The Quick Read: An asset-based refinance is reviewed around the balances in your accounts instead of on paycheck or tax-return income, and the loan-to-value ceiling is the cap on your total new loan compared with the home’s appraised value. Through select programs in Lendmire’s network, you qualify on one of two paths, and each path treats cash-out differently.
- Asset qualifier path: Your eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan. No employment or income is documented. The published ceiling on a refinance is 75% loan-to-value, subject to underwriting, and the lender sets whether cash back is allowed on this path.
- Asset depletion path: Your assets are turned into monthly income, and that income must carry the housing payment and your other debts. The published cash-out ceiling is 60% loan-to-value, whether the property is a principal residence, a second home or an investment property.
- Not income-free: You skip traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs and employment verification. You still submit statements, an application, an appraisal and a credit review.
- Borrowed money doesn’t count: Cash-out proceeds can never be used as qualifying assets.
Which Path Fits You?
Start with the question of what your balances look like next to the loan you want. If your accounts are large enough to cover the whole loan amount, the asset qualifier path is built for you. If your accounts are large but you want the program to treat them as ongoing income, the asset depletion path is the fit.
The reader this program serves is cash-heavy and income-light. Think of a retiree living on a portfolio, someone who sold a business, an heir, a settlement recipient, or a professional who retired early. Balances are large, and documented income is small or absent.
You are qualified on one path at a time. You cannot take the account credits from one path and the leverage from the other. Every figure below names its path for that reason.
Key Terms Defined
Cash-out refinance: A new, larger mortgage that pays off the current one and hands you the difference as cash. The CFPB’s consumer guide on using home equity describes it the same way and notes that your monthly payment may rise.
Loan-to-value (LTV): The new loan balance divided by the home’s appraised value. At 75%, the loan can be no more than three-quarters of value, so at least a quarter stays as your equity.
Asset qualifier path: The route where your eligible assets, after the account credits below, cover the whole loan amount. No income is documented.
Asset depletion path: The route where eligible assets are divided by 60 months to produce a qualifying monthly income. That income runs through the debt-to-income test.
Debt-to-income (DTI): Your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, compared with your monthly qualifying income.
Seasoning: The time funds have sat in an account before the lender will count them.
Usable assets: Your balances after each account type is reduced to the share the program counts.
What 75% Actually Controls
The 75% is a cap on the total loan. It is not the share of your home’s value that you receive as cash. Your cash is the capped loan minus your existing payoff and your closing costs.
Here is how that plays out. A home with a 75% ceiling and a payoff that already sits close to that line leaves little or nothing to take out. A home with a modest payoff leaves more room. Your appraisal sets the value, not your own estimate of what the home is worth.
There is a catch you should know before you apply. On the qualifier path, 75% is the published ceiling for a refinance. Whether a given lender allows cash back on that path, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published. Confirm that point first if cash in hand is the goal.
On the depletion path, the cash-out ceiling is published. It is 60% on a principal residence or second home. On an investment property, it is also 60%, and that loan is business-purpose. So a 75% cash-out is not something to assume. A rate-and-term refinance, where no cash comes back, runs up to 80% on a principal residence or second home on the depletion path and up to 65% on an investment property. Exact terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, property type, leverage, and a full review of the borrower’s file.
All of these figures are ceilings, not offers. They apply through select programs and are subject to underwriting.
Two Paths Side by Side
| Factor | Asset Qualifier | Asset Depletion |
|---|---|---|
| How assets are used | Cover the entire loan | Divided by 60 into monthly income |
| Income documented | None | Derived from assets |
| Refinance leverage | Up to 75% | Up to 80% rate-and-term |
| Cash-out leverage | Set by lender, not published | 60% (residence, second home, investment) |
| Loan amounts | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Credit | 600 minimum score | Lender’s matrix |
| Statements | 60-day seasoning, two months each | 120 days old, plus one within 45 days |
Which Assets Count, and How Much
Programs do not count every balance at full value. Each account type is reduced to a share, and only that share goes toward qualifying. The tables show the share that counts, and the part that does not count is the haircut.
Asset qualifier path
| Asset | Share That Counts |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts | 100% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% |
| Money market | 100% |
| Savings | 100% |
| 401(k) and IRA, under age 59½ | 90% |
| 401(k) and IRA, 59½ or older | 100% |
Accounts combine. Here is an illustration only, since the lender’s own calculation governs. An $800,000 loan with $330,000 in brokerage accounts (counted at 100%, so $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) under 59½ (counted at 90%, so $270,000) and $200,000 in savings (counted at 100%, so $200,000) adds up to $800,000 of usable assets. That covers the loan on assets alone.
Asset depletion path
| Asset | Share That Counts |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts | 100% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% |
| Securities | 80% |
| Retirement accounts, any age | 70% |
| Real-estate equity | 60% |
A second illustration shows how the path works. $1,500,000 in securities (counted at 80%, so $1,200,000) plus $300,000 in cash (counted at 100%, so $300,000) gives $1,500,000 usable. Divided by 60 months, that is $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.
What does not count
Privately held company stock is not an eligible asset on either path. The same goes for cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, business accounts beyond your ownership share, and pledged or borrowed funds, none of which are published as eligible on either path.
On the depletion path, these are also ineligible: 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.
If you hold something on that list, the documented route is conversion. You sell or buy out the holding and land the proceeds as a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account. The lender reviews the source of those funds. A founder or shareholder qualifies by documenting liquid assets: seasoned sale proceeds, cash, public securities and retirement accounts at their counted shares.
Seasoning and Statements
The two paths want different paperwork timing.
On the qualifier path, funds need 60 days of seasoning. You provide two months of statements for each account you are using.
On the depletion path, statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement dated within 45 days. Only on this path are funds from the sale of a business, an inheritance or a legal settlement excused from that seasoning.
Both paths document your assets in full. You are skipping income paperwork, not asset paperwork. A large transfer into an account shortly before applying will draw questions about where the money came from. That is why moving funds early, and keeping a clean paper trail, matters.
Credit, Reserves and Minimums
On the qualifier path, a 600 minimum score is the published floor. On the depletion path, the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix applies. A first-time investor on the depletion path needs a 700.
Housing history is reviewed at 0x30x12, meaning no late housing payments in the last twelve months. One 30-day late in that window is considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible. On the depletion path, a prior housing event needs four years of seasoning.
Reserves differ by path. The qualifier path requires none at or below 75% loan-to-value, and above that the lender sets them. The depletion path has no published reserve months.
The depletion path has an asset floor of its own. 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 source of income, you also need at least $250,000 in liquid assets. If you have documented income as well, asset-derived income can supplement it up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and in that case the minimum-assets rule is waived.
Past that, every file is reviewed individually. Programs change, and the lender’s own calculation governs.
How to Apply, Step by Step
1. Pick the path. Add up your usable assets using the tables above. If they cover the whole loan, the qualifier path fits. If you want your assets treated as income, the depletion path fits.
2. Decide on the cash you want. If you need a confirmed cash-out figure, the depletion path publishes a 60% ceiling. If you are looking at a 75% ceiling on the qualifier path, ask first whether the lender allows cash back on that path.
3. Gather your payoff and balance. Pull your current loan payoff. Include any open credit line secured by the home, since it has to be accounted for in the payoff.
4. Inventory and season your assets. Gather the required statements for each account, with the timing above. If you hold private stock or crypto, begin conversion into a regulated cash account early, since that cash needs time to season.
5. Order the appraisal. The lender orders it, and it sets your value. On a two-to-four unit property, the appraisal is commonly reported on a form such as Form 1025, which Fannie Mae’s appraisal forms page lists as the small residential income property report. Agency rules do not govern this program, but the forms are the standard way to document value.
6. Submit the file. That means your application, asset statements, credit authorization, and proof of how you hold title to the property.
7. Clear conditions. Underwriting may ask for source explanations on large deposits, updated statements or additional documents. Answer promptly and in writing.
For a full overview of how Lendmire places these loans, see the asset-based mortgage programs page. Consumer mortgage lending for this program is licensed in 16 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Lendmire is the broker, and the loan is placed through select lenders.
If the Numbers Fall Short
If your usable assets fall short of the loan, you have four levers.
- Pull less cash. A smaller cash-out means a smaller loan, which means less to cover with assets.
- Switch paths. Assets that fall short of the whole loan may still work as income on the depletion path, if the minimums and the debt-to-income test are met.
- Season or convert. Move private holdings into a regulated cash account and let them age.
- Reorder the account mix. Because brokerage, savings and CDs count at 100% on the qualifier path, the mix matters. Retirement balances under 59½ count at 90%.
If neither path works, consider a different product. A bank statement program fits borrowers who document income through deposits. A DSCR loan fits business-purpose rental financing. For investors with several rentals, Lendmire’s piece on a DSCR cash-out refinance at 75% of pooled portfolio value covers that route.
Where the General Rule Breaks
A few edge cases trip people up.
Investment property. An investment property is eligible only on the asset depletion path, not on the asset qualifier path. The loan is business-purpose, and the cash-out ceiling is 60%.
Cash-out proceeds as assets. The cash you take out of the home cannot be used to meet the asset requirement for the same loan. This is true on both paths.
Privately held stock. It is simply not eligible. A founder who holds mostly company shares must convert them into seasoned liquid assets first.
Retirement age. On the qualifier path, a 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% if you are under 59½, and 100% once you reach it. The depletion path counts retirement accounts at 70% at any age.
Large recent deposits. Funds that arrive close to your application may need a documented source. On the depletion path, funds from the sale of a business, an inheritance or a legal settlement are excused from that seasoning.
What the Decision Looks Like in Practice
Ask yourself three questions in this order.
First, do my usable assets cover the whole loan at the leverage I want? If yes, the qualifier path is the cleaner route. Second, do I need confirmed cash back? If yes, the depletion path publishes a cash-out ceiling, and the qualifier path leaves that to the lender. Third, is the property my home or a rental? A rental pushes you onto the depletion path.
Every one of these figures is a ceiling or a floor and not an offer. Final terms depend on the property, your credit, your statements and the lender’s review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take cash out at 75% loan-to-value on an asset-based loan?
Seventy-five percent is the published ceiling for a refinance on the asset qualifier path, but whether cash can come back on that path is set by the lender and is not published. On the asset depletion path, the published cash-out ceiling is 60%. Confirm the cash-out terms before you plan around any figure. Every figure here varies by lender and program — guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.
Do I need to show income to qualify?
Not on the qualifier path. You document no employment or income, only your assets. On the depletion path, your assets are converted into monthly income and tested against your debts. Either way you still provide statements, an appraisal and a credit review.
Does my private company stock count toward qualifying?
No. If you sold or bought out your stake, the seasoned cash proceeds count at their path’s share.
Can I use the cash I take out as my qualifying assets?
No. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on either path. Your assets must already be in your accounts and seasoned before the loan.
What credit score do I need?
The qualifier path publishes a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix, and a first-time investor needs a 700. Every file is underwritten individually, and approval is never assured.
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.
For how equity extraction works on an investment 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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References
1. CFPB Older Americans Housing Guide (home equity)
2. Fannie Mae’s appraisal forms page
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Best Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Program With Minimal Documentation to Qualify · How to Qualify and Apply for an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Below Minimum Loan Amount · How to Qualify and Apply for an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance as a Professional Athlete
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Legal disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage that arranges financing through wholesale lender relationships. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or registered financial advisor. The discussion above is general informational content about real estate financing — it is not financial, legal, or tax advice, and readers should consult licensed professionals for guidance on their individual circumstances. Loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not represent a commitment to lend. Loan terms, rates, and qualification standards vary by borrower, property, and state, and are subject to change at any time. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.