Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
Treat these as the program’s limits rather than an offer: the largest loan on each path, the credit floor, the maximum leverage, and the retirement-account credit on either side of the age line. The tables beneath the cards are the working rules a loan officer applies to the statements, and they change here when the sheets change.
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 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
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
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.
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 Billings 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 Montana; 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 Billings 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 Billings 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 the asset depletion path the lender applies a haircut to each account type, adds up what remains, and divides the total by a fixed number of months to produce a monthly qualifying income. Cash and certificates of deposit count in full, securities at a lower share, private stock lower still, retirement accounts lower again regardless of age, and real-estate equity lowest. A Billings file then runs through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
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 Billings buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
Enter the Billings 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.
Billings’ market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The U.S. Census Bureau figures below set the scale of the Billings 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. 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 Billings neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
The Billings 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.
Close-in architect-designed homes
A distinctive Billings 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 Billings 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 Billings 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. Billings is home to about 119K people.
Two-to-four-unit homes
The owner-occupant in a Billings duplex or fourplex is read as a principal-residence buyer on the asset rules; the pure investor is read on the depletion path alone. Property eligibility for multi-unit homes follows the placing lender, and a loan officer confirms it before the path is chosen. The median owner-occupied home value in Billings runs near $343,400 on the latest Census estimate.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
The downsizer’s file: the house is sold, the proceeds sit in the accounts, and the Billings condominium is bought on the statements. Two months of statements season the proceeds on the asset qualifier path; the project review and the appraisal are the building’s questions, not the borrower’s. Median household income in Billings sits near $73,712 on the latest Census estimate.
Estate properties
An estate purchase on assets is sized against the program ceiling and the usable total at once. A Billings 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 35% of Billings’ households rent — roughly 17,935 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
For a second home in Billings, 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 33,059 Billings households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 65% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Across these Billings submarkets the program is identical; what varies is the price the assets must cover or carry and the occupancy the buyer intends. A loan officer confirms the path, the credit, and the leverage for the specific file before an offer is written.
Four ways Billings buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones Billings 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
The refinance is the retiree’s use: the income that qualified the original loan has stopped, the portfolio has not, and the asset qualifier path reads the portfolio. A Billings file needs usable assets equal to the new loan, a loan inside the refinance leverage, and two months of statements per account.
Keep the investments invested
Borrowing against the strength of a balance sheet rather than spending it is the program’s quiet use. The Billings buyer keeps the brokerage account, the retirement accounts, and the savings in place; the lender reads the statements and writes the loan. Which path fits depends on whether the credited total reaches the loan and on the occupancy, since a rental is a depletion file.
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. A Billings 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.
Buy a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
A Billings 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.
Measure a Billings loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Enter a Billings 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.
Billings asset coverage estimate
The starting figures are a Billings 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 $500,000 price above the Billings 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 Montana (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 Billings 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.
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 Billings 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 Billings scenario review.
Preparation for a Billings asset-based review is mostly gathering: the statements for each account, the age of the owner of each retirement account, the credit report, and, on the depletion path, any income the asset income will supplement. The items below are the ones a loan officer asks for first.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the transaction, the property, the path, the accounts, and the credit picture. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice.
Local details that can change the loan.
The figures in the snapshot are the program’s; the details below are where a Billings 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 Billings file clean and fundable.
The checklist for a Billings 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: a sale of a business, an inheritance, or a settlement is excused from the depletion wait.
- Explain the deposits: unexplained deposits are set aside, reducing the usable total.
Retirement accounts and the age line
The age line is applied per owner and per account. A Billings 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 differs by path. Covering the loan with assets needs two months of statements for each qualifying account. Depleting the assets into income needs a statement at least four months old plus a current one, with sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds excused. A Billings buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
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 Billings file with a deposit that cannot be explained is a file with a smaller usable total, because the lender sets the deposit aside.
Supplementing income with asset income
The depletion path can add asset income to documented earnings rather than replace them. The combined ratio may run to forty-five percent when the income is supplemented, and the minimum-assets rule is waived. For a Billings household with a pension, a part-time income, or a small business and a meaningful portfolio, the supplemented file is often the stronger one.
Which accounts count
Most of the eligible list is shared by both paths, with real-estate equity and private stock counting on the depletion path only; the share counted is what differs. A Billings household whose wealth sits in a private company, in options, or in an account held abroad may find the usable total smaller than the net worth suggests, and the sorting is done before the path is chosen so the result is not a surprise.
From a Billings asset review to keys in hand.
From the first conversation to the keys, a Billings 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
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 Billings 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 Billings 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 Billings file keeps a margin above the threshold.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
A single lender with one asset program sells that program. A brokerage with both paths on the table can say which one a Billings file supports and why. That is the service: the statements read twice, the usable totals shown side by side, the recommendation following the numbers.
Both paths, one set of statements
A Billings 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
Which accounts count, how retirement money is credited by age, how long each account must season, what a large deposit needs behind it: a Billings buyer hears these before the contract is signed, not after the underwriter asks. The margin above the threshold is shown, so the down payment and the closing costs can be planned around it.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, and the lender behind these pages is never named. The program parameters shown are wholesale guidelines, subject to change and to full underwriting; the Billings loan officer’s written terms are what the buyer relies on.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Billings asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions below are the ones a Billings 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?
A mortgage qualified on assets instead of income, in two forms: the asset qualifier path, where the usable assets equal or exceed the loan, and the asset depletion path, where the assets are divided into a monthly income. A Billings loan officer reads the statements against both before recommending one.
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 Billings 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?
Picture the balance sheet spread evenly across a span of months: that monthly slice is the income the lender uses. For a Billings household, the question is whether that slice, added to any documented income, carries the housing payment and the other debts within the ratio. The calculator on this page shows the slice beside the payment.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
Retirement money counts on both paths, and it counts most generously on the asset qualifier path for an owner past the age line. For a Billings file built mostly on retirement balances, the owner’s birthday can decide whether the assets cover the loan, and a loan officer checks the date first.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
A clean recent housing record and a score at or above the floor are the expectation. A Billings buyer with a strong portfolio and a weak score is not repaired by the portfolio; the credit question is answered first, and the asset question second.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
A second home is reachable on either path at the same purchase leverage as a principal residence. A rental is reachable on the asset depletion path only, at a lower purchase ceiling, with cash-out at the depletion path’s cash-out ceiling and a stronger score required of a first-time investor. The occupancy is named first because it decides the path.
What sets the timeline on an asset-based mortgage?
The program does not promise a closing date, and neither does this page. What a Billings buyer controls is the completeness of the statements and the explanation of the deposits, and those decide whether the file moves at the contract’s pace or waits.
Are reserves required?
The program is light on reserves because the qualifying assets are the reserves. The practical question for a Billings 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.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
Proceeds in a domestic brokerage, savings, or money market account count in full on the asset qualifier path. Proceeds still inside the company, in escrow, or in a foreign account do not count until they are the borrower’s own domestic funds. A Billings buyer plans the transfer and the statements before the offer.
Which accounts count, and which do not?
Most of the eligible list is shared by both paths, with real-estate equity and private stock counting on the depletion path only; the share counted differs. A Billings household whose wealth is concentrated in a private company, in options, or abroad may find the usable total smaller than its net worth, and a loan officer sorts the statements into eligible and ineligible before the path is chosen.
Buy on assets in Billings on the path that fits.
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 Billings — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in Montana, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in Montana: Gardiner · Bozeman · Big Sky · West Yellowstone · Helena · Great Falls · Missoula · Whitefish
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans