The Quick Read: Yes, a Colorado retiree can buy a winter home with savings alone, either by paying all cash or by qualifying for an asset-based consumer mortgage where documented balances stand in for a paycheck, but a rental-income investor loan is the wrong tool for a home you will live in. The asset-based route, available through select programs, is fully underwritten. It asks for no traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification, but every balance is documented with statements.
- All cash: no lender tests your income, but sellers and title companies still want proof of funds.
- Asset qualifier path: eligible assets must cover the entire loan, with leverage up to 80% loan-to-value (the loan as a share of the home’s value) on a purchase of a second home, subject to underwriting.
- Asset depletion path: usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying income that runs through a debt-to-income test.
- Rental-income loans: these fit homes you rent to others, not a winter home you occupy. Leverage, reserves, and pricing vary by lender and program; the final terms follow the full file review.
What Does “Savings Alone” Actually Mean?
It means one of three things, and each one lives under a different rulebook. Mixing them up can cost a snowbird a lot of wasted effort.
Meaning one is all cash. You wire the purchase price from savings, brokerage accounts or the sale of your Colorado home. No lender underwrites you. The seller wants proof the money exists, and that is the end of the financing story.
Meaning two is savings as the qualifier. You borrow, but the lender looks at your balances instead of your paycheck. This is a consumer mortgage on a second home. Lendmire, a mortgage broker, arranges these through select lenders in its wholesale network.
Meaning three is a rental-income loan. These qualify the property on the rent it earns. They are built for investors who do not live in the home. If you plan to spend the winter in the house, this is not your product.
Retirement does not close the door by itself. Kiplinger notes that being out of the workforce is not necessarily a barrier to getting a mortgage, and that some retirees pair cash with a first or second mortgage on the new home.
Paying All Cash: What You Gain and What It Costs
Cash is common in vacation markets. NAR’s Economists’ Outlook reports that over a ten-month window, 57% of vacation-home buyers and 56% of investment buyers paid all cash, against 18% of primary-residence buyers. That is a broad vacation-home category, not a snowbird-only or Colorado-only number, so read it as context.
Cash has real advantages. Sellers tend to trust it, and NAR notes that cash buyers often win bidding wars. In a vacation market where financed offers sit next to cash offers, that matters.
The cost is liquidity. Every dollar in the house is a dollar that no longer covers medical bills, market drops or the repairs a second home always produces. Kiplinger cautions that a large pre-tax retirement withdrawal to pay cash can trigger a big tax bill. Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; borrowers should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Proof of funds is the document cash buyers hand over. It is usually a recent statement or a bank letter showing the money is available and in your name. Prepare it before you tour homes, not after you find one.
Here is a thought a broker has to say out loud: cash is not automatically the wiser choice, even when you can afford it. A buyer who keeps part of the portfolio invested and borrows against the rest often ends up with a stronger reserve position. That tradeoff is exactly why asset-based loans exist.
How an Asset-Based Mortgage Qualifies You on Balances
Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, asset-based files follow two distinct paths, each described in the sections below. A borrower is qualified on one path at a time, and the figures never blend. Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs cover both, and every file is underwritten individually.
The asset qualifier path
On this path, your eligible assets, after the credit percentages below, must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented. The lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets.
Typical program figures, subject to underwriting:
- 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.
- Counted at 100%: brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market and savings accounts.
- Retirement accounts: 401(k) and IRA balances count at 90% under age 59½ and at 100% at 59½ or older. Accounts combine.
- 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.
Run a simple illustration. Picture a borrower under 59½ seeking an $800,000 loan with $330,000 in brokerage accounts (counted at 100%, so $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) (counted at 90%, so $270,000) and $200,000 in savings (counted at 100%, so $200,000). That adds up to $800,000 of usable assets, which covers the loan on assets alone. At 59½ or older, the same 401(k) would count in full. The lender’s own calculation governs, and this is an illustration, not an offer.
The asset depletion path
This path turns assets into income. The lender applies a haircut to each account, adds the usable balances and divides by 60 months. The result is a monthly qualifying income that must carry the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test. Benzinga describes the same idea: assets stand in for income for retirees, high-net-worth and self-employed borrowers, and criteria vary by lender.
Typical program figures, subject to underwriting:
- 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.
- Loan size: $125,000 to $3,500,000.
- Credit: the lender’s matrix sets the score requirement.
- Counted at 100%: cash accounts and certificates of deposit.
- Haircut assets: securities count at 80%, private stock at 75%, retirement accounts at 70% at any age, and real-estate equity at 60%.
- Statements: at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement within 45 days.
- Minimum assets: 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.
Not eligible on this path: 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. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets.
The illustration: $1,500,000 in securities counts at 80%, or $1,200,000. Add $300,000 in cash at 100%. That is $1,500,000 of usable assets, divided by 60 months, for $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then has to carry the housing payment and other debts. Again, the lender’s calculation governs.
Asset depletion can also supplement documented income, such as a pension, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. When it supplements income, the minimum-assets rule is waived.
What does not count
Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles and pledged or borrowed funds are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is to convert them into a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the source reviewed by the lender. Plan for that conversion before you apply, because seasoning takes calendar time you cannot buy back.
Which Path Fits a Retiree?
A short comparison helps. The first two columns below describe each path inside Lendmire’s network. The third describes a standard full-documentation second-home loan, attributed to that program only.
| Factor | Asset qualifier | Asset depletion | Full-doc second home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Big balances, any income | Portfolio as paycheck | Documented steady income |
| What is tested | Assets cover the loan | Derived income and DTI | Income, debts, credit |
| Income documents | None | None, unless supplementing | Pay stubs, returns |
| Main tradeoff | Must cover whole loan | Haircuts, 60-month divisor | Paper-heavy |
Most retirees with large balances and a thin paycheck lean toward one of the first two. The qualifier path suits a borrower whose balances are well above the loan. The depletion path suits a borrower whose assets are large but who would not clear a simple coverage test. Many retirees also hold a pension or Social Security income. That income can be documented instead, or alongside the asset-derived income.
Why a Lived-In Winter Home Can’t Use a Rental-Income Loan
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, short for debt service coverage ratio loan, qualifies primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. That logic is why snowbirds hear about it and why it confuses them: the phrase “the property pays for itself” sounds like “I don’t need income.” It means the tenant’s rent is the qualifier.
The occupancy line is firm. CFPB Regulation Z commentary says a property cannot be treated as non-owner-occupied if the owner expects to occupy it for more than 14 days in the coming year. Its own example is a beach house the owner uses for a month in summer. A snowbird who winters in a home for several months is well past that line.
Some investor programs permit limited personal use of a rental. That is a program-specific allowance, not a federal safe harbor, so treat it as something to confirm in writing with the lender. It does not stretch to a seasonal residence.
| Label | You live there? | Typical loan family |
|---|---|---|
| Principal residence | Yes, most of the year | Consumer mortgage |
| Second home | Yes, part of the year | Consumer mortgage |
| Investment property | No, rented to others | Business-purpose investor loan |
The Edge Cases Where Snowbirds Get Tripped Up
Putting the home in an LLC. An LLC does not turn a lived-in home into a non-owner-occupied one. Whether a lender will lend to an LLC at all depends on program guidelines, and occupancy still follows how you use the home.
Renting it out sometimes. If you must count the rent to qualify, the lender treats the home as an investment property. A buyer who qualifies without the rent keeps second-home treatment.
Converting later. A second home can become an investment-property refinance if its use truly changes, with a fresh occupancy certification. Misstating occupancy is a serious problem, whatever the loan.
Using a HELOC on the Colorado home. Pulling equity from the northern home can raise your down payment. It does not replace qualification, and borrowed or pledged funds are not published as eligible assets on either path above. Kiplinger also mentions reverse mortgages on a primary home as a possible source of funds for the purchase.
Cash-out proceeds. On the depletion path, they never count as qualifying assets. Don’t plan a refinance of one property to qualify for another.
Retirement accounts. Treatment depends on age and on whether you can reach the funds. Under 59½, the qualifier path counts them at 90%, and the depletion path counts them at 70% at any age.
Colorado Starting Points: Where the Winter Home Sits Matters
You can live in Colorado and buy a home in another state. The loan follows the property, so the question is where the home sits. Lendmire’s consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
That list has consequences. Florida, Texas, California, Georgia and New Mexico are on it, and each draws winter residents. Arizona is not. A snowbird eyeing a Phoenix-area home would not run through this program. Confirm the property state before you spend time on documents.
Residency and domicile questions belong to the states involved, not the lender, so take them to a qualified advisor. The financing side is simpler: a winter home you buy and use stays a second home, whatever happens to your Colorado address.
Also decide what happens to the Colorado home. Keeping it, selling it or downsizing changes your balances, your seasoning and your liquidity. A sale also creates cash that may qualify under the cash rules of either path once it has seasoned.
What Your Savings Still Have to Carry
A snowbird home carries a second set of bills. Insurance, association or condo dues, utilities and upkeep all arrive whether you are in residence or not. They vary by property and county, so get real quotes before you bid.
Condo purchases add a wrinkle. Some condo projects don’t meet lender eligibility, which can block financing even on a clean file. Ask early.
Savings have to cover two jobs: the purchase and the cushion. A borrower who is reviewed on assets but spends down to nothing at closing has solved the wrong problem. On the qualifier path, reserves are not required at or below 75% loan-to-value, but a thin cushion is still a risk of its own.
Rent First, or Buy?
This is a toss-up for many snowbirds, and the honest answer depends on how many winters you will use the place. Renting for a season or two tests the destination without tying up savings. Buying makes sense when you know the area, plan to return for years and have balances you can spare.
If you do rent first, keep your seasoned balances where they are. Statements that grow older in place help the seasoning requirements on either path.
Before You Make an Offer
1. Decide the occupancy label. If you live there, it is a second home.
2. Pick a path: all cash, asset qualifier or asset depletion.
3. Gather statements for every qualifying account, and check how old they are.
4. Convert anything not eligible, such as crypto, into a seasoned cash balance.
5. Get insurance quotes and, for condos, confirm eligibility.
6. Confirm the property state is one where your lender can lend.
7. Speak with a tax advisor and a qualified professional about residency.
Key Terms Defined
Seasoning: the period your funds must sit in an account, shown by statements, before a lender counts them.
Debt-to-income (DTI): your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, divided by your monthly qualifying income.
Proof of funds: a statement or bank letter showing you have the money to buy, which cash buyers give sellers and title companies.
Second home: a home you own and occupy part of the year, separate from your main residence.
DSCR loan: a business-purpose investor loan qualified on the rent a property earns, not on your personal income.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy a winter home with no income at all?
Yes, through select asset-based programs. The loan is fully underwritten, and every balance is documented with statements, but no traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification are required. Eligibility depends on your credit, your assets and the property.
Do I have to pay all cash?
No. Cash is common among vacation-home buyers, and NAR data shows a majority paying cash, but it is a choice. An asset-based mortgage lets you keep part of your portfolio invested. The right answer depends on how much liquidity you want to keep.
Can a reverse mortgage buy my winter home?
Kiplinger mentions reverse mortgages on a primary home as one possible source of funds. A reverse mortgage on the Colorado home would raise cash for a purchase, but it is a separate product with its own rules. It also adds debt on the home you keep.
Does renting out the winter home change the loan type?
Yes, if you need the rent to qualify. At that point the lender treats it as an investment property. If you qualify without the rent, you generally keep second-home treatment.
Does a winter home change my Colorado residency?
Residency is set by each state’s rules, not by the lender, so ask a qualified advisor. The loan itself only cares how you use the home: a home you occupy is a second home.
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. Program details change, and every file is subject to underwriting and is not a commitment to lend.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in Colorado page presents the program for Colorado borrowers.
About Lendmire
Lendmire — NMLS# 2371349 — is a mortgage broker that arranges bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based home financing in 16 states through wholesale lenders, on primary residences, second homes and investment properties. Every option is subject to the lender’s guidelines and full underwriting. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
Investors who want the broader program framework can review how DSCR loans work.
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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. Kiplinger: Great Places for Snowbirds to Land
2. NAR Economists’ Outlook: The Cash Buyer
3. NAR: Share of Cash Buyers Surges
4. Benzinga: Asset Depletion Mortgage
5. CFPB Regulation Z, 12 CFR 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 Use an Asset-Based Mortgage to Buy a Pennsylvania Home for Your Parents? · Can You Relocate to Michigan and Buy a Home on Assets Before You Have Local Income? · Can a Florida Retiree Get a Mortgage on Savings and Investments Alone?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Colorado
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.