The Quick Read: Yes, but only through select programs and on the asset depletion path, where a Virginia principal residence, second home or investment property can be cashed out at up to 60% loan-to-value (the loan as a share of the home’s value), subject to underwriting. The other route, the asset qualifier path, does not publish a cash-out figure, so that answer rests on the individual lender. For a rental, a DSCR loan is usually the better cash-out tool.
- Cash-out on the asset depletion path tops out at 60% loan-to-value on a principal residence, a second home and an investment property alike.
- Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on that path.
- Real estate equity counts at 60% on the depletion path, while cash and certificates of deposit count at 100%.
- Virginia changes nothing about the program figures. The state is just where the house sits.
- A stabilized rental with equity usually fits DSCR better, because that loan looks at the rent instead of your balance sheet.
Key Terms Defined
Cash-out refinance: A new, larger mortgage that pays off your current one and hands you the difference in cash.
Asset qualifier path: A way to qualify where your eligible assets, after the credit percentages, equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented.
Asset depletion path: A way to qualify where eligible assets, after haircuts, are divided by 60 months into a monthly qualifying income. That income then runs through the debt-to-income test.
Haircut: The share of an asset’s balance the lender will not count. A balance counted at 80% has a 20% haircut.
Seasoning: How long funds have sat in your account before the lender will count them.
Debt-to-income (DTI): Your monthly debts, including the new mortgage payment, measured against your monthly income.
DSCR loan: A business-purpose investor loan that qualifies primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines.
Is Asset Depletion a Loan or a Way of Qualifying?
It is a way of qualifying. Asset depletion is not a loan product with its own rules about what you can do with the money. It is a method that turns a pile of savings and investments into a monthly income number so a lender can say yes to a mortgage. Whether that mortgage may be a cash-out is a separate question, and each program answers it for itself.
You will see other names for it: asset utilization, asset dissipation, asset-based qualifying. Same idea, different label.
Here is what that means for you. Your portfolio is not sold. It is not pledged as collateral. Nothing gets withdrawn. The lender runs a qualifying calculation and then underwrites the house like any other. Some borrowers confuse this with products where assets are tied up as security until a refinance or sale. That is a different animal.
Which of the Two Paths Are You On?
You are on one path at a time, never both. Across the wholesale network Lendmire places files with, the two paths treat cash-out very differently, and mixing their figures is the most common way borrowers misread what is available.
| Factor | Asset qualifier | Asset depletion |
|---|---|---|
| How you qualify | Assets cover the whole loan | Assets become monthly income |
| Income documented | None | Derived from assets |
| Refinance leverage | Up to 75% | Up to 80% rate-and-term |
| Cash-out leverage | Not published | Up to 60% |
| Loan amounts | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Investment property | Not available | Available |
All figures here are ceilings and floors through select programs, subject to underwriting. They are not offers.
The qualifier path is the simpler story. Your eligible assets, after the credit percentages below, must equal or exceed the full loan amount. But whether cash-out proceeds are allowed there, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published. Anyone quoting you a qualifier-path cash-out number is guessing.
The depletion path is where cash-out is clearly on the menu. On a principal residence or second home, the ceiling is 80% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. On an investment property it is 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term and 60% on a cash-out. So the cash-out ceiling is the same 60% across occupancy types. What changes is how much more leverage you lose by choosing cash-out: a little on a rental, a lot on your own home.
How the Depletion Math Works, Step by Step
The lender counts what you own, trims it, and divides. Here is the sequence on the depletion path.
1. List eligible assets. Cash accounts, certificates of deposit, securities, private stock, retirement accounts and real estate equity are all on the eligible list.
2. Apply the haircuts. Cash and certificates of deposit count at 100%. Securities count at 80%, private stock at 75%, retirement accounts at 70% at any age, and real estate equity at 60%.
3. Add up the usable total.
4. Divide by 60 months. The result is your monthly qualifying income.
5. Run it through DTI. That income must carry the full housing payment plus your other monthly debts. On a cash-out, the new payment is bigger than the old one, and the bigger number is the one that counts.
6. Check the asset minimum. You need qualified assets of at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. And never below $250,000 liquid when asset depletion is your only income source.
Run the numbers on a hypothetical Virginia retiree. She holds $1,500,000 in securities, which count at 80% for $1,200,000, plus $300,000 in cash at 100%. That is $1,500,000 usable, and divided by 60 months it produces $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then has to carry the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. The usable total also clears the $1,000,000 ceiling on the asset minimum. This is illustration only. The lender’s own calculation governs.
One more rule matters for cash-outs. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on this path. You cannot pull money out of the house and then count it toward qualifying for the same loan.
Asset-derived income can also supplement documented income, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived. That helps someone with a modest pension and a decent portfolio.
Which Assets Count and Which Don’t
Each path counts your balances differently, so read the column for your path.
| Asset | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts | 100% | Securities at 80% |
| Cash, savings, money market | 100% | Cash accounts at 100% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 100% |
| 401(k) and IRA | 90% under 59½, 100% after | 70% at any age |
| Private stock | Not listed | 75% |
| Real estate equity | Not listed | 60% |
Accounts combine on the qualifier path. Take a hypothetical $800,000 loan. Brokerage accounts of $330,000 count at 100%, a 401(k) of $300,000 for a borrower under 59½ counts at 90% for $270,000, and savings of $200,000 count at 100%. The usable total is $800,000, and the borrower is reviewed on assets alone, subject to underwriting.
Some things do not count on the depletion path at all: 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, borrowed or pledged funds, and business accounts beyond your ownership share are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is converting them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the lender reviewing the source. Plan for that early.
What the Lender Still Checks
The income figure does not replace the rest of the file. Nobody skips documentation here: the assets are documented on both paths. “No income documentation” never means “no documentation.”
- Statements and seasoning. On the qualifier path, expect 60 days of seasoning and two months of statements per qualifying account. On the depletion path, statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus a recent statement within 45 days. Funds from the sale of a business, an inheritance or a legal settlement are excused from that seasoning.
- Credit. The qualifier path publishes a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix. A first-time investor on the depletion path needs 700.
- Housing history. Expect 0x30x12. One 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case.
- Credit events. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible. A housing event needs 4 years of seasoning on the depletion path.
- Reserves. None are required on the qualifier path at or below 75% loan-to-value. Above that, the lender sets them. The depletion path publishes no reserve months.
- Appraisal and title. These are the same as any refinance.
Because this is a consumer mortgage, standard consumer-mortgage disclosures apply.
Does Virginia Change Anything?
No. The program figures above do not change by state. A Virginia borrower gets the same percentages, the same seasoning and the same haircuts as a borrower anywhere Lendmire’s consumer mortgage operations are licensed. Virginia is one of the 16 states on that list. State-level facts such as local prices, taxes and insurance are context for your budget, not program parameters, and nothing in Virginia rewrites how assets convert to income.
One disambiguation, because the search results mix this up. Virginia here means the state. A VA loan is a separate government-backed program for veterans, with its own rules. This article covers only the asset-based mortgage.
Should an Investor Use Asset Depletion to Cash Out a Rental?
Usually not. You can, because the depletion path allows investment property at up to 60% on a cash-out. But that is often the wrong tool, and here is why.
The two loans ask different questions. Asset depletion asks whether your balance sheet supports the payment. It ignores the rent. A DSCR loan asks whether the property’s rent covers the payment. It qualifies primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines, and it generally does not lean on your personal income.
For a stabilized rental with real equity, that second question is usually the natural one. Say a duplex’s rent clears the full monthly obligation at roughly 1.2x. A DSCR loan can fit that file without touching your portfolio math. If the rent covers the payment more thinly, select lenders in the network do offer programs below 1.00 coverage, but leverage and terms adjust to match. Asset depletion earns its place when the rent is weak, you are asset-rich, and the cash-out ceiling still works for you.
Business-purpose investor loans are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. Under the federal business-purpose exemption in Regulation Z, credit extended primarily for a business purpose sits outside the consumer-credit rules. Whether a particular refinance qualifies as business-purpose depends on facts such as how you occupy the property, so confirm it for your file.
Agency programs also treat assets-as-income their own way, with their own divisors and conditions. They are a different category, not a template for what this program allows.
The honest read: this is a toss-up only when your rental cash flow is thin and your portfolio is big. Otherwise DSCR wins on fit. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide walks through how that math works. And taking cash out of a rental also raises the payment, which can squeeze the cash flow you bought the property for. Size that before you pull the maximum.
If the Answer Is No: What Else Works
Sometimes the program or the property rules out cash-out. You still have options, roughly in this order.
| Situation | Option to review |
|---|---|
| Want a lower payment, not cash | Rate-and-term at up to 80% (primary or second home) |
| Rental with solid rent coverage | DSCR cash-out refinance |
| Paid cash for the house recently | Delayed financing |
| Income is partly documented | Asset income as a supplement |
| Need modest cash only | A home equity line (a separate program with its own rules) |
| Cash is in other holdings | Selling investments |
Delayed financing lets a cash buyer pull money back out soon after purchase.
Selling investments to raise cash is the one option with a built-in cost.
Compare the tradeoffs honestly. Borrowing against your house keeps the portfolio invested, but the mortgage is larger and your equity is thinner. Selling the portfolio does the opposite. Neither is free.
Common Mistakes
Counting the whole portfolio. Haircuts, excluded accounts and the transaction’s cash needs all shrink the pool.
Mixing the paths. Using the qualifier path’s 100% credit on a 401(k) while running the depletion path’s income math produces a number no lender will accept.
Assuming purchase eligibility equals cash-out eligibility. Cash-out leverage is lower. On a principal residence it drops from 80% to 60%.
Counting cash-out proceeds as assets. They never count on the depletion path.
Waiting to season funds. Crypto, a business account or a gift sitting in the wrong place can stall a file. Move and document it first.
Assuming an investment property fits. It is eligible on the depletion path only, and only at 65% or 60% leverage. Many programs elsewhere limit asset-based qualifying to a home you live in. Final terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, and the borrower’s complete credit picture.
What to Do Next
Start with three questions. Which path fits you: assets covering the loan outright, or assets turning into income? Is the home your residence, a second home, or a rental? And how much cash do you actually need, since every dollar of cash-out costs leverage?
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. Reach the team at 828-256-2183 or request a quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cash out an investment property in Virginia on asset depletion?
Through select programs, yes, on the asset depletion path, at up to 60% loan-to-value on a cash-out, subject to underwriting. The asset qualifier path does not publish a cash-out figure, so that answer rests on the individual lender. Even where it is allowed, a DSCR loan is often the better fit for a rental that covers its own payment.
Do my cash-out proceeds count toward qualifying?
No. On the depletion path, cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets. Only the assets you already hold, after haircuts and seasoning, count.
Do I have to sell or pledge my portfolio?
No. The conversion into income is a qualifying calculation, not a withdrawal plan. Your accounts stay invested and in your name. You do have to document them with statements.
What credit score do I need?
The qualifier path publishes a 600 minimum. The depletion path follows the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix, and a first-time investor on that path needs 700. Housing history of 0x30x12 is expected, and everything is subject to underwriting.
Does Virginia mean I can use my VA loan benefit this way?
No. Virginia here is only the property’s state. A VA loan is a separate program with its own rules. The asset-based mortgage described here is a different product placed through select lenders.
A deeper walk-through of investment-property equity extraction lives in Lendmire’s guide to cash-out refinance on an investment property.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in Virginia page presents the program for Virginia borrowers.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage brokerage serving self-employed and high-net-worth borrowers in 16 states. Bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based mortgages are arranged through wholesale lending channels; Lendmire brokers the financing and the lender underwrites each application. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. CFPB, Regulation Z § 1026.3: Exemptions
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Maxed-Out Jumbo vs Super Jumbo Loan for a Retiree on Asset Depletion · How to Qualify for an Asset Depletion Jumbo Loan · Do Cash-Out Proceeds Count as Assets on an Asset Depletion Refinance?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Virginia
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Important disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage brokerage. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or financial advisor. All loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not constitute a commitment to lend. Rates, terms, and program guidelines are subject to change without notice and vary by borrower profile, property type, and state. Information in this article is general in nature and is not financial, legal, or tax advice. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.