Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
Treat these as the program’s limits rather than an offer: the largest loan on each path, the credit floor, the maximum leverage, and the retirement-account credit on either side of the age line. The tables beneath the cards are the working rules a loan officer applies to the statements, and they change here when the sheets change.
Up to $4,000,000 on assets alone; $3,500,000 when assets become income
The largest loan on the asset qualifier path is $4,000,000, provided the usable assets equal or exceed it; the asset depletion path tops out at $3,500,000. Neither figure is a quote, and the lender’s own calculation of the usable assets governs the amount.
The asset qualifier path’s published floor; the depletion path follows the suite’s score and amount matrix
The asset qualifier path publishes a 600 decision-score floor. The asset depletion path follows the score and loan-amount matrix of the documentation suite it belongs to, where the floor rises with the leverage and the amount. The score is read from the credit report at application; it is never promised here.
That ceiling on a purchase and 75% on a refinance when assets cover the loan; 60% on a depletion cash-out
On the asset qualifier path a purchase reaches 80% of the price and a refinance 75% of the value, on a principal residence or a second home. On the asset depletion path a purchase or rate-and-term refinance reaches the same 80% on those occupancies, and a cash-out refinance stops at 60%.
Credited under 59½, and at 59½ or older, when assets cover the loan; 70% at any age when assets become income
Retirement accounts are the figure that moves most with the borrower. On the asset qualifier path a 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% of its balance while the owner is under 59½ and at 100% from 59½ on. On the asset depletion path retirement balances count at 70% of the balance at any age.
| Account type | Credit toward the loan |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts (stocks, bonds, funds) | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Money market accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Savings and checking | 100% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner under 59½ | 90% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner 59½ or older | 100% of the balance |
| Account type | Share counted |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Securities (stocks, bonds, funds) | 80% of the balance |
| Private stock | 75% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (any age) | 70% of the balance |
| Real-estate equity | 60% of the balance |
| Path and occupancy | Purchase | Rate-and-term | Cash-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier — primary residence or second home | 80% | 75% | set by the lender |
| Asset depletion — primary residence | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — second home | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — investment property | 65% | 65% | 60% |
Two paths behind these pages: on the asset qualifier path the usable assets must equal or exceed the whole loan and no employment or income is documented; on the asset depletion path the usable assets are divided across the published number of months (the table above) into a qualifying income that carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. Reserves are not required on the qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage; the depletion path asks for statements at least one hundred twenty days old plus a current one. Minimum assets on the depletion path: the lesser of one million dollars or one and a quarter times the loan, never below a quarter million liquid when assets are the only income. Lendmire is a broker, not the lender, and the lender is not named.
Current asset-based snapshot · updated October 21, 2026 · a Lendmire loan officer confirms the path, the asset credit, and the leverage for the file before an offer.
Informational only; not a commitment to lend, an approval, or a quote. Every figure on this page is a program parameter read from Lendmire’s guideline source, built on wholesale program sheets, and may change without notice; eligibility, the path, the leverage, and the amount are decided in underwriting. Nothing here is tax or investment advice, and the assets described are never required to be sold or moved by this page. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What an asset-based mortgage is — and how the two paths qualify a file.
An asset-based mortgage is a consumer mortgage qualified on what a household owns rather than what it earns. The program behind these pages offers two ways to prove ability to repay from assets, and the choice between them is the first decision in an Alameda file: cover the loan outright, or convert the assets into income. The cards below walk through the paths, the account rules, and the seasoning.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program, or the statewide guide at Asset-Based Mortgage in California; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
Think of the two paths as two thresholds. On the asset qualifier path the threshold is the loan amount itself: the credited balances must reach it. On the asset depletion path the threshold is a ratio: the credited balances, divided into monthly income, must carry the housing payment and the other debts. An Alameda file with a large balance sheet usually clears the first; a file with a moderate one is often written on the second.
The asset qualifier path
Two months of statements for each qualifying account document the path, and the balances are read as they stand after the credit percentages. The credit floor is published; the leverage is published; the largest loan is published. What the lender settles file by file is which accounts are eligible and how the age rule applies to each retirement account, and an Alameda loan officer settles that before an offer is written.
The asset depletion path
The path exists for the household whose assets are substantial but short of the loan. The minimum is a stated pool of qualified assets or a multiple of the loan balance, whichever is less, with a floor on liquid assets when the depletion income is the only income in the file. When the asset income merely supplements documented earnings, the minimum-assets rule is waived and the combined ratio may run to forty-five percent.
Seasoning, statements, and what counts
Seasoning is the proof that the assets are the borrower’s to keep: two months of statements on the asset qualifier path, older statements plus the current one on the asset depletion path. Large recent deposits inside that window are read, not ignored: a transfer between the borrower’s own accounts is documented as such, a sale of property or a business with its paperwork, and a gift under the lender’s gift rules. An Alameda file that shows the trail cleanly meets fewer questions in underwriting.
The calculator runs an Alameda balance sheet through both paths at once. It credits cash, brokerage, and retirement balances at their shares, flips the retirement credit when the owner is past the age line, measures the total against the loan, and divides the haircut total into a monthly income beside the estimated payment. The arithmetic is illustrative; the lender’s own calculation governs.
Alameda’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The U.S. Census Bureau figures below set the scale of the Alameda market the program lends into. Values set the loan size the assets must cover or carry; ownership sets how many households are candidates; the population sets the depth of the market the appraiser draws comparable sales from.
These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. Population and owner households describe the depth of the market; the median value describes its height. An asset-based file turns on the second more than the first, because the loan the assets must cover or carry follows the price.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Alameda neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
The Alameda market breaks into submarkets, and an asset-based mortgage reads differently in each: a condominium near the center, a second home on the water, an estate on acreage, a rental on the far side of town. The cards describe the typical file in each and what the path choice turns on there.
Second homes in the area
For a second home around Alameda, the account rules are unchanged and the second-home row of the leverage table applies. A loan officer shows the usable total on both paths and the leverage the row allows before the offer. Roughly 15,194 Alameda households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 51% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
The retiree buying on a portfolio
In a smaller market like Alameda the balance sheet often covers the loan outright. When it does not, a supplemented depletion file with the pension and the derived income together is the common answer, with the minimum-assets rule waived. A loan officer runs both versions on the same statements. Median household income in Alameda sits near $137,697 on the latest Census estimate.
Lakefront and view properties
View properties around Alameda draw the asset-rich buyer, and the file turns on the value the appraiser supports. The usable total is read against the loan the leverage allows at that value, with the flood policy priced into the depletion ratio where it applies. On a home in Alameda priced at or above the median, the asset qualifier path finances up to 80% of the price on a purchase — the balance of the price is the down payment, and the usable assets must cover the loan itself.
Historic and estate homes
Alameda’s historic and estate homes are valued on few comparable sales, and the leverage is applied to the appraised value. A buyer covering the loan on assets plans a margin above the loan so a value that lands under the contract does not push the file onto the depletion path. About 49% of Alameda’s households rent — roughly 14,794 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Rural acreage and farmettes
Acreage around Alameda raises the residential-use question: the property must be a home, not a farm, and outbuildings carry little value. On the asset side the file is ordinary; on the property side the placing lender’s rules decide eligibility, and a loan officer confirms them before the path is chosen. Alameda is home to about 77K people.
Newer executive subdivisions
An Alameda subdivision home bought on assets is read plainly: the comparable sales support the price, the statements are counted, the age rule is applied to retirement accounts, and the path is named. The calculator on this page is seeded to a price typical of such a subdivision. The median owner-occupied home value in Alameda runs near $1,235,700 on the latest Census estimate.
Whichever Alameda neighborhood the home sits in, the asset-based questions are the same: which accounts count, at what share, whether the total covers the loan, and if not, what income the depletion path produces. The cards are context; the snapshot is the rule.
Four ways Alameda buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones Alameda loan officers see most: the retiree buying on a portfolio, the seller of a business buying before the next venture, the household keeping the investments invested, the second home bought on assets. Each is a different file on the same two paths.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
An Alameda owner with a mortgage written on income that no longer exists on paper refinances on the asset qualifier path when the usable assets cover the new loan. The refinance leverage sits below the purchase leverage; whether cash can be taken out on this path, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
A liquidity event produces exactly the balance sheet the program is built for: assets well above the loan and earnings that have paused. An Alameda buyer in that position covers the loan on the asset qualifier path with no income in the file, or, if the proceeds are smaller, converts them into income on the depletion path with the seasoning excused.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
Second homes are a natural fit: an Alameda household with a portfolio and a principal residence elsewhere buys the second home on assets, covering the loan outright when the balances allow and depleting them into income when they do not. Rentals follow the depletion path’s investment ceiling and its cash-out rules.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
An Alameda buyer whose assets are substantial but short of the loan uses the asset depletion path: the eligible accounts are haircut by type, added up, and divided by the divisor into a monthly income that carries the new payment through the debt-to-income test. The minimum-assets rule applies when that income stands alone, and is waived when it supplements documented earnings.
Measure an Alameda loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Use the calculator to see which path an Alameda balance sheet favors. If the usable assets cover the loan, the asset qualifier path is open and no income enters the file; if they fall short, the depletion reading beside it shows the monthly income the assets would produce and the payment that income would need to carry.
Alameda asset coverage estimate
A worked Alameda example to start from: price, loan, cash, brokerage, and retirement balances with the owner under the age line. The results show the asset qualifier verdict first and the depletion reading beneath it.
Editable benchmark: 7.40% as of October 15, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not an asset-based mortgage quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $1,725,000 price above the Alameda median, a loan at seventy percent of the price, a balance sheet split among cash, brokerage, and retirement accounts with the owner under 59½, a thirty-year payment at the current Freddie Mac conforming benchmark, property taxes and insurance estimated for California (U.S. Census Bureau). Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The credit percentages, the haircuts, and the divisor are wholesale program parameters hydrated from Lendmire’s guideline endpoint; the lender’s own calculation governs, and which accounts count, how they season, and what the age rule allows are settled in underwriting. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conforming benchmark, a market reference and not an asset-based mortgage quote; the terms on an asset-based mortgage are set by the lender at lock. Taxes and insurance are estimates. Nothing here is tax or investment advice.
Same buyer, three ways to document the file.
Three routes to the same closing table, compared on what each one counts: the balance sheet in full, the balance sheet as income, or the deposit history of a business owner. An Alameda loan officer prices the route the file supports best, and the comparison below explains how the choice is made.
Assets that cover the loan, assets as income, or deposits as income.
When the credited balances reach the loan, nothing else about income needs to be shown. The trade is the threshold: the assets must cover the loan itself, not a share of it, and investment property is not on this path. Reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage, and the file is the statements, the credit report, and the appraisal.
Haircut assets divided by the divisor into a monthly income, then the debt-to-income test with the new payment. Principal residences, second homes, and investment property; purchase, rate-and-term, and cash-out at published ceilings; a minimum-assets rule when the income stands alone; longer seasoning.
Business or personal deposits over a run of statements, read as income with an expense factor, for the self-employed owner whose tax returns understate the business. Balances are not the point; cash flow is. Leverage and reserves follow that program’s own matrix. See Lendmire’s bank statement loan program.
Assets that cover the loan, assets that become income, deposits that become income: three answers to one question, and the right one for an Alameda household is read off its statements. The comparison on this page is run for real on every file before the lender’s terms are put in writing. Loans above the conforming limit on documented income: Lendmire’s jumbo loan program.
