Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
Four cards and three tables carry every figure an asset-based file turns on, drawn from one source built on the wholesale program sheets: amount, credit, leverage, and the retirement credit in the cards; the account-by-account credit, the depletion haircuts, and the leverage by occupancy in the tables. The prose around them explains how the figures are used.
Up to $4,000,000 on assets alone; $3,500,000 when assets become income
Loan size follows the path. Covering the loan outright with usable assets reaches $4,000,000; spreading a pool of assets into a monthly income reaches $3,500,000 and starts at $125,000. The amount on either path is a program parameter, subject to the lender’s guidelines at lock.
The asset qualifier path’s published floor; the depletion path follows the suite’s score and amount matrix
The published floor is 600 for the asset qualifier path. The asset depletion path prices by score tier inside the documentation suite’s matrix, and the leverage available at a given score falls as the loan grows. Either way the score is one input among several, settled in underwriting.
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
90% under the age line, 100% at or past it: that is how a retirement balance is credited when the assets must cover the loan. When the assets are instead converted into income, the same balance counts at 70% whatever the owner’s age. The difference can decide which path fits.
| 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.
The program’s distinguishing rule is how much of an account it counts, and that it will count retirement money on the path that documents no income at all. For an Ann Arbor household living on a portfolio, the practical questions are which path fits, how each account type is credited, and how long the money needs to have been in place. The four cards answer them in order.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program, or the statewide guide at Asset-Based Mortgage in Michigan; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
The paths also differ in occupancy and purpose. When the assets cover the loan, the program reaches principal residences and second homes, on a purchase or a refinance. When the assets become income, investment property joins the list, and cash-out refinances have a published ceiling. An Ann Arbor buyer with a rental in mind is on the depletion path by definition.
The asset qualifier path
No employment and no income is documented on this path. That is not a loophole; it is the structure. The lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets themselves, which is why they must cover the whole loan rather than a share of it. An Ann Arbor retiree whose statements add up to the loan amount is read on those statements, without a tax return, a pay stub, or a bank statement income calculation.
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 means how long the money has been where the statements say it is. On the asset qualifier path, two months of statements for each qualifying account is the rule. On the asset depletion path the lender wants statements at least four months old plus the most recent one, with the sale of a business, an inheritance, or a legal settlement excused from the wait. An Ann Arbor buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
Two paths, one set of inputs. The calculator shows the largest loan the assets would cover on the asset qualifier path inside the leverage ceiling, and the monthly income the same accounts would produce on the asset depletion path, so an Ann Arbor buyer can see which path the balance sheet favors before a loan officer confirms it.
Ann Arbor’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
An asset-based mortgage is written against the top of a local market, and these are Ann Arbor’s numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau: the population, the median home value, the share of households that own, and the owner households the program is sized against. Program figures live in the snapshot above; the figures here describe the market, not the file.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. 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 Ann Arbor neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
Each card below is an Ann Arbor submarket seen through the program: who buys there on assets, which path usually fits, and what the loan officer checks first. The figures in the snapshot apply everywhere; the emphasis changes from one card to the next.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
An Ann Arbor pied-à-terre bought by a household whose principal residence is elsewhere is a second-home file at the second-home leverage on either path. The asset qualifier path covers the loan with the statements; the depletion path converts them. Neither asks about the income that supports the other home. The median owner-occupied home value in Ann Arbor runs near $453,400 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
New luxury construction in Ann Arbor appraises cleanly, so the file is about the amount: a loan near the top of the program needs usable assets to match on the asset qualifier path, or a depletion income large enough to carry the payment. The calculator on this page shows both readings for a price in that range. Median household income in Ann Arbor sits near $82,212 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
The owner-occupant in an Ann Arbor duplex or fourplex is read as a principal-residence buyer on the asset rules; the pure investor is read on the depletion path alone. Property eligibility for multi-unit homes follows the placing lender, and a loan officer confirms it before the path is chosen. Roughly 22,955 Ann Arbor households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 45% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
The downsizer’s file: the house is sold, the proceeds sit in the accounts, and the Ann Arbor condominium is bought on the statements. Two months of statements season the proceeds on the asset qualifier path; the project review and the appraisal are the building’s questions, not the borrower’s. About 55% of Ann Arbor’s households rent — roughly 27,544 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Estate properties
At the top of the Ann Arbor market the question is rarely whether the household can afford the home; it is how the lender documents that it can. The asset qualifier path answers with statements; the depletion path answers with a derived income; a loan officer shows both before the offer. Ann Arbor is home to about 122K people.
