase | Rate-and-term | Cash-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier — primary residence or second home | 80% | 75% | set by the lender |
| Asset depletion — primary residence | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — second home | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — investment property | 65% | 65% | 60% |
Two paths behind these pages: on the asset qualifier path the usable assets must equal or exceed the whole loan and no employment or income is documented; on the asset depletion path the usable assets are divided across the published number of months (the table above) into a qualifying income that carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. Reserves are not required on the qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage; the depletion path asks for statements at least one hundred twenty days old plus a current one. Minimum assets on the depletion path: the lesser of one million dollars or one and a quarter times the loan, never below a quarter million liquid when assets are the only income. Lendmire is a broker, not the lender, and the lender is not named.
Current asset-based snapshot · updated October 21, 2026 · a Lendmire loan officer confirms the path, the asset credit, and the leverage for the file before an offer.
This page describes program parameters, not an offer. The amounts, the credit floor, the leverage, the credit shares, the haircuts, and the seasoning are wholesale guidelines, subject to change without notice and to full underwriting; the statements, the credit report, and the appraisal decide every file. The calculator is illustrative and the lender’s own calculation governs. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, licensed for consumer mortgages in sixteen states. NMLS #2371349.
What an asset-based mortgage is — and how the two paths qualify a file.
The program’s distinguishing rule is how much of an account it counts, and that it will count retirement money on the path that documents no income at all. For a Santee household living on a portfolio, the practical questions are which path fits, how each account type is credited, and how long the money needs to have been in place. The four cards answer them in order.
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 Santee 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 Santee 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
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. A Santee loan officer sorts the eligible accounts from the ineligible ones at the start.
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 Santee buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
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 Santee buyer can see which path the balance sheet favors before a loan officer confirms it.
Santee’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
A Santee asset-based loan is sized to a price, and the price is set by the market these figures describe: the population, the median value, the owner share, and the owner-household count from the Census Bureau’s latest estimate. The snapshot above holds the program’s figures; this block holds the market’s.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. 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 Santee neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
A loan officer sees Santee as a set of distinct files, not one market. Below are the submarkets where asset-based loans are written most often, with the path, the occupancy, and the appraisal question each one usually raises.
Newer executive subdivisions
For a Santee buyer moving into a newer subdivision after a sale, the asset qualifier path reads the proceeds once two months of statements show them, and a supplemented depletion file is the fallback when the proceeds are short. On a home in Santee 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.
Historic and estate homes
A grand older home in Santee 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Santee runs near $727,200 on the latest Census estimate.
Rural acreage and farmettes
For rural property near Santee, 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. Median household income in Santee sits near $113,394 on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes in the area
Santee’s second homes are bought on assets by households with a residence elsewhere and a portfolio. The asset qualifier path covers the loan when the balances allow; the depletion path converts them when they do not. Roughly 15,345 Santee households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 72% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Lakefront and view properties
View properties around Santee draw the asset-rich buyer, and the file turns on the value the appraiser supports. The usable total is read against the loan the leverage allows at that value, with the flood policy priced into the depletion ratio where it applies. About 28% of Santee’s households rent — roughly 5,851 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
The retiree buying on a portfolio
In a smaller market like Santee 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. Santee is home to about 59K people.
The rules do not change with the street. Every Santee 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 Santee buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones Santee loan officers see most: the retiree buying on a portfolio, the seller of a business buying before the next venture, the household keeping the investments invested, the second home bought on assets. Each is a different file on the same two paths.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
Replacing an old loan on assets rather than income keeps a Santee household from documenting earnings it no longer has. The path’s refinance ceiling is lower than its purchase ceiling, and the assets must still cover the whole new loan; a loan officer confirms cash-out treatment with the lender before the file is placed.
Buy a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
The defining use of the program is the purchase qualified on the balances: brokerage, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts credited by the owner’s age, adding up to the loan. For a Santee retiree the file is the statements and the credit report, and the home can be the principal residence or a second one.
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 Santee loan officer runs both paths before recommending this one.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
The seller of a Santee 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.
Measure a Santee loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Enter a Santee price, the loan wanted, and the balances by account type, then choose whether the owner of the retirement accounts is past the age line, and the calculator shows whether the usable assets cover the loan on the asset qualifier path, the largest loan they would cover inside the leverage ceiling, and the monthly income the same accounts would produce on the asset depletion path beside a thirty-year payment at the benchmark.
Santee asset coverage estimate
Illustrative Santee figures, all editable: the price, the loan, three account buckets, the age switch for the retirement credit, the benchmark, taxes, insurance, and other monthly debts for the ratio.
Editable benchmark: 7.40% as of October 15, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not an asset-based mortgage quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $1,025,000 price above the Santee 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.
A Santee 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.
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.
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.
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 Santee 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 Santee 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 Santee 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.
What changes an asset-based file is rarely the headline figure. It is the retirement balance credited at a lower share because the owner is a year short of the age line, the deposit that has not seasoned, the account type the lender will not count, or the rental occupancy that moves the file to the depletion path. The items below catch them.
Use these checks to keep the Santee file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before a Santee review: which side of the age line the owner of each retirement account stands on, whether every account has seasoned for the path, and whether the usable total reaches the loan or the file belongs on the depletion path instead.
- Confirm the age rule: a birthday close to the age line can change the usable total and the path.
- Count the months: the depletion path wants a statement at least four months old plus a current one.
- Sort the accounts: brokerage, bank, money market, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts are eligible.
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 Santee 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 is the detail that most often sets the calendar for a Santee 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.
Which accounts count
Not every balance is an asset to the program. Brokerage, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts count. 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. A Santee loan officer sorts the statements into the two piles first.
Large and recent deposits
A large recent deposit is read, not ignored. A transfer between the borrower’s own accounts is documented as a transfer; proceeds of a sale are documented with the closing or the purchase agreement; a gift is documented as a gift. A Santee file with a deposit that cannot be explained is a file with a smaller usable total, because the lender sets the deposit aside.
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 Santee 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 Santee asset review to keys in hand.
Four steps carry a Santee 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
Start with the statements, the credit score, the occupancy, and the purpose. A Lendmire loan officer sorts the eligible accounts, applies the credit shares and the haircuts, reads the usable total against the loan on the asset qualifier path and into income on the depletion path, confirms the age rule for each retirement account, and puts the result in writing.
Contract and appraisal
A Santee 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
The underwriter reads what the loan officer read: the statements for the required months, the eligibility of each account, the credit shares or the haircuts, the usable total against the loan or the derived income against the payment, the credit report, and the appraisal. A Santee file that was documented completely at review usually moves through with few new questions.
Closing
Closing on an asset-based loan looks like any other closing from the outside. From the inside, the difference is what did not happen along the way: no employment call, no tax transcript, no income calculation on the asset qualifier path. A Santee loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
Asset-based files reward careful reading. Which accounts count, at what share, on which path, with what seasoning, at what leverage for the purpose: each is a place where a file placed carelessly costs the buyer a larger down payment or a longer wait. Lendmire reads them in order, before the offer, for every Santee buyer.
Both paths, one set of statements
A Santee 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 a Santee 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 a Santee 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.
Santee asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions below are the ones a Santee 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 Santee 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 Santee 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 Santee 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 Santee buyer can see the difference on the actual balances.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
Assets do not replace credit. A Santee borrower needs the score at or above the floor for the path; the depletion path also reads the housing history, tolerates one late housing payment in the past year at a cost, and does not accept repeated bankruptcies. The score is read from the report at application.
Can I take cash out?
On the asset depletion path, yes, at a published cash-out ceiling on every occupancy, and the cash taken out never counts as an asset. On the asset qualifier path, whether cash-out is offered and at what leverage is set by the lender and not published; a Santee loan officer confirms the treatment before the refinance is structured.
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. A Santee buyer plans the seasoning ahead of the offer; the program promises no timeline.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
A rental on assets means the depletion path, the investment ceiling, and the investor credit rules. A second home on assets means either path and the owner-occupied ceilings. A Santee loan officer confirms the occupancy with the borrower’s intent and the property’s use before the balances are read.
Do I need to show any income at all?
Not on the asset qualifier path. No employment is verified and no income is documented; the lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets, which is why they must cover the whole loan. On the asset depletion path the assets are converted into income, and any documented earnings can be added to it.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
The ceilings are program parameters, not promises. A Santee refinance on the asset qualifier path plans the new loan against the refinance figure; a cash-out on the depletion path against the cash-out figure; a rental against the investment row. The loan officer confirms the row for the file.
Run the Santee 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 Santee — 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: El Cajon · La Mesa · San Diego · National City · Chula Vista · Escondido · Encinitas · San Marcos
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans