The Quick Read: The best program for a large gift is the one that counts your own statements as the income, leaves room for the cash-out leverage you need, and matches your property type. That depends on your situation, because two different asset-based paths exist and each has its own limits. A broker that shops several wholesale lenders can match you to the one that fits.
- Assets cover the loan (qualifier path): eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan, and no employment or income is documented. Leverage is up to 75% on a refinance of a principal residence or second home, subject to underwriting.
- Assets become income (depletion path): usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying income. Cash-out is capped at 60% on a principal residence, second home or investment property.
- Cash-out proceeds never count as assets, so the money you give away is not part of how you qualify.
- Privately held company stock is not eligible on either path.
- Every file is fully underwritten. The assets are documented with statements. You skip traditional personal-income documentation, such as pay stubs and employment verification, but not asset documentation.
What Does a Cash-Out Refinance for a Gift Actually Involve?
You replace your current mortgage with a larger one and take the difference as cash. A large share of that cash goes to a charity or a donor-advised fund. The lender does not care where the money goes in the way a tax return does, but it does care that the new loan is safe to make.
This is where asset-based qualification helps. Many people with large philanthropic plans are retirees, business sellers, inheritors or early-retired professionals. Their balances are big, and their documented income is small or lumpy. A standard income-based file can make them look weaker than they are.
An asset-based file reverses the picture. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender. It places these loans through select lenders in its wholesale network, and those lenders review each file on its own. The program figures below are ceilings and floors, not offers, and every one of them is subject to underwriting.
Here is the catch most people miss. Borrowing to give is a choice about your balance sheet, not a free source of cash. You turn home equity into a gift and keep a bigger loan. That can be the right move, and sometimes it is not. We cover both cases below.
Key Terms Defined
Cash-out refinance: a new, larger mortgage that pays off the old one and hands you the difference in cash.
Asset qualifier path: the route where eligible assets, after the credit percentages, must equal or exceed the whole loan amount. No employment or income is documented.
Asset depletion path: the route where usable assets divided by 60 months become a monthly qualifying income. That income carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test.
Debt-to-income ratio: your monthly debts divided by your monthly qualifying income. Lenders use it to judge whether you can carry the payment.
Seasoning: the length of time money must sit in an account before the lender counts it.
Haircut: the share of an asset’s balance the lender does not count. A 70% credit means a 30% haircut.
Donor-advised fund: a charitable account you fund now and use to make grants to charities over time.
What Makes a Program the Best Fit for a Gift?
Judge a program on how it treats your assets, your property and your leverage need, not on a brand name. Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, six criteria separate a workable file from a stalled one. The table shows the verified parameters for the programs Lendmire places, and each is subject to underwriting.
| Criterion | Why it matters for a gift | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash-out leverage | Sets the most cash you can pull | Set by lender, not published | 60% on all occupancies |
| Loan size | Caps the gift you can fund | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Property type | Rentals need a different path | Principal or second home | Also investment property |
| Credit | Gates the whole file | 600 minimum | Lender’s matrix |
| Seasoning | Controls when assets count | 60 days, two statements | Statements 120+ days old |
| Reserves | Extra cash you must hold | None at 75% LTV or less | None published |
Read the leverage row twice. On the qualifier path, a refinance goes up to 75% loan-to-value on a principal residence or second home. Whether cash-out proceeds are allowed on that path, and at what leverage, is the lender’s call. It is not published, so nobody can promise a figure for you.
On the depletion path, cash-out tops out at 60% on a principal residence, a second home or an investment property. Rate-and-term refinances and purchases go higher, up to 80% on a principal residence or second home. That gap is why a gift funded by cash-out is more constrained than the headline numbers suggest.
Path One: When Your Assets Cover the Whole Loan
On the qualifier path, you qualify on assets alone. After the credit percentages below, your eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. The lender documents no employment and no income. The lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on those assets.
Here is how the credit percentages work on this path:
- Brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market and savings count at 100%.
- 401(k) and IRA balances count at 90% if you are under age 59½, and 100% at 59½ or older.
- Accounts combine.
Take an illustrative case. Say you want an $800,000 loan and hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts, $300,000 in a 401(k) while under 59½, and $200,000 in savings. The brokerage counts at 100%, which is $330,000. The 401(k) counts at 90%, which is $270,000. The savings count at 100%, which is $200,000. Together that is $800,000 of usable assets, which matches the loan. The lender’s own calculation governs, so treat this as a picture of the method.
Other terms on this path: a 600 minimum credit score, 60 days of seasoning, and two months of statements for each qualifying account. The leverage is up to 80% on a purchase and 75% on a refinance. No reserves are required at or below 75% loan-to-value, and above that the lender sets them.
This path fits you best if your liquid wealth is large compared with the loan. If a gift would drain the very accounts that qualify you, talk to your broker before you move any money. The lender reads your statements as they stand.
Path Two: When Your Assets Become Income
On the depletion path, your assets are converted into a monthly qualifying income. Usable assets divided by 60 months equals that income. It must then carry the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test.
Run the numbers on one illustrative portfolio. Say you hold $1,500,000 in securities, which count at 80%, or $1,200,000. You also hold $300,000 in cash, which counts at 100%. That is $1,500,000 of usable assets. Divided by 60 months, it equals $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. The lender’s own calculation governs, and the test then asks whether that income carries the payment and your other debts.
The haircuts differ from the qualifier path, so never blend the two tables:
- Cash accounts and certificates of deposit count at 100%.
- Securities count at 80%.
- Retirement accounts count at 70% at any age.
- Real-estate equity counts at 60%.
This path has minimums. You need qualified assets of at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. When asset depletion is your only income source, you also need at least $250,000 in liquid assets. If asset income only supplements documented income, it can run up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and the minimum-assets rule is waived.
On statements, the rule is that they must be at least 120 days old at application, plus one statement within 45 days. Funds from a business sale, an inheritance or a legal settlement are excused from that seasoning.
This is the path that serves rental owners. Investment property is eligible only here, with cash-out up to 60% and loan amounts from $125,000 to $3,500,000, all subject to underwriting. A first-time investor on this path needs a 700 score. The credit floor for everyone else follows the lender’s matrix. The exact numbers vary by lender and program and follow a full review of property, leverage, and credit.
What Counts as an Asset, and What Doesn’t
Most gift planners get tripped up here. A balance you can see is not always a balance a lender can count. Across the programs Lendmire places files with, the line falls like this.
Counts, with haircuts: cash, certificates of deposit, money market, savings, brokerage securities, and retirement accounts, at the percentages above.
Not eligible on the depletion 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.
Not published as eligible on either path: cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, business accounts beyond your ownership share, and pledged or borrowed funds. The route here is plain. Convert them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, and the lender reviews where the money came from.
Privately held company stock: not eligible on either path. A founder’s or shareholder’s route is documented liquid assets: seasoned proceeds from a sale or conversion, cash, public securities, and retirement accounts at their haircuts. A sale or buyout turned into a cash balance is the documented way in.
Where the General Rule Breaks
A few situations catch even prepared borrowers.
Cash-out proceeds don’t qualify you. You cannot pull cash and then count that cash toward the loan. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets. The file must stand on assets that existed before closing.
Cash-out is not the same as a rate-and-term refinance. The leverage caps drop. On the depletion path, a principal residence has a lower maximum on a cash-out than on a rate-and-term refinance, and an investment property has a lower cap as well. A gift sized for the higher number may not fit.
Credit events matter. The housing history standard is 0x30x12. One 30-day late payment in the last twelve months is considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible. A housing event needs four years of seasoning on the depletion path.
The asset test is not a loophole. A bigger gift means a bigger loan, and a bigger loan raises the payment that your assets or your derived income must carry. More cash out can push you past the debt-to-income limit on the depletion path. Lenders also ask what the proceeds are for, and the lender’s own guideline controls on use of proceeds. Ask early.
A thin pledge doesn’t help you. If your gift commitment is big compared with your seasoned assets, a lender may not be able to size a loan to match it. Staged giving over several years can fit better than one lump sum.
Borrow, Sell, or Give the Asset?
Borrowing is one of several ways to fund a gift, and often not the right one. The honest answer comes from comparing them side by side.
| Path | What you give up | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| Cash-out refinance | Equity, plus a larger loan | Bigger payment, thinner cushion |
| HELOC | Open credit line on your home | Terms of that product apply |
| Securities-backed line | Pledge of your portfolio | Falling markets can force action |
| Sell holdings | Part of your portfolio | You lose market exposure |
| Give an asset directly | The asset itself | Needs the charity to accept it |
Each row is a different tool with its own rules. A HELOC, for instance, follows the rules of that product, not those of this program.
Cash-out tends to make sense when you want to keep your portfolio invested, your home carries real equity, and the larger payment fits comfortably. It makes less sense when you have an appreciated asset a charity would take directly, or when the payment would squeeze your retirement budget. Giving the asset itself skips the loan entirely, and a tax professional can compare the two for you.
Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held, and the rules on how interest is allocated by use of proceeds are separate from the limits in IRS Publication 526, so keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
From Application to Gift: The Steps
Think of the sequence in order, because each step feeds the next.
1. Set the gift size and schedule. Decide whether it is one gift, a pledge paid over years, or a donor-advised fund contribution.
2. Pick the path. If your assets cover the whole loan, look at the qualifier path. If your assets are better as income, or the property is a rental, look at the depletion path.
3. Gather statements. Pull every account you plan to count, and check that the seasoning rules are met.
4. Have the use-of-proceeds conversation. Tell your broker the cash is going to a gift, so the lender’s policy is known up front.
5. Let the file go through underwriting. The lender reviews credit, assets, property and the loan structure. This is a consumer mortgage, so the usual mortgage disclosures apply.
6. Net proceeds arrive after payoff and costs. What is left is the amount available for the gift. Plan the gift around that figure, not the loan amount.
7. Send the money and keep the records. Wire it to the charity or sponsor, and save the settlement statement, the wire confirmation and the charity’s acknowledgment letter.
Four Scenarios
| Profile | Likely fit | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Retiree funding one campaign gift | Qualifier path, primary home | Cash-out not published |
| Business seller after a sale | Depletion path, sale funds excused from seasoning | Payment vs. derived income |
| Founder with private stock | Documented liquid assets only | Stock itself never counts |
| Rental owner with equity | Depletion path, 60% cash-out | Larger payment on the rental |
The retiree has the cleanest story if the liquid assets are big enough. The business seller benefits from the seasoning exception, which lets fresh sale proceeds count. The founder has to turn paper wealth into documented cash first. The rental owner deals with the tightest leverage, and the new loan lands on a property that must carry it.
When Not to Do This
Skip a cash-out if your gift would leave you with a payment you cannot comfortably carry in a down market. Skip it if the asset you want to give is something the charity would gladly take directly. And skip it if your only real source of money is a balance you would have to drain before closing, because you would be undermining the file that qualifies you.
Honestly, this is a genuine toss-up for many donors. Borrowing keeps your portfolio intact and spreads the cost over time. Giving or selling holdings avoids a bigger loan. The stronger play depends on how large your equity cushion is and how you feel about carrying more debt.
What to Bring to the Conversation
- Two months of statements for each account you want counted, and older statements if you are on the depletion path
- The property type and occupancy, and your current loan balance
- The gift amount, the recipient, and the schedule
- Documentation for any sale, inheritance or settlement funds
- A note on any housing event or late payment in your history
- Your tax professional’s contact, so the gift plan and the loan plan line up
Frequently Asked Questions
Can privately held company stock count toward qualifying?
No. Privately held company stock is not an eligible asset on either path. A founder’s route is documented liquid assets: seasoned proceeds from a sale or conversion, cash, public securities and retirement accounts at their haircuts. Convert first, document it, then apply.
Does the cash I pull out count as an asset?
No. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on the depletion path, and the same logic holds on the qualifier path. The file must qualify on assets that existed before closing, which is why the gift itself does not help you qualify.
Is an asset-based cash-out the same as a no-doc loan?
No. Every file is fully underwritten, and the assets are documented with statements. What you skip is tax returns, pay stubs and employment verification. Credit is reviewed, the property is reviewed, and approval is never promised.
How do I find the best program for my situation?
Start with the path that fits, then match leverage, property type and credit to a lender that writes it. The best program for your situation depends on your assets, your property and how much cash you need. A broker that shops several wholesale lenders can compare them for you.
Where is the asset-based program available?
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. Availability, figures and terms are subject to lender guidelines and change over time.
Your 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. You can start with Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs, and the call or quote request is a conversation about your file, not a commitment to lend.
For the mechanics of pulling equity out of a rental property, see Lendmire’s guide to cash-out refinance on an investment property.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage broker licensed for consumer lending in 16 states. Bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based mortgages for self-employed and high-net-worth borrowers are arranged through wholesale lenders on primary residences, second homes and investment properties; every file is underwritten by the lender under its program guidelines. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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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. Treasury Regulation §1.163-8T (govinfo)
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 Cash Out a Texas Home on an Asset Depletion Refinance? · Can You Get a Texas Asset-Based Mortgage With No Job? · How to Document a Wire From a Sale Before an Asset-Based Mortgage
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
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- North Carolina Insurance Producer · License# 19053198 · Property, Casualty, Life, Health · Verify on NAIC SBS
- 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.