What to prepare for an Alameda scenario review.
Because the assets are the whole case on the asset qualifier path and most of it on the depletion path, the lender reads them carefully. An Alameda buyer who assembles complete statements, with the transfers and the deposits explained, is far less likely to meet the questions that stall a file.
This is a general preparation guide, not a universal checklist. The selected lender may request additional information based on the transaction, the property, the path, the accounts, and the credit picture. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice.
Local details that can change the loan.
A handful of details decide whether an Alameda asset-based file closes as planned, closes on a different path, or needs a larger down payment. The lead items below are the age rule on retirement accounts and the seasoning; the others rotate by file.
Use these checks to keep the Alameda file clean and fundable.
The checklist for an Alameda asset-based file starts with the accounts: the age of each retirement owner, the months of statements, the eligibility of each account type. The path and the leverage follow from the answers.
- Confirm the age rule: each retirement account is credited by its owner’s age on the asset qualifier path.
- Count the months: two months of statements per account cover the loan on the asset qualifier path.
- Match the purpose to the ceiling: a cash-out on the depletion path has its own, lower ceiling.
Retirement accounts and the age line
The owner’s age decides how much of a 401(k) or IRA counts on the asset qualifier path: a reduced share under 59½ and the full balance from 59½ on. For an Alameda file built mostly on retirement money, a birthday can be the difference between covering the loan and falling short, and a loan officer checks the date against the age line before the path is chosen.
Seasoning by path
Seasoning differs by path. Covering the loan with assets needs two months of statements for each qualifying account. Depleting the assets into income needs a statement at least four months old plus a current one, with sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds excused. An Alameda buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
Leverage by purpose
Whether cash can be taken out on the asset qualifier path, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and not published; the depletion path’s cash-out ceiling is published, and cash-out proceeds never count as assets. An Alameda loan officer confirms the cash-out treatment with the lender before a refinance is structured.
Credit and housing history
Assets do not substitute for credit. An Alameda borrower with the balance sheet to cover the loan still needs the score at or above the floor; on the depletion path the housing history must be one the program accepts, and more than one bankruptcy is not eligible. The credit report is pulled once and read against the path chosen.
Which accounts count
Most of the eligible list is shared by both paths, with real-estate equity and private stock counting on the depletion path only; the share counted is what differs. An Alameda household whose wealth sits in a private company, in options, or in an account held abroad may find the usable total smaller than the net worth suggests, and the sorting is done before the path is chosen so the result is not a surprise.
From an Alameda asset review to keys in hand.
From the first conversation to the keys, an Alameda asset-based file passes four stages. The first is the one that differs from an income loan: the statements are read, the accounts are sorted, the usable total is calculated on both paths, and the path is chosen before anything else happens.
Asset review
An Alameda asset review is a sizing exercise with the account rules open: the balances by type, the share credited on each path, the total against the loan, the income against the payment. The loan officer writes the outcome down for the offer. Nothing is assumed; every account is read from its statement.
Contract and appraisal
The contract sets the price the loan is measured against; the appraisal confirms the value supports it. On an Alameda file where the assets just cover the loan, an appraisal that lands under the price is answered with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan the assets must cover.
Underwriting
Conditions, when they come, are usually documentary: a missing statement page, a deposit without its source, an account that needs its holdings shown. An Alameda buyer who gathered the list on this page meets most of them before they are asked. The underwriter’s questions are the loan officer’s questions asked a second time, on the same statements.
Closing
Closing on an asset-based loan looks like any other closing from the outside. From the inside, the difference is what did not happen along the way: no employment call, no tax transcript, no income calculation on the asset qualifier path. An Alameda loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
The program behind these pages is placed with select lenders in Lendmire’s wholesale network, and Lendmire is never the lender. What the brokerage adds is the comparison: the asset qualifier path against the depletion path against a bank statement loan on the same Alameda statements, and written terms for the one that fits.
