The Quick Read: On the asset qualifier path, a brokerage account typically counts at 100% of its balance, subject to underwriting, and that is the best treatment any investment account gets. On the asset depletion path, the same account is treated as securities and counts at 80%. Both figures come from select programs in Lendmire’s wholesale network, and they do not change by state.
- Qualifier path: brokerage, CDs, money market and savings count at 100%. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% under age 59½ and 100% after.
- Depletion path: cash and CDs count at 100%, securities at 80%, private stock at 75%, retirement accounts at 70%.
- Seasoning: 60 days and two months of statements per account on the qualifier path.
- You do not sell anything. The lender counts the balance. It does not liquidate it.
The percentages above are program rules, not state rules. Lendmire is licensed for consumer mortgage lending in Colorado, among 16 states, and acts as the broker arranging these loans through select lenders.
Which Path Fits You?
Pick the path first, because the same brokerage account is worth different amounts on each one. A borrower is qualified on one path at a time. The two never blend.
The asset qualifier path asks one question: do your eligible assets, after the credit percentages, equal or exceed the entire loan? If yes, no employment or income is documented. Leverage typically runs up to 80% on a purchase and 75% on a refinance, with loans up to $4,000,000, subject to underwriting.
The asset depletion path turns assets into income. The lender takes your usable assets, divides by 60 months, and treats the result as monthly qualifying income. That income then has to carry the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test. Loan amounts typically run $125,000 to $3,500,000.
Which one suits you? Retirees, business sellers, and people living off a portfolio often have more than enough assets to cover the loan outright. The qualifier path rewards that. The depletion path suits someone who wants to keep part of the portfolio working and use it as income instead.
How Much of a Brokerage Account Counts, Path by Path
On the qualifier path, 100% of the brokerage balance counts. On the depletion path, 80% counts, because securities are discounted for market swings. The gap is large, so the path you choose can matter more than the size of your portfolio.
Here is how the main asset types compare across our network’s programs, subject to underwriting:
| Asset | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage account | 100% | 80% (securities) |
| Savings / money market | 100% | 100% (cash) |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 100% |
| 401(k) / IRA, under 59½ | 90% | 70% |
| 401(k) / IRA, 59½ or older | 100% | 70% |
| Private stock | Not published | 75% |
| Real-estate equity | Not published | 60% |
Why discount anything? A stock portfolio can fall between application and closing. Cash cannot. Lenders price that volatility into the percentage. Retirement money is discounted further on the depletion path because getting at it can trigger taxes and penalties.
Notice the age line. At 59½, a retirement account moves from 90% to 100% on the qualifier path. On the depletion path it stays at 70% at any age. A brokerage account has no such line, since it carries no early-withdrawal penalty.
What Does Not Count
Several holdings are excluded outright rather than discounted. On the depletion path, custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow accounts, foreign funds, cash on hand, stock options, and non-vested restricted stock units are not eligible. Vested shares that sit in your brokerage account are a different matter, because they are then just securities.
Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, and borrowed or pledged funds 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 source reviewed by the lender. Do not count on them at any percentage.
Business accounts count only for your ownership share, if at all. Gifts and cash-out proceeds from the loan itself never count as qualifying assets on the depletion path.
One more trap: unsold shares do not fund a down payment. The down payment must arrive as cash. Unsold shares may count as post-close reserves or toward the asset total, but not as the money you wire at closing.
The Math, Step by Step
The lender totals eligible assets, applies the percentage for each type, and then tests the result. Down payment, closing costs, and any required reserves come out of what you have, so they cannot be counted twice. Here are two illustrative examples. The lender’s own calculation governs.
Qualifier path. Say you want an $800,000 loan. You hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% counts, so $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) while under 59½ (90%, so $270,000), and $200,000 in savings (100%, so $200,000). That counts $800,000 of usable assets, which equals the loan. You qualify on assets alone, subject to underwriting.
Depletion path. Consider $1,500,000 in securities (80% counts, so $1,200,000) plus $300,000 in cash (100%, so $300,000). That is $1,500,000 usable. Divide by 60 months and you get $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then carries the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test.
Notice what the second example does with the same brokerage money. It was worth 100% on one path and 80% on the other. Two borrowers with identical net worth can qualify for very different amounts depending on how the money is held and which path they use.
The depletion path also has floors. Qualified assets generally must reach the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance, and never less than $250,000 liquid when assets are your only income source. If asset income supplements documented income, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, that minimum-assets rule is waived.
Documents and Seasoning
Assets are documented on both paths. “No income documentation” never means “no documentation.” The lender reviews your balance sheet closely.
- Qualifier path: 60 days of seasoning and two months of statements for each qualifying account.
- Depletion path: statements at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement within 45 days. Funds from a business sale, inheritance, or legal settlement are excused from that seasoning.
Large recent deposits need an explanation. Moving money between your own accounts is fine, but expect to show the trail. Account titling matters too. The account should be in your name, and joint or trust accounts get reviewed for ownership. Most trusts are excluded, with a revocable living trust the usual exception.
Credit still counts. The qualifier path typically wants a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix, and a first-time investor on that path needs 700. Housing history is typically 0x30x12, and one late payment in the last twelve months is considered case by case.
Concentrated Positions and Market Drops
A diversified portfolio is the easy file. A large single-stock holding draws more scrutiny, and some programs in the network review it case by case instead of applying a standard percentage. If most of your wealth is one company’s shares, raise that early.
Margin loans and pledged securities reduce what is truly yours. Borrowed or pledged funds do not count, so expect the lender to net them out.
What if the market falls before closing? The statement the lender relies on sets the balance, and a later drop can change the picture on a re-review. If your coverage is thin, a cushion above the loan amount protects you. A file that clears by one dollar is a file that can fail.
Where This Fits for an Investor
Asset-based qualification is built for a primary residence or second home. On the depletion path, investment property is allowed, with leverage 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. Leverage, reserves, and pricing vary by lender and program; the final terms follow the full file review.
For a pure rental, though, the usual tool is a DSCR loan, which tests the property’s rent against its payment rather than your balance sheet. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties. Because they are business-purpose investor loans, they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. If you want the full picture, Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide walks through how that test works.
Mixing the two up is a common mistake. Asset qualifier asks what you own. DSCR asks what the building earns. Some borrowers use one for their home and the other for their rentals.
The same product goes by several names: asset depletion, asset utilization, asset qualifier. Programs sometimes use the label to signal a shorter or longer divisor, so confirm what a quote is actually describing. Trade press describes these programs as calculating repayment ability from total liquid or investment assets, with a retiree holding a large portfolio as the classic fit, per Scotsman Guide. Because it is non-QM, it sits outside what the agencies can buy, which is why the percentages vary by program.
If the down payment is your next question, Lendmire’s piece How Much Down Payment Does an Asset Qualifier Mortgage Need? covers it.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier: a path that drives lender review on eligible assets alone, with no income documented.
Asset depletion: a path that converts usable assets into monthly qualifying income.
Haircut: the discount a lender applies to an asset’s balance for risk, so only part of it counts.
Divisor: the number of months, here 60, that usable assets are divided by to create monthly income.
Seasoning: how long money has sat in an account before the lender counts it.
Debt-to-income: your monthly debts compared with your monthly qualifying income.
Is This a Fit for You?
It fits if your balances are large and your documented income is small or irregular. Retirees, people who just sold a business, inheritance or settlement recipients, and early-retired professionals are the usual borrowers.
It does not fit if your portfolio is too small to cover the loan on the qualifier path, or too small to meet the depletion minimums. It also struggles when your wealth is mostly real estate, crypto, or illiquid business interests. Assets do not replace credit review, and the figures here are ceilings and floors, not offers.
Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my whole brokerage balance count?
On the qualifier path, yes, 100% typically counts, subject to underwriting. On the depletion path, 80% counts because securities are discounted. Down payment, closing costs, and any reserves come out of the total first, so the usable figure can end up lower than the statement balance.
Do I have to sell my stocks?
No. The lender counts eligible assets without requiring you to liquidate them. The one exception is the down payment, which must arrive as cash, so you may need to move some money even though the qualifying balance stays invested.
Can I combine a brokerage account with a retirement account?
Yes. Accounts combine on the qualifier path, each at its own percentage. A brokerage account at 100% plus a 401(k) at 90% under 59½ is the example above. The depletion path likewise adds each account at its own haircut before dividing by 60 months.
Does the Colorado location change the percentages?
No. The figures are program rules and do not change by state. Colorado property values and local costs affect how much loan you need, but not how much of a brokerage account counts.
Can I use this on a rental property?
Only on the depletion path, with lower leverage: up to 65% on an investment-property purchase and 60% on a cash-out, subject to underwriting. For a pure rental, a DSCR loan is usually the better route.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in Colorado page presents the program for Colorado 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. Scotsman Guide – One out of 20 mortgages are non-QM
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: How Much of a Roth IRA Counts Toward Asset Depletion Income? · Does Real Estate Equity Count on an Asset Qualifier Mortgage? · Savings Account vs Brokerage Account: Which Counts More on an Asset-Based Mortgage?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Colorado
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Compliance and disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage broker and is not a direct lender, depository institution, financial advisor, or tax professional. Content in this article is general market analysis and educational information — not financial, legal, or tax advice for any specific situation. Lendmire does not guarantee loan approval; every transaction is subject to underwriting by the funding lender. Mortgage pricing and loan program guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice and vary by borrower characteristics, property type, and state regulations. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensure verification: NMLS Consumer Access.