The Quick Read: A snowbird with big balances and little paycheck income can finance a winter home through an asset-based mortgage. Through select programs, lender review centers on documented assets, either by counting them against the whole loan or by turning them into a monthly qualifying income. The assets are fully documented. Only the employment and income paperwork goes away.
- Asset qualifier path: eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan. No income is documented. Typically up to 80% loan-to-value (LTV) on a purchase.
- Asset depletion path: usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying income that runs through the debt-to-income test.
- One path at a time. A borrower is reviewed on one path, never a blend.
- Rental-based loans are a different lane. A home you buy to rent out belongs in a DSCR loan, which is a business-purpose investor loan.
Every figure here is subject to underwriting and varies by lender, borrower, and property.
What “Without Income” Actually Means
Snowbirds usually have money. What they lack is a pay stub. A retired couple may hold a brokerage account, a 401(k), and a savings balance, with no wages to document.
Lenders read “without income” two ways. It can mean no qualifying paycheck, which is the snowbird’s situation. It can also mean the home’s own rent pays the bill, which is a different loan entirely. Mixing the two causes most of the confusion.
Here is the plain version. On a winter home you will use yourself, the loan is a consumer mortgage. The lender still has to be satisfied you can repay, so it looks at your assets instead of wages. Across our wholesale network, programs built for income-light, asset-heavy borrowers do exactly that. The assets are documented, month by month. Nobody is skipping paperwork.
Second Home or Rental? Decide This First
Everything downstream depends on how you will use the house. A second home is one you live in for part of the year. A rental is one you buy to earn money.
The occupancy rules from Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide are a useful contrast, though they do not govern the programs discussed here. Under those agency rules, a second home is a one-unit dwelling suited to year-round use. The borrower occupies it part of the year and keeps exclusive control. It is not a timeshare, and no management firm controls who stays there. Rental income may exist, but it cannot be used to qualify.
That last point trips up snowbirds. If you need the home’s rent to make the numbers work, you are not buying a second home. You are buying an investment property.
| Use of the home | Loan lane | What drives lender review |
|---|---|---|
| You stay there each winter | Consumer second-home mortgage | Your assets or documented income |
| You rent it out and need that rent | DSCR investor loan | The property’s rental income |
| Mixed use, mostly personal | Usually second-home lane | Your assets or income |
A mixed-use house sits on the line. Pick the lane honestly. Calling a personal getaway an “investment” to reach a DSCR loan is a misrepresentation, and it is not a shortcut we would ever suggest.
Path One: Assets Cover the Whole Loan
The asset qualifier path is the simplest idea in this space. Your eligible assets, after the credit percentages below, must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented.
Through select programs, the numbers look like this:
- Leverage: up to 80% LTV on a purchase and 75% on a refinance, on a principal residence or second home.
- Loan size: up to $4,000,000.
- Credit: a 600 minimum score, subject to underwriting.
- Reserves: none required at or below 75% LTV. Above that, the lender sets them.
- Seasoning: 60 days, with two months of statements for each qualifying account.
Every figure here varies by lender and program. Guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.
Not every dollar counts at face value. Brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market, and savings count at 100%. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% if you are under 59½, and 100% at 59½ or older. Accounts combine.
Run an illustration. Say you want an $800,000 loan. You hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts (counted at 100%, so $330,000). You have $300,000 in a 401(k) while under 59½ (counted at 90%, so $270,000). You also hold $200,000 in savings (100%, so $200,000). Your usable assets total $800,000, which covers the loan. On this path, you would qualify on assets alone. The lender’s own calculation governs, and this is illustrative only.
Whether cash-out proceeds are allowed on this path is set by the lender and is not published, so do not plan around it.
Path Two: Assets Become Income
The asset depletion path works differently. Instead of covering the loan outright, your assets are converted into a monthly qualifying income. That income then has to carry the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test.
The conversion is simple. Usable assets, after haircuts, are divided by 60 months. The haircuts on this path are:
| Asset type | Share that counts |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts and CDs | 100% |
| Securities | 80% |
| Private stock | 75% |
| Retirement accounts | 70% at any age |
| Real-estate equity | 60% |
Here is the sanctioned illustration. Say you hold $1,500,000 in securities (80% counts, so $1,200,000) and $300,000 in cash (100%). That is $1,500,000 usable. Divided by 60 months, it produces $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That figure then has to carry the housing payment and other debts under the program’s debt-to-income test. Again, the lender’s own calculation governs.
This path has firmer guardrails:
- Leverage on a second home or principal residence: up to 80% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance, and 60% on a cash-out refinance.
- Leverage on an investment property: up to 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance, and 60% on a cash-out. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets.
- Loan size: $125,000 to $3,500,000.
- Minimum assets: the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. When assets are the only income source, never below $250,000 liquid.
- Credit: the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix. A first-time investor on this path needs a 700.
- Statements: at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement within 45 days. Sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds are excused from that seasoning.
Asset-derived income can also supplement documented income, such as Social Security or a pension, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived.
Which Path Fits You?
Pick the qualifier path when your liquid, eligible balances are large enough to cover the loan on their own. It is the cleaner file, and no debt-to-income test applies. Many snowbirds who just sold a business, or who live off a brokerage portfolio, fit here.
Pick the depletion path when your assets are strong but do not equal the loan. Converting them into income lets you borrow against a smaller base. The tradeoff is lower leverage on cash-out and a debt-to-income test you must pass.
This one is a real toss-up for some households. The qualifier path asks for more assets but fewer tests. A broker who sees many lenders’ guidelines can run both against your statements before you commit.
What Counts and What Does Not
On the depletion path, several asset types are not eligible: custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow accounts, foreign funds, cash on hand, stock options, non-vested restricted stock units, and funds from non-regulated financial companies.
Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, and pledged or borrowed funds are not published as eligible on either path. Do not assume they count at some percentage. The documented route is to convert them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the lender reviewing the source of funds.
Seasoning matters here. Moving money around a week before applying raises questions. Statements on every account, going back to the required window, keep the file clean.
When Retirement Income Is Part of the Story
Plenty of snowbirds do have some income. Kiplinger reports that being out of the workforce is not necessarily a barrier to buying a second home. It notes that Social Security, a pension, or steady retirement-account withdrawals can show a lender you can repay. Retirees with large assets but no regular income stream may also qualify, according to the same article. Keep in mind the page is dated and speaks to the concept, not today’s program terms.
That is where the supplement option helps. If your documented retirement income falls short of carrying two housing payments, asset-derived income can fill the gap, up to the 45% debt-to-income ceiling. Carrying a winter home and a northern home on retirement income is the real pressure point. Run that math before you fall in love with a property.
Where the Rule Breaks
A few edge cases deserve plain answers.
“I’ll rent it a little.” Under the agency second-home test, occasional rent can exist if it is not used to qualify. Individual lenders may be stricter, and some cap rental days or bar properties run by a management company that controls occupancy. Ask before you list the house.
“I need the rent to qualify.” Then the home is an investment property. That is DSCR territory, where qualification rests on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties, and because they are business-purpose investor loans, they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. Programs below 1.00 coverage are available through select lenders in the network, but LTV and terms adjust. Our complete DSCR loans guide covers that lane in full.
“Is there a 50-mile rule?” Many articles cite one. ValuePenguin says only that lenders may ask for proof of distance from your primary home. Treat it as a lender-specific expectation, not a federal rule.
Mortgage classification turns on occupancy, control, and use.
Condos. Warrantability and nonstandard property types vary by program. A condo that works in one lender’s matrix may not work in another’s, so check early.
Winter vacancy. If you plan to rent in summer, remember seasonal homes sit empty in the off-season. Underestimating that gap is a common mistake.
Why a Consumer Loan Still Needs Proof
A winter home you use yourself is a consumer purchase. Under the federal ability-to-repay rule, lenders must make a reasonable, good-faith determination that you can repay. That is why asset-based programs document your balances carefully. On the qualifier path, the review rests on the assets. On the depletion path, it rests on the converted income.
Business-purpose rental loans sit outside that consumer framework, and the creditor decides in each case whether a loan is primarily for a business purpose. That is another reason honest occupancy matters.
Document Checklist
Expect to provide:
- Two months of statements per qualifying account on the qualifier path.
- Statements 120 days old plus one within 45 days on the depletion path.
- Credit documentation and housing history. The program looks for 0x30x12, and one 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case.
- Evidence of the source for any large recent deposit.
- Property documents, including the purchase contract and condo or HOA materials where they apply.
- Any Social Security or pension award letters, if you are supplementing.
A housing event such as a foreclosure needs 4 years of seasoning on the depletion path, and multiple bankruptcies are not eligible.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier path: a program route where eligible assets cover the whole loan and no income is documented.
Asset depletion path: a route that divides usable assets by 60 months to create a monthly qualifying income.
Seasoning: the length of time funds must sit in an account before they count.
Debt-to-income ratio: your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, compared against your monthly income.
Loan-to-value (LTV): the loan amount as a percentage of the home’s value.
DSCR: debt service coverage ratio, a rental-property test that compares rent to the monthly obligation.
Common Mistakes
- Treating “no income documentation” as “no documentation.” Assets are fully documented.
- Blending the two paths. You qualify on one at a time.
- Counting crypto, collectibles, or borrowed funds as eligible assets.
- Planning to use the home’s rent on a second-home loan.
- Moving funds just before applying, then lacking seasoned statements.
- Ignoring the cost of carrying two homes on one set of balances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a winter home mortgage with no job at all?
Yes, through select asset-based programs, subject to underwriting. The loan is reviewed on documented assets rather than employment. Your credit, the property, and your leverage still get reviewed.
Do I need a big down payment?
Leverage tops out at 80% on a purchase on both paths for a second home, so the down payment is typically at least 20%. On the depletion path, an investment property caps lower, at 65% on a purchase. Actual terms depend on the lender and your file.
Can retirement accounts count toward the loan?
Yes. On the qualifier path they count at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path they count at 70% at any age. Eligibility is subject to underwriting.
What if I want to rent the home some of the year?
Light, occasional rental may still fit a second-home loan, but you cannot lean on that rent to qualify, and some lenders cap rental use. If rent drives the numbers, the home belongs in a DSCR loan instead.
Does Lendmire lend on these loans?
No. Lendmire is a mortgage broker that arranges asset-based mortgage options through select lenders in its network. Consumer lending is available in 16 states, so confirm your property’s state. Tax treatment varies, so consult a qualified professional before relying on any deduction.
Next Step
If you are qualifying on assets rather than income and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare asset-based mortgage options based on your statements, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals. Call 828-256-2183 or request a quote. Whether the winter home is for you or for tenants, the loan lane follows the use, so settle that question first.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs page.
About Lendmire
As a mortgage broker (NMLS# 2371349), Lendmire helps self-employed and high-net-worth borrowers in 16 states qualify on bank statements, a profit-and-loss statement, 1099s or liquid assets instead of traditional personal-income documentation, through wholesale lenders. Lendmire is never the lender; program terms are set by the lender and its guidelines. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
Get Started
Ready to find the right loan for you?
In about 30 seconds you can review financing options available for your home or investment property. No commitment required.
Informational only. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
References
1. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-1.1-01
2. Kiplinger — Great Places for Snowbirds
3. ValuePenguin — Second Homes vs. Investment Properties
4. Federal Register — ATR/QM final rule
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Can a Stay-at-Home Spouse With Investments Qualify for a Mortgage Alone? · Asset-Based Mortgage vs Family Loan for a Buyer With Assets and No Income · Can a Retiree Qualify for a Mortgage on Pension and Portfolio Income?
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
- North Carolina Real Estate Broker · License# 343312 · Verify on NCREC
- North Carolina Insurance Producer · License# 19053198 · Property, Casualty, Life, Health · Verify on NAIC SBS
- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Disclosures. The information presented in this article is general market commentary, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage (NMLS# 2371349) — not a direct lender or depository institution — and loan placement is subject to lender underwriting. Nothing in this content represents a commitment to lend. Loan terms, pricing, and program availability vary based on borrower qualifications, property characteristics, and state of subject property, and are subject to change at any time. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity requirements. Consumer access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.