Both paths, one set of statements
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Alameda file: assets that cover the loan beside assets that become income beside deposits read as income, and the written terms follow from it. The buyer sees the usable total on each path, the margin above the loan, and the derived income beside the payment before anything is signed.
The account rules explained before the offer
The age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible-account list are the three places an asset-based file surprises people. Lendmire walks an Alameda buyer through all three at the review, with the statements open, so the file that goes to underwriting is the file the buyer expected. The margin above the threshold is written down too.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Asset-based mortgages on a principal residence or a second home are consumer loans, placed under Lendmire’s consumer licensing in sixteen states with the disclosures that attach to any consumer mortgage. An Alameda buyer gets the terms in writing from a licensed loan officer, and nothing on this page is an offer or a quote.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Alameda asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Alameda buyers ask most about asset-based mortgages, in the order they usually come up: what the program is, how each path works, how retirement accounts are counted, and what the credit and leverage rules are.
What is an asset-based mortgage?
Think of it as the mortgage for the buyer who could pay cash but would rather not. The accounts stay invested, the lender reads them on paper, and the loan is sized to what the usable assets cover or to the income they produce. For an Alameda household with wealth and little income on paper, it is often the mortgage that fits.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
It is the simplest file in the program, and the one that asks the assets to cover the whole loan. For an Alameda retiree with a portfolio equal to the loan, the file is the statements, the credit report, and the appraisal; the age rule on retirement accounts is the detail most often checked.
How does the asset depletion path work?
The lender haircuts each eligible account by type, adds up what remains, and divides the total by a fixed number of months to produce a monthly qualifying income. That income is then run through the debt-to-income test with the new payment and other debts. An Alameda buyer whose assets are meaningful but short of the loan is written this way.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
The age line is applied per owner and per account. An Alameda couple with accounts on both sides of 59½ sees each credited by its own owner’s age, and the sum counts against the loan. The accounts are not drawn on; the rule governs the credit, not the custody.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
Assets do not replace credit. An Alameda borrower needs the score at or above the floor for the path; the depletion path also reads the housing history, tolerates one late housing payment in the past year at a cost, and does not accept repeated bankruptcies. The score is read from the report at application.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
Leverage is capped by path, purpose, and occupancy. The snapshot’s leverage table shows every row. For an Alameda buyer the practical reading is the down payment: at least the balance of the price above the purchase ceiling, and more when the assets would not otherwise cover the loan.
What sets the timeline on an asset-based mortgage?
On any mortgage the appraisal and the title are the long poles, and an asset-based file adds the account review while removing the income review. An Alameda buyer plans the seasoning ahead of the offer; the program promises no timeline.
How is this different from a bank statement loan?
They answer different questions. The bank statement loan asks what the business brings in; the asset-based mortgage asks what the household owns. For an Alameda owner whose accounts turn over, the deposit route can produce a larger qualifying income than depleting the balance would; for a household living on a portfolio, only the asset route works.
Which accounts count, and which do not?
Most of the eligible list is shared by both paths, with real-estate equity and private stock counting on the depletion path only; the share counted differs. An Alameda household whose wealth is concentrated in a private company, in options, or abroad may find the usable total smaller than its net worth, and a loan officer sorts the statements into eligible and ineligible before the path is chosen.
Can I take cash out?
An Alameda owner refinancing on assets plans a cash-out against the depletion path’s cash-out ceiling, which sits below the rate-and-term ceiling on every occupancy. The usable total is read before the proceeds, never after, because cash-out proceeds are excluded from the assets by rule.
An Alameda mortgage sized to the balance sheet, not the pay stub.
An asset-based review is the first step, and it asks only for the statements. The statements are read against both paths and a bank statement loan, and the recommendation follows the numbers.
This guide covers Alameda — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in California, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in California: Oakland · San Leandro · South San Francisco · Berkeley · Daly City · Hayward · San Mateo · Richmond
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans