The Quick Read: The right provider for your situation depends on which asset-based path fits your balances, which property you are refinancing, and how much cash you want out. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, so it does not rank companies. It matches your file to the lenders in its network whose programs fit.
- The asset qualifier path counts your eligible assets against the entire loan and documents no employment or income.
- The asset depletion path divides usable assets by 60 months to create a qualifying income, which then runs through the debt-to-income test.
- You are qualified on one path at a time, never a blend of the two.
- Owning several properties does not disqualify you. It changes which path fits and how your other debts are counted.
- Every figure below is a ceiling or floor on select programs, subject to underwriting. None of it is an offer.
Who Is This Article For?
This is for owners with large balances and modest documented income. Think of retirees, people who sold a business, heirs, and households living off a portfolio. You may own a home, a second home and a few rentals, yet your tax returns do not show what you are worth.
A conventional lender looks at that profile and sees low income. An asset-based program looks at the same profile and sees brokerage statements, CDs and savings. Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs are built for that second reading. Lendmire is licensed for consumer mortgage lending in 16 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
If you are an active landlord who wants to refinance a rental purely on its rent, that is a different product. Rental-income loans qualify primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines.
What Does “Asset-Based” Actually Mean?
Asset-based means the lender reviews your file on what you own rather than what you earn. You still go through full underwriting. The difference is that the proof is statements instead of pay stubs.
You do not provide tax returns, pay stubs or employment verification. You do provide account statements, a credit report, a property appraisal and title work. That is documentation, just a different kind.
Be careful with the word “providers.” No single company is the answer for everyone. Lenders in a wholesale network differ on which assets they accept, how they season funds, and how they treat cash-out. A broker shops those differences. A single-lender page can only describe its own.
How Does Underwriting Treat Your Assets, Step by Step?
Underwriting follows the same order on every file. Here is the sequence.
1. Pick the path. Your balances and your goal decide it. Assets that cover the whole loan point to the asset qualifier path. Assets that are large but fall short of the loan point to the asset depletion path.
2. Apply the credit percentages. Each account type counts at a set share of its balance. The part that does not count is the haircut.
3. Check seasoning. The lender wants to see that the money has been yours for a while, shown through statements.
4. Run the test for your path. The qualifier path asks whether usable assets equal or exceed the entire loan. The depletion path asks whether the derived income carries the housing payment and your other debts.
5. Order the appraisal and review credit. Value sets your leverage. Credit sets your eligibility.
The qualifier path, with numbers
Take an $800,000 loan on the asset qualifier path. Say you hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts, which count at 100%, so $330,000 is usable. You also hold $300,000 in a 401(k) while under age 59½, which counts at 90%, or $270,000. Finally, you hold $200,000 in savings, which counts at 100%, or $200,000. Together, $330,000 plus $270,000 plus $200,000 gives $800,000 of usable assets, which covers the loan, so the file can qualify on assets alone. This is illustrative, and the lender’s own calculation governs.
On this path, brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts and savings all count at 100%. Retirement accounts count at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. Accounts combine. The path wants 60 days of seasoning and two months of statements for each qualifying account.
The depletion path, with numbers
Now take the asset depletion path and say you hold $1,500,000 in securities and $300,000 in cash. Securities count at 80%, which is $1,200,000. Cash counts at 100%, which is $300,000. Together that is $1,500,000 of usable assets. Dividing by 60 months gives $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then has to carry the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test.
Under the depletion path’s haircuts, cash accounts and certificates of deposit count at 100%, securities at 80%, retirement accounts at 70% at any age, and real-estate equity at 60%. Statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus one within 45 days. Sale-of-business, inheritance and legal-settlement funds are excused from that seasoning.
What Changes When You Own Several Properties?
Owning several properties changes the file in three ways, and none of them is automatic disqualification.
Your other debts show up on the depletion path. Derived income runs through the debt-to-income test, so the payments on your other properties count against it. A large portfolio of financed rentals can use up that income. The qualifier path documents no income, so the test is simply whether usable assets cover the entire loan.
Your equity can become an asset. On the depletion path, real-estate equity counts at 60%. If you hold substantial equity in other rentals, that equity can add to your usable assets. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets, so you cannot refinance one property and use the proceeds to qualify the next.
The property you are refinancing sets the leverage. This matters more than the number of properties you hold.
Picture an owner with a primary home, a lake house and two rentals. She holds a large brokerage account and a retirement account, and her documented income is small. She might refinance the lake house on one path and look at the rentals through a different lens entirely. Each file is separate, and each is underwritten on its own.
Leverage and Loan Size at a Glance
| Factor | Asset Qualifier Path | Asset Depletion Path |
|---|---|---|
| How you qualify | Assets cover the whole loan | Assets ÷ 60 = monthly income |
| Purchase leverage | Up to 80% | Up to 80% (home); 65% (investment) |
| Refinance leverage | Up to 75% | Up to 80% rate-and-term (home); 65% (investment) |
| Cash-out leverage | Set by the lender, not published | 60% (home or investment) |
| Loan amounts | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
“Home” in the table means a principal residence or second home. The asset qualifier path covers only those two occupancy types. Investment property, such as a rental, is eligible only on the asset depletion path, where the loan is business-purpose.
Read the cash-out row carefully. The qualifier path’s cash-out terms are lender-specific, so a broker confirms them for your file before you plan around any number. On the depletion path, cash-out tops out at 60% whether the collateral is your home or a rental. These are ceilings on select programs, subject to underwriting.
How Do You Choose Among Providers?
You do not choose by a ranked list. The lenders that write these loans differ by file, and the best program for your situation depends on your balances, your credit, your property and how much cash you want out. The criteria below are what separate one lender’s matrix from another’s.
| What to compare | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Accepted asset types | Some lenders accept more than others |
| Seasoning rules | Recent deposits can slow or stall a file |
| Cash-out treatment | Qualifier-path cash-out is set lender by lender |
| Credit and loan-size matrix | The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix |
| Property type | Investment property is eligible only on the depletion path |
Lenders can differ on both seasoning and accepted assets, and one may be more flexible on the first and tighter on the second. That is the reason to have a broker place the file instead of testing one lender at a time.
If you want a related read, Lendmire also covers borrowers whose income is irregular rather than small in top asset-based cash-out refinance providers with non-traditional income.
Where the General Rule Breaks
The general rule is that big balances can substitute for income. These edge cases are where that stops being true.
Privately held stock. Privately held company stock is not an eligible asset 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 credit percentages.
Other asset classes. Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, business accounts beyond your ownership share, and pledged or borrowed funds are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is converting them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account. The lender reviews the source.
Ineligible 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 all fall outside the program.
Thin balances. The depletion path wants 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 liquid. If asset income only supplements documented income, it can be used up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and the minimum-assets rule is waived.
Credit. The qualifier path has a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix. A first-time investor on the depletion path needs 700. Housing history is 0x30x12, though one 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible, and a housing event needs four years of seasoning on the depletion path.
Small loans. The depletion path starts at $125,000, so a modest balance on an inexpensive property can fall below the floor.
Pure rental refinances. If you want to pull cash from a rental and the rent carries the payment, business-purpose rental financing, which is DSCR, is built for that. An asset-based loan is designed around your assets rather than the property’s rent.
A Note on Business-Purpose Loans
Investment property is eligible only on the depletion path, and the loan there is business-purpose. The CFPB’s Truth in Lending summary lists credit extended primarily for a business purpose as exempt from Regulation Z. The loan’s purpose is what is assessed, so how you use the cash matters. Your lender and counsel decide how a given file is classified.
For a rental, the lender may also order a rent analysis. The industry uses Fannie Mae’s appraisal forms as standard formats: Form 1007 for the single-family rent schedule and Form 1025 for two- to four-unit properties. These are appraisal formats only, and they do not make this an agency loan.
What Does Your File Need?
A tidy file saves back-and-forth. Here is what to gather.
Master file (one set for you):
- Statements for every account you plan to count, with the required number of months.
- Documentation of the source of any recent large deposit.
- Government ID and authorization for a credit report.
- A schedule of your other properties and their debts.
Per property:
- The current mortgage statement and a homeowners insurance declaration.
- Information for the appraisal and title work.
- For a rental, the lease, if one exists.
Some files also need a letter explaining where recent funds came from. If your balance includes a sale, inheritance or settlement, keep the closing statement or court documents handy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cash-out refinance more than one property at a time?
Each property is its own loan, so they are separate files rather than one bundle. One property’s result does not decide the next, though your other debts can affect the depletion path’s income test. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets, so you cannot recycle proceeds from the first refinance into the second file.
Can I use my other rentals’ equity to qualify?
Yes, on the depletion path only. Real-estate equity counts at 60% of its balance, subject to underwriting and documentation. On the qualifier path, the eligible assets are brokerage accounts, CDs, money market, savings and retirement accounts.
Does privately held company stock count toward my assets?
No. If you hold a stake in a company, the route is to document a sale or buyout and let the proceeds season as cash. Public securities and retirement accounts count at their own percentages.
How much cash can I take out?
It depends on the path and the property. On the depletion path, cash-out tops out at 60% loan-to-value on a principal residence, second home or investment property. On the qualifier path, cash-out terms are set by the lender, so a broker confirms them for your file. Everything is subject to underwriting.
Is this the same as a no-doc loan?
No. Every file is fully underwritten. The program does not ask for tax returns, pay stubs or employment verification, but it does require statements for each account, a credit review, an appraisal and title work.
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. Lendmire is a mortgage broker arranging financing through select lenders in its wholesale network. Programs change, and every file is underwritten individually, so nothing here is a commitment to lend.
Investors weighing their equity options can start with 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.
Get Started
Ready to find the right loan for you?
See your offer in seconds. No credit pull, no obligation.
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. CFPB – Truth in Lending Act summary
2. Fannie Mae’s appraisal forms
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Top Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Providers With Non-Traditional Income · Can You Get Approved for an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance With No Income Verification?
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
- North Carolina Real Estate Broker · License# 343312 · Verify on NCREC
- North Carolina Insurance Producer · License# 19053198 · Property, Casualty, Life, Health · Verify on NAIC SBS
- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Required disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) operates as a licensed mortgage broker, not a direct lender or depository. The discussion in this article is general in nature and should not be relied upon as financial, legal, or tax advice — every investment scenario is unique and should be reviewed by a qualified professional. Any loan inquiry is subject to lender underwriting, and this article is not a commitment to lend or a guarantee of approval. Mortgage rates, loan terms, and program guidelines vary by borrower, property, and state, and may change without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. Verify licensure at NMLS Consumer Access.