Close-in architect-designed homes
The architect-designed homes on Ann Arbor’s close-in streets are hard to value, and on an asset-based file the appraisal decides the leverage: the loan is measured against the lower of price and value. A buyer covering the loan on assets answers a low appraisal with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan the assets must cover. On a home in Ann Arbor 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.
Submarkets change the appraisal and the price. They do not change the credit percentages, the haircuts, the divisor, the leverage ceilings, or the seasoning. An Ann Arbor file is qualified on those rules wherever the home is.
Four ways Ann Arbor buyers put their assets to work.
What an Ann Arbor buyer does with an asset-based mortgage depends on the balance sheet and the occupancy. The four uses below cover the typical purchases and refinances, with the path, the leverage, and the account rules that apply to each.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
After a sale, the question is documentation rather than qualification. The Ann Arbor loan officer traces the proceeds with the sale paperwork, confirms the accounts they landed in, counts the statements, and chooses the path the total supports. Cash-out proceeds from a refinance never count as assets on either path.
Buy a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
The defining use of the program is the purchase qualified on the balances: brokerage, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts credited by the owner’s age, adding up to the loan. For an Ann Arbor retiree the file is the statements and the credit report, and the home can be the principal residence or a second one.
Keep the investments invested
Borrowing against the strength of a balance sheet rather than spending it is the program’s quiet use. The Ann Arbor buyer keeps the brokerage account, the retirement accounts, and the savings in place; the lender reads the statements and writes the loan. Which path fits depends on whether the credited total reaches the loan and on the occupancy, since a rental is a depletion file.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
A second home is reachable on either path at the same purchase leverage; an investment property is reachable on the asset depletion path only, at a lower ceiling. An Ann Arbor buyer financing a rental on assets is qualified on the depletion income, the rental is underwritten as an investment occupancy, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score.
Measure an Ann Arbor loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Enter an Ann Arbor price, the loan wanted, and the balances by account type, then choose whether the owner of the retirement accounts is past the age line, and the calculator shows whether the usable assets cover the loan on the asset qualifier path, the largest loan they would cover inside the leverage ceiling, and the monthly income the same accounts would produce on the asset depletion path beside a thirty-year payment at the benchmark.
Ann Arbor asset coverage estimate
A worked Ann Arbor 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 $625,000 price above the Ann Arbor 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 Michigan (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.
An Ann Arbor buyer who cannot document income the conventional way has three documentation routes in this program family, and the routes are not interchangeable: assets that cover the loan, assets converted into income, or business deposits read as income. The cards below put the three side by side on the questions that separate them.
Assets that cover the loan, assets as income, or deposits as income.
Usable assets equal to the whole loan, no employment or income documented, principal residences and second homes, purchase and refinance at the path’s leverage, two months of statements, reserves not required at or below the refinance leverage. The path with the fewest questions, and the one that asks the assets to cover the whole loan.
The path for the household whose savings are real but smaller than the loan. It can carry a loan the balances would not cover outright, widens the occupancies to include rentals, and adds a cash-out ceiling; in exchange it brings the ratio back and counts retirement money at a flat haircut.
The deposit route reads the statements for inflows rather than balances. For a business owner whose accounts turn over, it can produce a larger qualifying income than depleting the balance would; for a retiree with no deposits, it produces nothing. 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 Ann Arbor 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 Ann Arbor scenario review.
Preparation for an Ann Arbor asset-based review is mostly gathering: the statements for each account, the age of the owner of each retirement account, the credit report, and, on the depletion path, any income the asset income will supplement. The items below are the ones a loan officer asks for first.
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.
These are the questions an Ann Arbor loan officer asks before recommending a path, because each can change the loan: the retirement credit, the seasoning, the eligible accounts, the occupancy, and the leverage for the purpose. None is a surprise if it is asked early.
Use these checks to keep the Ann Arbor file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before an Ann Arbor review: which side of the age line the owner of each retirement account stands on, whether every account has seasoned for the path, and whether the usable total reaches the loan or the file belongs on the depletion path instead.
- Confirm the age rule: the depletion path haircuts retirement balances at a flat share regardless of age.
- Count the months: the depletion path wants a statement at least four months old plus a current one.
- Match the purpose to the ceiling: a purchase and a refinance carry different ceilings on the asset qualifier path.
Retirement accounts and the age line
Retirement balances are the most age-sensitive figure in the program. On the asset qualifier path they are credited by the owner’s age; on the asset depletion path they are haircut at a flat share whatever the age. An Ann Arbor household with a large retirement account and a modest brokerage account is read carefully on both, because the usable totals can land on opposite sides of the loan.
Seasoning by path
Seasoning is the detail that most often sets the calendar for an Ann Arbor asset-based purchase. The asset qualifier path is the shorter wait; the depletion path is longer except where the funds came from the sale of a business, an inheritance, or a legal settlement. A loan officer reads the statements against the path’s clock before the contract is signed.
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 Ann Arbor loan officer confirms the cash-out treatment with the lender before a refinance is structured.
Reserves by path
On the asset qualifier path reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage; above it the lender sets the requirement. On the depletion path the program lists no reserve months for the path itself, though the assets that produce the income are, by nature, in reserve. An Ann Arbor loan officer confirms what, if anything, must be held after closing.
Occupancy decides the path
A second home on assets is common and straightforward on both paths; a rental on assets is a depletion file by definition. The Ann Arbor loan officer confirms the occupancy with the borrower’s intent and the property’s use, and the lender holds the file to it. A rental’s own appraisal and lease are read beside the statements.
From an Ann Arbor asset review to keys in hand.
An asset-based purchase runs in a fixed order: a review of the statements that settles the path and the leverage, a contract and an appraisal, underwriting of the accounts and the credit, and closing. The steps below describe each for an Ann Arbor file.
Asset review
An Ann Arbor 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 Ann Arbor 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
Underwriting on an asset-based file is about the accounts: every page of every statement, every large deposit explained, every retirement owner’s age confirmed, the seasoning counted. On the depletion path the ratio is calculated with the new payment; on the asset qualifier path the total is confirmed against the loan.
Closing
At closing the down payment and the closing costs are paid, the loan funds, and the accounts that qualified the file stay where they were. The lender reads the balances as they stand after the funds to close are drawn, which is why an Ann Arbor file keeps a margin above the threshold.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage licensed for consumer lending in sixteen states, and on an asset-based file the brokerage’s job is to read the balance sheet against both paths, place the loan with the wholesale program that fits, and put the terms in writing. The lender is never named on these pages; the arithmetic is.
Both paths, one set of statements
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Ann Arbor 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
Reading the statements early is the whole method. An Ann Arbor loan officer sorts the accounts, confirms the owners’ ages against the age line, counts the months, and names the usable total on each path, in writing, before an offer is drafted. The aim is a file with as little as possible left to be discovered in underwriting.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Every figure on this page is a program parameter drawn from one guideline source. The written terms for an Ann Arbor file come from a licensed loan officer after the review, the credit report, and the appraisal; the page is where the method is explained, not where the loan is made.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Ann Arbor asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Ann Arbor 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?
An asset-based mortgage is a consumer home loan qualified on what the borrower owns rather than what the borrower earns. The lender counts eligible accounts, credits each at a share, and either requires the total to cover the whole loan or converts it into a monthly income. In Ann Arbor it is the loan for retirees, sellers of businesses, and households living on a portfolio.
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 Ann Arbor 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?
It converts assets into income. Cash and certificates of deposit count in full, securities at a lower share, retirement accounts lower still regardless of age, and real-estate equity lowest; the haircut total is divided by the divisor and treated as monthly income. The path reaches principal residences, second homes, and investment property.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
The age line is applied per owner and per account. An Ann Arbor 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?
Credit enters through a floor on one path and a matrix on the other, with the housing history read on the depletion path. The figure for the asset qualifier floor is in the snapshot; the depletion path’s requirement depends on the loan amount and the leverage, and a loan officer names it for the specific Ann Arbor file.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
The ceilings are program parameters, not promises. An Ann Arbor refinance on the asset qualifier path plans the new loan against the refinance figure; a cash-out on the depletion path against the cash-out figure; a rental against the investment row. The loan officer confirms the row for the file.
What sets the timeline on an asset-based mortgage?
The program does not promise a closing date, and neither does this page. What an Ann Arbor buyer controls is the completeness of the statements and the explanation of the deposits, and those decide whether the file moves at the contract’s pace or waits.
How long do the assets need to be in the accounts?
Two months on one path, a statement at least four months old plus a current one on the other. Transfers between the borrower’s own accounts are traced rather than treated as new money; large deposits are documented with their source. An Ann Arbor file with a clean trail seasons without friction.
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 Ann Arbor 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?
Yes on the depletion path, at its own ceiling; per the lender on the asset qualifier path. In both cases the cash taken out is not an asset the file can count, and the balances are read as they stand before the refinance.
An Ann Arbor mortgage sized to the balance sheet, not the pay stub.
Share the balance sheet once; the review covers the asset qualifier path, the asset depletion path, and the alternatives on the same statements. The terms come in writing from a licensed loan officer.
This guide covers Ann Arbor — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in Michigan, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in Michigan: Westland · Novi · Livonia · Dearborn Heights · Taylor · Dearborn · Southfield · Monroe
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans