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
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 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
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
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.
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.
There are two questions a lender can ask of a balance sheet. Is there enough here to cover the whole loan? Or, spread across a fixed number of months, is there enough here to look like the income the loan needs? The asset qualifier path asks the first and the asset depletion path the second, and a Westminster buyer is qualified on one of them, not both at once.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program, or the statewide guide at Asset-Based Mortgage in Colorado; 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 a Westminster 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
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 Westminster 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 Westminster 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 Westminster buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
Enter the Westminster 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.
Westminster’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The U.S. Census Bureau figures below set the scale of the Westminster market the program lends into. Values set the loan size the assets must cover or carry; ownership sets how many households are candidates; the population sets the depth of the market the appraiser draws comparable sales from.
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 Westminster neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
A loan officer sees Westminster 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.
Close-in architect-designed homes
Value drives the leverage on a one-of-a-kind Westminster home; the accounts drive the rest. A loan officer runs the file at the contract price and at a lower appraised value so the buyer knows the margin on both before the offer. A margin above the loan is the usual protection. On a home in Westminster 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.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
New luxury construction in Westminster 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Westminster runs near $532,400 on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
For a second home in Westminster, both paths are open and the purchase leverage matches the principal-residence figure. The loan officer reads the statements once, shows the usable total on each path, and places the file on the one with the cleaner margin. Roughly 29,786 Westminster households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 62% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
A Westminster 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. Median household income in Westminster sits near $100,272 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
A Westminster 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. Westminster is home to about 115K people.
Estate properties
An estate purchase on assets is sized against the program ceiling and the usable total at once. A Westminster buyer near the ceiling is read closely on the margin, on which accounts count, and on the age rule for retirement money, because a small change in the credited total moves a large loan. About 38% of Westminster’s households rent — roughly 18,320 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Whichever Westminster 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 Westminster buyers put their assets to work.
Four ways Westminster 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.
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 Westminster loan officer runs both paths before recommending this one.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
For a rental, the asset depletion path is the only path open, at the investment-property leverage, with cash-out at the depletion path’s cash-out ceiling. For a second home, both paths are open. A Westminster loan officer sorts the occupancy first, because it decides the path before the balances are even read.
Keep the investments invested
For a Westminster 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.
Buy a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
When the balance sheet covers the loan, a Westminster household keeps the income question out of the file entirely. The lender credits the accounts, confirms the total against the loan, checks the leverage for a purchase, and reads the credit report; reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage, and the path reaches well into the jumbo range.
Measure a Westminster loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Use the calculator to see which path a Westminster balance sheet favors. If the usable assets cover the loan, the asset qualifier path is open and no income enters the file; if they fall short, the depletion reading beside it shows the monthly income the assets would produce and the payment that income would need to carry.
Westminster asset coverage estimate
The calculator is seeded with a Westminster 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 $750,000 price above the Westminster 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 Colorado (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 Westminster 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.
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.
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 Westminster 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 Westminster 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 Westminster 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.
These are the questions a Westminster 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 Westminster file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before a Westminster 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.
- Read the credit report: the asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor; the depletion path reads a matrix.
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 Westminster 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
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 Westminster file with a clean trail seasons without friction; one with unexplained deposits waits.
Credit and housing history
Score and credit history decide whether a path is open, and the assets decide what is behind it. For a Westminster 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.
The minimum-assets rule on the depletion path
The minimum is measured on qualified assets after the haircuts, so a Westminster balance sheet heavy in securities or retirement money counts for less than its face value and can fall short of the minimum. The loan officer checks the minimum first and the ratio second. A file that misses the minimum is often rewritten as a supplemented file when any documented income exists.
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 Westminster loan officer confirms what, if anything, must be held after closing.
From a Westminster asset review to keys in hand.
From the first conversation to the keys, a Westminster asset-based file passes four stages. The first is the one that differs from an income loan: the statements are read, the accounts are sorted, the usable total is calculated on both paths, and the path is chosen before anything else happens.
Asset review
The first conversation settles the shape of a Westminster 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 Westminster 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 Westminster 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 Westminster loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
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
A Westminster 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 Westminster 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
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 Westminster 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.
Westminster asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions below are the ones a Westminster 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?
An asset-based mortgage is a consumer home loan qualified on what the borrower owns rather than what the borrower earns. The lender counts eligible accounts, credits each at a share, and either requires the total to cover the whole loan or converts it into a monthly income. In Westminster it is the loan for retirees, sellers of businesses, and households living on a portfolio.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
The lender adds up the eligible accounts, credits each at its share, and compares the total with the loan. If the total equals or exceeds the loan, the Westminster file is read on assets alone: no employment verification, no tax returns, no income calculation. The leverage is a share of the price on a purchase and a lower share of the value on a refinance.
How does the asset depletion path work?
The assets are haircut by type and divided by the divisor into a monthly income that runs through the ratio test. Seasoning is longer on this path: statements at least four months old plus a current one, with sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds excused. Cash-out refinances have their own ceiling, cash-out proceeds never count as assets, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant.
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.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
Second homes are a natural asset-based file in Westminster: the household has a principal residence elsewhere and a portfolio, and the second home is financed on the statements. Rentals are depletion files by definition, underwritten as investment occupancies on the program’s investor rules.
Do I need to show any income at all?
The asset qualifier path is built for the Westminster household with no income on paper: a retiree, a founder between ventures, a family living on a portfolio. The depletion path can stand alone on asset income or supplement earnings with it; when it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived.
Which accounts count, and which do not?
Publicly traded securities count; options and unvested units do not. Vested retirement balances count; deferred compensation does not. Money in the borrower’s own domestic accounts counts; cash on hand and foreign funds do not. The sorting is the first step of a Westminster review.
Can I take cash out?
A Westminster 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.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
Leverage and the asset threshold work together on the asset qualifier path: lowering the loan with a larger down payment lowers the usable total needed to cover it. The calculator shows the largest loan the assets would cover inside the ceiling for the purpose chosen.
Keep the portfolio invested and finance the Westminster home on it.
When you are ready, a Westminster review sizes the loan, settles the path and the leverage, and produces written terms. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend.
This guide covers Westminster — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in Colorado, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in Colorado: Broomfield · Arvada · Thornton · Denver · Lakewood · Commerce City · Boulder · Longmont
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans