The Quick Read: You can buy your next Georgia home before selling the current one by qualifying on your assets instead of a paycheck, because the lender tests your balances rather than the old home’s sale proceeds, and a purchase without a sale contingency keeps your offer strong. This works best for people with large balances and little documented income. Every figure below is a typical ceiling or floor through select programs, subject to underwriting.
- Two paths exist. On the asset qualifier path, eligible assets must cover the entire loan, and no employment or income is documented. On the asset depletion path, assets are divided by 60 months into qualifying income.
- Leverage is capped. The qualifier path allows up to 80% on a purchase. The depletion path allows up to 80% on a primary residence or second home, and 65% on an investment property.
- Assets are still documented. Expect 60 days of seasoning and two months of statements per account on the qualifier path.
- The old home’s payment is the swing factor. Whether it is counted, excluded or offset by rent depends on the program and the contract status.
- Rentals are different. If the next purchase is a rental, DSCR is usually the better fit.
Why Do Georgia Buyers Want to Buy First?
Buying first lets you shop for the right home without a deadline from your current one. It also lets you write an offer that does not depend on a sale.
A sale contingency is a clause that makes your purchase depend on selling your old home. Michael Carr & Associates notes that a contingency can weaken an offer and can cost you the purchase if the sale misses its deadline.
Buying first creates two problems. The first is cash, because your down payment is often trapped in the home you have not sold. The second is the ratio, because a lender may count both housing payments against you while you still own both homes.
An asset-based mortgage attacks both problems. The lender looks at balances you already hold, so the old home’s sale is not the source of funds.
What Is an Asset Qualifier Mortgage?
It is a qualification method, not a different kind of house. The lender checks whether your documented assets can support the loan, and nothing is sold or withdrawn.
Across Lendmire’s wholesale network, two paths exist. A borrower is qualified on one path at a time, and the figures never blend.
| Item | Asset qualifier path | Asset depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| How you qualify | Assets cover the whole loan | Assets become monthly income |
| Purchase leverage | Up to 80% | Up to 80% (home); 65% (investment) |
| Refinance leverage | Up to 75% | 80% rate-and-term; 60% cash-out |
| Loan size | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Credit | 600 minimum | The lender’s matrix |
| Seasoning | 60 days; two statements | 120-day-old statement plus one within 45 days |
The leverage rows on the depletion path apply to a primary residence or second home unless the table says investment. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on the depletion path.
This product is built for a particular reader. Think of a retiree, someone who sold a business, an heir, or a household living off a portfolio. Their balances are large, and their documented income is small.
How Does Underwriting Treat It, Step by Step?
The lender converts statements into either a coverage test or an income figure. The steps are short, and each one is checkable.
1. Inventory the accounts. The lender lists brokerage, savings, money market, certificates of deposit and retirement balances. Business accounts and borrowed funds generally do not count.
2. Apply the credit percentages. On the qualifier path, brokerage, CDs, money market and savings count at 100%. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older.
3. Check seasoning. Balances must have sat in the account long enough to show they are yours.
4. Run the test for your path. On the qualifier path, usable assets must equal or exceed the entire loan. On the depletion path, usable assets divided by 60 months become income that must carry the full housing payment and other debts.
5. Review the credit file. The qualifier path has a 600 minimum score. Housing history is expected to be 0x30x12, and one late payment in the last twelve months is considered case by case.
Reserves on the qualifier path are not required at or below 75% loan-to-value. Above that, the lender sets them.
What Does the Math Look Like?
Both examples are illustrative, and the lender’s own calculation governs.
Qualifier path. Picture an $800,000 loan. You hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts, which count at 100% for $330,000. You hold $300,000 in a 401(k) at age 55, which counts at 90% for $270,000. You hold $200,000 in savings, which count at 100% for $200,000. The total is $800,000 of usable assets, so the file is reviewed on assets alone.
Depletion path. Say you hold $1,500,000 in securities, which count at 80% for $1,200,000. You also hold $300,000 in cash, which counts at 100%. That is $1,500,000 usable, and divided by 60 months it produces $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income must carry the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test.
The depletion path has minimums. Qualified assets must be at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. They must also never fall below $250,000 liquid when asset depletion is your only income source.
What Happens to the Old Home’s Payment?
It depends on the path, the contract status and the reserves. The old payment may be counted, left out, or offset by rent.
On the qualifier path, no income is documented, so there is no debt-to-income ratio to burden. The lender’s review rests on whether your assets cover the loan. On the depletion path, your derived income goes through a debt test, and the old payment is a debt unless the program excludes it.
Listed does not mean sold. Conventional agency guidelines generally count both payments until the old home has a signed contract with the buyer’s contingencies cleared. That is those programs’ rule, and it is the reason many buyers look to a non-agency route.
The CFPB’s compliance guide for the ability-to-repay rule explains why lenders have room here. It says creditors set their own underwriting standards, so long as they consider and verify the required factors. It also gives creditors flexibility on current debts, with an example of an obligation likely to be paid off soon after closing. No federal rule sets a divisor or a haircut, so each lender chooses its own.
Which Assets Count, and How Do You Document Them?
Cash, savings, CDs, brokerage and retirement accounts count. Other holdings need to be converted to a seasoned cash balance first.
On the depletion path, the percentages differ from the qualifier path. Cash accounts and CDs count at 100%, securities at 80%, private stock at 75%, and retirement accounts at 70% at any age. Real-estate equity counts at 60%, subject to underwriting.
These do not count on the depletion path:
- custodial accounts, deferred compensation and escrow accounts;
- foreign funds and cash on hand;
- stock options and non-vested restricted stock units;
- funds from non-regulated financial companies.
Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, pledged funds and borrowed funds are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is to convert them into cash in a regulated account. The lender then reviews the source of that cash.
A short checklist keeps the file clean:
- two months of statements for every qualifying account;
- a written explanation for any large deposit;
- identification of the source of the down payment and closing funds;
- credit and housing history, with a plan for any late payment.
The Cornell Law School text of the ability-to-repay rule says the lender must consider income or assets other than the value of the dwelling securing the loan. That is why the new house itself never counts as an asset on this loan. Statements must also come from reliable third-party records, so a screenshot of a number is not enough.
Lendmire’s separate explainer Do You Have to Liquidate Assets to Reserve an Asset Qualifier Mortgage? covers the sourcing question in more detail.
Georgia Closings Run Through an Attorney
Georgia is an attorney-closing state. In a buy-before-you-sell deal, that means two closings often run through attorneys at the same time.
R.S. Johnson Legal notes that out-of-state buyers are sometimes surprised that an in-state attorney handles the deed and funds. The program figures themselves do not change by state.
The practical point is coordination. Ask your attorney early about payoff statements for the old home and funding for the new one. Georgia is one of the 16 states where Lendmire’s consumer mortgage business is licensed.
How Does It Compare With Other Ways to Buy First?
An asset qualifier loan trades extra paperwork on your balances for a non-contingent offer. Each alternative trades something different.
| Route | How you qualify | Main tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier | Assets cover the loan | Needs large balances |
| Asset depletion | Assets become income | Haircuts shrink the pool |
| Bridge loan | Old home’s equity | Another loan, short-term costs |
| HELOC on old home | Equity in old home | The draw counts as debt |
| Sale contingency | Normal mortgage | Weaker offer |
| DSCR (rental buy) | Property rent covers payment | Investment property only |
A bridge loan, according to Michael Carr & Associates, means taking on another loan and its short-term costs, and it gives no protection if the sale falls through. A HELOC draw is a debt. Many lenders also will not open a new line on a home that is already listed.
Where the General Rule Breaks
A rental purchase. The asset qualifier path covers principal residences and second homes. The depletion path adds investment property, at up to 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance. For most rental buyers, DSCR is the cleaner route.
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. A DSCR loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide walks through that path.
Keeping the old home as a rental. The asset route does not force a sale. The old property can stay in your portfolio, and your assets stay invested. Tax treatment varies, so consult a qualified professional.
The sale never closes. If the old home sits, you carry both homes. Reserves and a price-reduction plan matter more than the loan type.
Sale proceeds arriving later. Money that arrives after closing cannot count toward qualifying. Funds from the sale must already be in a seasoned, regulated account to be counted.
Unusual assets. Crypto, metals and collectibles need to become seasoned cash first.
Who Should and Shouldn’t Use This Approach?
This fits you if your balances are large and your documented income is small. It also fits if you want a non-contingent offer and have the statements to prove your assets.
It fits poorly if your liquid assets fall short of the loan on the qualifier path. The depletion path can help, but only if the haircut pool, divided by 60 months, can carry your debts.
It also fits poorly if your next purchase is a pure rental. In that case, compare DSCR instead.
A few lenders in the network lean strict on seasoning and on large unexplained deposits, so start gathering statements before you write an offer.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier path: the route where eligible assets must cover the whole loan, with no income documented.
Asset depletion path: the route where usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying monthly income.
Haircut: the percentage discount a lender applies to an asset type, such as 80% for securities on the depletion path.
Seasoning: the time an asset has sat in your account, shown by statements.
Sale contingency: a clause that makes your purchase depend on selling your current home.
Loan-to-value (LTV): the loan amount as a percentage of the property’s value.
DSCR: a ratio that tests whether a rental’s income covers its own debt payment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy before selling in Georgia without documenting income?
Yes, on the asset qualifier path, subject to underwriting. Your eligible assets must cover the entire loan. Your assets are still documented with statements, so the loan is not a no-documentation product.
Does the old home’s payment count against me?
It depends on the program, the contract status and the reserves. On the qualifier path, no income is documented, so no ratio is calculated. On the depletion path, the lender’s debt test decides how the old payment is treated.
Can I use retirement accounts?
Yes. On the qualifier path, a 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path, retirement accounts count at 70% at any age.
Can I use this to buy a rental?
Rarely through the qualifier path, which covers principal residences and second homes. The depletion path allows investment property at up to 65% on a purchase. Most rental buyers compare DSCR instead.
Does my credit matter?
Yes. The qualifier path has a 600 minimum score, and the depletion path follows the lender’s matrix. Approval is never promised.
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.
Georgia’s attorney-closing process rewards the borrower who lines up payoff statements and seasoned balances before writing the offer.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in Georgia page presents the program for Georgia borrowers.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage broker licensed for consumer lending in 16 states. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Michael Carr & Associates, Bridge Loans, HELOCs and More
2. CFPB Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Small Entity Compliance Guide
3. Cornell Law School, 12 CFR 1026.43
4. R.S. Johnson Legal, Why Georgia Requires an Attorney at Closing
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Asset Qualifier vs Asset Depletion for a Tech Employee · Joint vs Individual Accounts on an Asset Depletion Mortgage · What Counts as an Asset Statement for a Mortgage?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Georgia
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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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.