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 largest loan on the asset qualifier path is $4,000,000, provided the usable assets equal or exceed it; the asset depletion path tops out at $3,500,000. Neither figure is a quote, and the lender’s own calculation of the usable assets governs the amount.
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
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 Jackson 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 Michigan; 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 Jackson buyer on eligible accounts rather than earnings. The first requires the usable assets to equal or exceed the entire loan and documents no employment or income; the second does not require the assets to cover the loan: it converts them into a monthly income and runs that income through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
The asset qualifier path
Two months of statements for each qualifying account document the path, and the balances are read as they stand after the credit percentages. The credit floor is published; the leverage is published; the largest loan is published. What the lender settles file by file is which accounts are eligible and how the age rule applies to each retirement account, and a Jackson loan officer settles that before an offer is written.
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 Jackson file then runs through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
Seasoning, statements, and what counts
The statements are read twice on a Jackson file: first for seasoning, two months on the asset qualifier path and a statement at least four months old plus the latest one on the asset depletion path, then for how much of each eligible account counts. Covering the loan credits most accounts in full and retirement accounts by the owner’s age; converting assets into income applies haircuts by account type and ignores age. The same balance sheet produces two usable totals, and the loan officer shows both before underwriting settles the path.
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 Jackson buyer can see which path the balance sheet favors before a loan officer confirms it.
Jackson’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 Jackson’s population, typical home value, and ownership, the ground an asset-based file sits above.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. Population and owner households describe the depth of the market; the median value describes its height. An asset-based file turns on the second more than the first, because the loan the assets must cover or carry follows the price.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Jackson neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
Each card below is a Jackson submarket seen through the program: who buys there on assets, which path usually fits, and what the loan officer checks first. The figures in the snapshot apply everywhere; the emphasis changes from one card to the next.
Estate properties
An estate purchase on assets is sized against the program ceiling and the usable total at once. A Jackson 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. Roughly 7,265 Jackson households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 55% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
New luxury construction in Jackson 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 Jackson runs near $103,200 on the latest Census estimate.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
A Jackson 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 Jackson sits near $44,558 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
A Jackson 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. Jackson is home to about 31K people.
Close-in architect-designed homes
Value drives the leverage on a one-of-a-kind Jackson 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 Jackson 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.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
A Jackson 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. About 45% of Jackson’s households rent — roughly 6,016 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
The rules do not change with the street. Every Jackson 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 Jackson buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones Jackson 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.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
A Jackson 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.
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 Jackson 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.
Keep the investments invested
For a Jackson 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
A Jackson 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 Jackson loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Enter a Jackson 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.
Jackson asset coverage estimate
The starting figures are a Jackson 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 Jackson 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 Michigan (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.
The same Jackson household can often be written three ways. The asset qualifier path asks the assets to cover the whole loan and needs the least paperwork. The asset depletion path does not need the balances to cover the loan and brings the ratio test back. The bank statement loan ignores the balances and reads the deposits instead. Which one fits depends on where the money shows up.
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.
A different question entirely: not what the household owns but what the business brings in. The bank statement loan suits the Jackson owner with strong deposits and modest savings, where the asset-based paths suit the household with strong savings and modest deposits. See Lendmire’s bank statement loan program.
Assets that cover the loan, assets that become income, deposits that become income: three answers to one question, and the right one for a Jackson 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 Jackson scenario review.
Preparation for a Jackson 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.
These are the questions a Jackson 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 Jackson file clean and fundable.
The checklist for a Jackson 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.
- 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 age line is applied per owner and per account. A Jackson couple where one spouse is past 59½ and the other is not sees each account credited by its own owner’s age, and the sum is what counts against the loan. The accounts stay where they are; the age rule governs the credit, not the custody. The birthday is checked against the date of the application.
