The Quick Read: It depends on the path: on the asset qualifier path, usable assets must equal or exceed the entire loan, while on the asset depletion path a retiree needs the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan, and at least $250,000 liquid if assets are the only income, subject to underwriting. Both paths run through select programs in Lendmire’s wholesale network. The file is documented with account statements, not with traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification.
- Asset qualifier path: eligible assets, after the credit percentages below, must cover the whole loan. No income is documented.
- Asset depletion path: usable assets divided by 60 months become monthly qualifying income, which must carry the housing payment and other debts.
- Leverage ceilings: 80% on a purchase and 75% on a refinance on the qualifier path. On the depletion path, 80% on a principal residence or second-home purchase and 65% on an investment-property purchase.
- Credit and seasoning: a 600 minimum score on the qualifier path, 60 days of seasoning, and two months of statements per account.
- Rental purchases: a retiree buying a rental may be better served by a different loan type, covered below.
Which Path Fits a Retiree With No Paycheck?
The right path depends on how much of the loan your assets can cover outright. If your usable balances equal or exceed the loan, the qualifier path is simpler. If they do not, the depletion path turns a large portfolio into an income figure that a lender can test.
The asset qualifier path asks one question. Do your eligible assets, after the credit percentages, equal or exceed the entire loan amount? If they do, the file is reviewed on assets alone, subject to underwriting. No employment or income is documented.
The asset depletion path asks a different question. Can the income derived from your assets carry the full housing payment and your other debts? It divides usable assets by 60 months and runs the result through a debt-to-income test.
A borrower is qualified on one path at a time. The two tables of percentages never blend. Pennsylvania is among the 16 states where Lendmire’s consumer mortgage lending is licensed. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, so it arranges these loans through select lenders and does not lend directly. The program figures here are the same for a Pennsylvania borrower as for any other.
Think of it as a trade-off between simplicity and size. The qualifier path is easier to understand, but it demands that assets match the loan. The depletion path accepts a smaller asset base relative to the loan, but it adds a debt-to-income test and a minimum-assets rule. Neither is better in the abstract. Your balance sheet decides which one fits.
How Does the Asset Qualifier Path Work?
The qualifier path counts your eligible assets at set percentages and compares the total with the loan. If the usable total equals or exceeds the loan, the file is reviewed on assets alone, subject to underwriting. Brokerage, certificate of deposit, money market and savings balances count at 100%.
Retirement accounts count at 90% if you are under age 59½ and at 100% once you reach 59½. Accounts combine, so you can mix them.
Here is an illustrative case. Say the loan is $800,000. The borrower holds $330,000 in brokerage accounts, which count at 100%, so $330,000. The borrower also has $300,000 in a 401(k) while under 59½, which counts at 90%, so $270,000. Finally, $200,000 sits in savings, which counts at 100%, so $200,000. That adds up to $800,000 of usable assets, which matches the loan, so the file is reviewed on assets alone. The lender’s own calculation governs.
Run that case again at 59½ or older. The retirement balance would count at 100%, so the same holdings would count for more. Age changes the math on this path, which is one reason timing a purchase around a birthday can matter.
Other terms on this path:
- Leverage: up to 80% loan-to-value on a purchase and 75% on a refinance, for a principal residence or second home.
- Loan size: up to $4,000,000.
- Credit: a 600 minimum score. Approval is never assured, and a credit review still happens.
- Seasoning: 60 days, with two months of statements for each qualifying account.
- Reserves: none required at or below 75% loan-to-value. Above that, the lender sets them.
Cash-out proceeds on this path are set by the lender and are not published, so do not plan around a figure for them. The lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets. Because this is a consumer mortgage, Nolo’s overview of the ability-to-repay rule is a useful plain-English explanation of what lenders must consider.
How Does Asset Depletion Turn Savings Into Income?
Asset depletion divides your usable assets by 60 months to produce a monthly qualifying income. That income must then carry the full housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test. You keep the assets, and the division is only a qualifying convention.
The illustrative case works like this. A borrower holds $1,500,000 in securities, which count at 80%, so $1,200,000. The borrower also holds $300,000 in cash, which counts at 100%, so $300,000. Usable assets come to $1,500,000. Divided by 60 months, that is $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. The lender then tests that income against the housing payment and other debts. Again, the lender’s own calculation governs.
The depletion path has firmer minimums than the qualifier path:
- Minimum assets: at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. When assets are the only income source, liquid assets can never fall below $250,000.
- Loan size: $125,000 to $3,500,000.
- Leverage on a principal residence or second home: 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.
- Credit: the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix applies. A first-time investor needs 700.
- Housing history: 0x30x12. One 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case.
- Statements: at least 120 days old at application, plus a most recent statement within 45 days.
For smaller loans, the 1.25 times test is usually the binding one. For larger loans, the $1,000,000 figure takes over. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets.
There is also a hybrid option. Asset-derived income can supplement documented income, such as a pension or Social Security, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived. That matters for a retiree whose Social Security is real but too small to carry a mortgage alone.
What Assets Does a Pennsylvania Retiree Need to Buy a Home?
Liquid, documented balances in regulated accounts count most. Cash, certificates of deposit and brokerage balances carry the highest credit. Retirement accounts count, but at different percentages on each path, and real-estate equity counts only on the depletion path.
| Asset type | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage / securities | 100% | 80% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 100% |
| Savings, money market, cash | 100% | 100% |
| 401(k) and IRA | 90% under 59½, 100% after | 70% at any age |
| Private stock | Not eligible | Not eligible |
| Real-estate equity | Not published | 60% |
On the depletion path, several asset types are not eligible at all. They include custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow accounts, foreign funds, cash on hand, privately held stock, 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. A business account counts only to the extent of the borrower’s ownership share, and even then it is not published as eligible. The documented route for these holdings is to convert them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account. The lender then reviews the source of the funds.
Retirement balances raise a real trade-off. On the qualifier path, a retiree under 59½ gives up 10% of the balance’s value, and after 59½ gives up nothing. On the depletion path, the 70% figure applies at any age. A retiree who is just short of 59½ with a large IRA may find that waiting changes the answer on the qualifier path but not on the depletion path.
Seasoning is the other filter. Money moved into an account recently has not aged. Sale-of-business, inheritance and legal-settlement funds are excused from the depletion path’s seasoning, which helps a retiree who just sold a company.
Working Backward From the Home You Want
Start from the price you want, apply the leverage ceiling for your path, and test your usable assets against the resulting loan. Work in percentages first. Let a lender’s actual calculation produce the dollars.
On the qualifier path, the logic is direct. On a purchase, the loan can reach 80% of the price, and usable assets must equal or exceed that entire loan. So usable assets of at least 80% of the purchase price is the starting test. The lender also reviews where your down payment and closing costs come from, so assets used for one purpose cannot be assumed to count twice.
On the depletion path, the logic has three steps:
1. Apply the credit percentages to each account and add them up. 2. Divide the total by 60 months to get monthly qualifying income. 3. Check that this income carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test, and that you meet the minimum-assets rule.
Consider two Pennsylvania retirees. The first holds mostly savings, certificates of deposit and a brokerage account, and wants a home priced below those balances. That retiree is a natural fit for the qualifier path, because the credit percentages are high and nothing needs converting to income. The second holds a large securities portfolio and a modest pension, and wants a larger home. That retiree is a better fit for the depletion path, possibly with the pension supplementing the derived income. Each figure is subject to underwriting.
State-level costs matter for what you can carry, but they are context rather than program parameters. Property taxes, insurance and local prices vary across Pennsylvania counties, and none of them change the percentages above. They only change how much housing payment your derived income has to cover on the depletion path.
A trade-off worth stating plainly: leaving large balances untouched has a cost. A retiree who is reviewed on assets keeps those assets in place, but the lender will want them seasoned and documented, so they cannot be spent freely before closing. A retiree who could pay cash should compare what is left in each scenario before choosing.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier path: a way to qualify in which eligible assets, after credit percentages, must equal or exceed the entire loan, with no income documented.
Asset depletion path: a way to qualify in which usable assets are divided by 60 months to create a monthly qualifying income.
Usable assets: the share of each account balance that a lender counts after applying the program’s credit percentage or haircut.
Haircut: the percentage a lender subtracts from an account’s value, usually because the asset can fall in value or is harder to access.
Seasoning: the length of time funds must sit in an account, shown by statements, before they count toward qualifying.
Debt-to-income test: a check that compares your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, with your qualifying income.
What if the Property Is a Rental?
A retiree buying a rental usually does not need to qualify on assets at all. A debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. The retiree’s assets then only need to cover the down payment, closing costs and reserves.
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. Under the business-purpose provisions of federal credit regulations, credit to acquire a rental that is not owner-occupied is treated as business purpose.
There is an edge case that matters to retirees. If you expect to occupy the property for more than 14 days in the coming year, the business-purpose treatment can fail. The official interpretation of that rule uses a vacation-home example to show the limit. A retiree who plans to spend long stretches in the property should treat it as a home and use an asset path instead.
The two routes answer different goals:
| Goal | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Live in the home | Asset qualifier or depletion path | Consumer purpose, assets documented |
| Buy a pure rental | DSCR loan | Rent covers the payment |
| Rental, but assets are large | Either, depending on leverage | Depletion allows 65% on investment property |
The depletion path also reaches investment property, at 65% on a purchase and 60% on a cash-out. A retiree with strong assets and a rental that does not cover its payment might choose that path. The rent would then no longer have to carry the file, but the leverage ceiling is lower. The reverse is also true: a rental that covers its payment may borrow more through a DSCR program. Some select lenders in the network will review coverage below 1.00, but loan-to-value and terms adjust when they do.
Mistakes That Derail Retiree Files
Most failed files come from seasoning, sourcing and path confusion rather than from a shortage of assets. Each of these is avoidable with planning before the application.
- Moving money right before applying. Funds transferred recently may not meet the 60-day qualifier seasoning or the 120-day depletion statement rule.
- Unexplained deposits. Large recent deposits need a source the lender can review.
- Counting crypto or metals. These are not published as eligible. Convert them to a seasoned cash balance first.
- Blending the two paths. A borrower is qualified on one path at a time, so you cannot take the best percentage from each table.
- Spending the same dollars twice. Cash used for the down payment is not available as a qualifying balance.
- Ignoring the minimums. On the depletion path, the minimum-assets rule applies even if the derived income looks strong.
One more point sits outside the loan. Retirement withdrawals can have consequences beyond the mortgage, and tax treatment varies, so consult a qualified professional before pulling money from retirement accounts.
A practitioner observation helps here. Across wholesale programs, the guidelines are not uniform. Divisors, haircuts and minimum balances differ from one lender to the next. The figures here are the ones for the programs Lendmire places files with, and they are not an industry standard. A borrower who reads another lender’s page should expect different numbers.
If Your Assets Fall Short
If your usable assets do not clear the minimums, you still have options, each with a cost. The most direct is a smaller loan. A lower purchase price or a larger down payment shrinks the amount your assets must cover.
A second option is the supplemental route. If you have documented income from a pension or Social Security, asset-derived income can supplement it up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and the minimum-assets rule is waived. This can bring a borderline file within reach.
A third option is time. Seasoning rules reward patience, and a retirement account crossing 59½ counts for more on the qualifier path. Waiting a few months can be an inexpensive way to improve a file.
A fourth option is a different program altogether. Agency conventional, FHA and VA rules each have their own requirements for how retirement income and assets are treated, and those are those programs’ rules, not this one’s. A retiree with solid pension income may do better there. Asset-based programs make the most sense when balances are large and documented income is small.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there one dollar amount of assets every Pennsylvania retiree needs?
No single figure applies, because the requirement depends on the path and the loan size. On the qualifier path, usable assets must equal or exceed the entire loan. On the depletion path, the minimum is the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan, with a $250,000 liquid floor when assets are the only income. Every file is subject to underwriting.
Can I use my IRA or 401(k) to qualify?
Yes, on both paths, but the credit differs. On the qualifier path, retirement balances count at 90% under 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path, they count at 70% at any age. Using the balance for qualifying does not require you to withdraw it.
Does a no-income mortgage mean no documentation?
No. The program does not ask for traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification, but it is fully underwritten. Your assets are documented with statements, and your credit and the property are reviewed. The qualifier path requires two months of statements per account and 60 days of seasoning.
Can a married couple combine their assets?
Accounts combine on the qualifier path, which helps when savings are split between spouses. Whose accounts count, and how they are titled, is reviewed by the lender. A couple should gather statements for every account they want considered before applying.
What if I want to buy a rental instead of a home to live in?
A rental purchase can use a DSCR loan, which qualifies primarily on the property’s rental income covering the payment. The depletion path also reaches investment property at lower leverage. The choice depends on how much the rent covers and how much of your assets you want tied up.
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 programs based on your statements, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals. The percentages are the same, and only the local housing context changes.
About Lendmire
Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage (NMLS# 2371349) licensed for consumer mortgage lending in 16 states, arranging bank statement and other alternative-documentation mortgages — P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based paths — through a wholesale lending network. Eligibility is determined by the lender on each file. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Nolo, ability-to-repay explainer
2. eCFR, 12 CFR 1026.3 (business-purpose exemption)
3. CFPB, Official Interpretation of Regulation Z § 1026.3
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 You Buy a Second Home in California on Assets Instead of Income? · Can You Relocate to Texas and Buy a Home on Assets Before You Have Local Income? · Can a Pennsylvania Snowbird Buy a Winter Home on Savings Alone?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Pennsylvania
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Disclosure information. Lendmire is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage under NMLS# 2371349. Lendmire is not a depository institution, direct lender, or financial advisor — all loans referenced are placed through wholesale lender partners and are subject to each lender's underwriting standards. This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not a commitment to lend, nor does it constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Loan programs, terms, rates, and qualification standards change without notice and depend on borrower profile, property type, and the state in which the subject property is located. Equal Housing Opportunity provider. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.