Seasoning by path
The lender wants to see that the money has been the borrower’s for a while and is not a loan dressed as an asset. Recent transfers are traced to the account they came from; recent deposits are documented with their source. A Jackson file with a clean trail seasons without friction; one with unexplained deposits waits.
Credit and housing history
The asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor; the depletion path reads the score against a matrix where the floor rises with the leverage and the loan amount, and it reads the housing history too: a clean recent record is expected, one late payment in the past year is tolerated, and a Jackson file with a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning.
Reserves by path
Reserves are light on this program: the assets that qualify the loan are the reserves, and on the asset qualifier path none are required at or below the refinance leverage; above it, up to the purchase ceiling, the lender sets the requirement. A Jackson buyer still plans the down payment and closing costs so the usable total is not reduced at closing.
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 Jackson file with a deposit that cannot be explained is a file with a smaller usable total, because the lender sets the deposit aside.
From a Jackson asset review to keys in hand.
The process is short on paperwork about income and long on paperwork about accounts. A Jackson buyer who understands that order, statements first, then contract, then underwriting, then closing, arrives at each step prepared.
Asset review
The first conversation settles the shape of a Jackson 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
The contract sets the price the loan is measured against; the appraisal confirms the value supports it. On a Jackson file where the assets just cover the loan, an appraisal that lands under the price is answered with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan the assets must cover.
Underwriting
Conditions, when they come, are usually documentary: a missing statement page, a deposit without its source, an account that needs its holdings shown. A Jackson 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 Jackson 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 Jackson statements, and written terms for the one that fits.
Both paths, one set of statements
Before any recommendation, the Jackson 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
The age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible-account list are the three places an asset-based file surprises people. Lendmire walks a Jackson 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 Jackson 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.
Jackson asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Jackson buyers ask most about asset-based mortgages, in the order they usually come up: what the program is, how each path works, how retirement accounts are counted, and what the credit and leverage rules are.
What is an asset-based mortgage?
Think of it as the mortgage for the buyer who could pay cash but would rather not. The accounts stay invested, the lender reads them on paper, and the loan is sized to what the usable assets cover or to the income they produce. For a Jackson household with wealth and little income on paper, it is often the mortgage that fits.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
On this path the assets are the ability to repay, which is why they must cover the loan itself rather than a share of it. A Jackson loan officer calculates the usable total before the offer, and a shortfall is usually answered with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan to what the assets cover.
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 Jackson 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?
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?
Assets do not replace credit. A Jackson 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.
Which accounts count, and which do not?
Brokerage, savings, checking, money market, certificates of deposit, and vested retirement balances count on both paths; custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow balances, foreign funds, cash on hand, options, and unvested units do not. Equity in other real estate and private stock count on the depletion path only, at reduced shares, with real-estate equity the smallest of any account type, so a Jackson buyer whose balance sheet is mostly property usually lands on that path, with the equity counted at a fraction.
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.
How large can the loan be?
On the asset qualifier path the loan is bounded twice: by the program ceiling and by the usable assets, whichever is lower. On the depletion path it is bounded by the ceiling and by the ratio the derived income supports. The calculator on this page shows both bounds on a Jackson balance sheet.
Are reserves required?
Reserves are not required on the asset qualifier path at the published refinance leverage, and the depletion path does not list reserve months. What the lender does read is the usable total after the funds to close are paid, so a Jackson file keeps a margin above the threshold.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
Yes. The timing question is the seasoning: two months of statements on the path that covers the loan, and an excused wait on the depletion path for sale-of-business funds. A Jackson loan officer reads the calendar with the statements and names the path that is reachable soonest.
Qualify on what you own in Jackson, with both paths read.
Share the balance sheet once; the review covers the asset qualifier path, the asset depletion path, and the alternatives on the same statements. The terms come in writing from a licensed loan officer.
This guide covers Jackson — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in Michigan, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in Michigan: Lansing · Ann Arbor · East Lansing · Battle Creek · Novi · Westland · Livonia · Farmington Hills
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans