Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
One guideline source feeds every number here, and the page updates when the source does. The four cards carry the headline figures; the tables underneath show how each account type is credited on the asset qualifier path, how each is haircut on the asset depletion path, and what leverage each path and occupancy allows. The wholesale lender is not named.
Up to $4,000,000 on assets alone; $3,500,000 when assets become income
The asset qualifier path reaches $4,000,000 when the usable assets cover the whole loan; the asset depletion path runs from $125,000 to $3,500,000 with the assets converted into income instead. Both are program ceilings, not offers, and the placing lender confirms the amount for the file.
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
A buyer on the asset qualifier path brings at least the balance of the price above 80% as a down payment, and refinances to 75%. On the asset depletion path a principal residence or second home reaches 80% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out, with investment property lower, as the table shows; qualifier-path cash-out is set by the lender.
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.
This page describes program parameters, not an offer. The amounts, the credit floor, the leverage, the credit shares, the haircuts, and the seasoning are wholesale guidelines, subject to change without notice and to full underwriting; the statements, the credit report, and the appraisal decide every file. The calculator is illustrative and the lender’s own calculation governs. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, licensed for consumer mortgages in sixteen states. 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 a Dalton 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 Georgia; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
The asset qualifier path and the asset depletion path share a premise and differ in arithmetic. Both qualify a Dalton buyer on eligible accounts rather than earnings. The first requires the usable assets to equal or exceed the entire loan and documents no employment or income; the second does not require the assets to cover the loan: it converts them into a monthly income and runs that income through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
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. A Dalton 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
Occupancy widens on this path: principal residences and second homes at the published purchase and rate-and-term leverage, investment property at a lower ceiling, and cash-out refinances at their own ceiling on every occupancy. Cash-out proceeds never count as assets. A Dalton buyer financing a rental on assets is on this path, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant.
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. A Dalton buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
The calculator runs a Dalton 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.
Dalton’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The local median home value is the floor of the conversation for a buyer who qualifies on assets, not the ceiling: the program’s loan amounts run well past it. The Census figures below give Dalton’s population, typical home value, and ownership, the ground an asset-based file sits above.
Market context only. 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 Dalton neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
No single asset-based file describes Dalton. The cards below differ in housing stock, price, occupancy, and the kind of borrower who buys there, and each describes how the program reads a file in that part of the market. The rules do not change with the street; the file does.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
For a second home in Dalton, both paths are open and the purchase leverage matches the principal-residence figure. The loan officer reads the statements once, shows the usable total on each path, and places the file on the one with the cleaner margin. Roughly 6,493 Dalton households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 52% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
A Dalton condominium bought on assets is an asset-based file with the building added. Established projects usually pass review; the account rules are the same as for a house, and the asset qualifier path keeps income out of the file when the usable total covers the loan. Two months of statements season the proceeds. The median owner-occupied home value in Dalton runs near $222,400 on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Small multi-unit buildings in Dalton attract the asset-rich buyer who wants rental income beside the portfolio. Financed as an investment, the file is a depletion file: haircut assets divided into income, the investment leverage row, and a stronger score for a first-time investor. About 48% of Dalton’s households rent — roughly 5,906 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
Builder inventory and new infill in Dalton are bought on assets by households that have just sold something larger. The proceeds season (two months of statements on the asset qualifier path, longer on the depletion path), the credited total is measured against the new loan, and the file is placed on the path the total supports. Median household income in Dalton sits near $63,577 on the latest Census estimate.
Close-in architect-designed homes
A distinctive Dalton house is a distinctive appraisal. The asset side of the file is unaffected, but the leverage ceiling is applied to the appraised value, so a buyer on the asset qualifier path plans the usable total with room for the value to land under the contract. On a home in Dalton 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.
Estate properties
Dalton’s estate properties are where the program’s largest loans are written, and where the asset qualifier path is most often the fit: a balance sheet that covers a loan at the top of the program with no income in the file. The appraisal on an estate is usually the slowest and hardest part of the file; the assets are usually the easy part. Dalton is home to about 35K people.
Submarkets change the appraisal and the price. They do not change the credit percentages, the haircuts, the divisor, the leverage ceilings, or the seasoning. A Dalton file is qualified on those rules wherever the home is.
Four ways Dalton buyers put their assets to work.
What a Dalton 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 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 a Dalton retiree the file is the statements and the credit report, and the home can be the principal residence or a second one.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
The seller of a Dalton business, the founder after an exit, the household after an inheritance: the money is new, large, and often unaccompanied by income. The asset qualifier path reads it once the two months of statements exist; the depletion path excuses the usual seasoning for sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds.
Keep the investments invested
A Dalton household that could pay cash often prefers not to: selling the portfolio interrupts its income and empties accounts that took decades to build, and the sale itself has consequences a tax adviser, not a lender, should weigh. The asset-based mortgage lets the assets qualify the loan while staying where they are. The accounts are documented, not drawn down, and neither path requires the balances to be moved.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
Replacing an old loan on assets rather than income keeps a Dalton household from documenting earnings it no longer has. The path’s refinance ceiling is lower than its purchase ceiling, and the assets must still cover the whole new loan; a loan officer confirms cash-out treatment with the lender before the file is placed.
Measure a Dalton loan against the assets before requesting a review.
The starting figures are a Dalton price above the median, a loan at a share of the price inside both paths’ purchase leverage, and a balance sheet split among cash, brokerage, and retirement accounts with the owner under 59½. Change any of them. The verdict, the margin, the depletion income, and the payment update as you type.
Dalton asset coverage estimate
A worked Dalton 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 $500,000 price above the Dalton 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 Georgia (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.
A Dalton 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.
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.
A different question entirely: not what the household owns but what the business brings in. The bank statement loan suits the Dalton owner with strong deposits and modest savings, where the asset-based paths suit the household with strong savings and modest deposits. 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 a Dalton 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 a Dalton scenario review.
Preparation for a Dalton 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 a Dalton 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 Dalton file clean and fundable.
Before the statements go in: confirm the retirement credit by age, confirm the seasoning by path, and confirm which accounts the lender counts. A Dalton file that clears those three rarely surprises anyone in underwriting.
- Confirm the age rule: the depletion path haircuts retirement balances at a flat share regardless of age.
- Count the months: two months of statements per account cover the loan on the asset qualifier path.
- Confirm the reserves: the depletion path lists no reserve months of its own.
Retirement accounts and the age line
The age line is applied per owner and per account. A Dalton couple where one spouse is past 59½ and the other is not sees each account credited by its own owner’s age, and the sum is what counts against the loan. The accounts stay where they are; the age rule governs the credit, not the custody. The birthday is checked against the date of the application.
Seasoning by path
Seasoning is the detail that most often sets the calendar for a Dalton 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.
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. A Dalton loan officer confirms what, if anything, must be held after closing.
Large and recent deposits
Sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds are excused from the depletion path’s seasoning but still documented with their source. For a Dalton file, the paperwork behind the deposit is as important as the balance, and gathering it early is what keeps the calendar. The source documents travel with the statements.
Which accounts count
Not every balance is an asset to the program. Brokerage, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts count. Custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow balances, foreign funds, cash on hand, stock options, unvested restricted stock, and funds held at non-regulated companies do not. A Dalton loan officer sorts the statements into the two piles first.
From a Dalton asset review to keys in hand.
From the first conversation to the keys, a Dalton 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
Start with the statements, the credit score, the occupancy, and the purpose. A Lendmire loan officer sorts the eligible accounts, applies the credit shares and the haircuts, reads the usable total against the loan on the asset qualifier path and into income on the depletion path, confirms the age rule for each retirement account, and puts the result in writing.
Contract and appraisal
A Dalton buyer on assets competes like any financed buyer: the contract, the appraisal contingency, and the timeline are the usual ones. What differs is that no employment verification sits in the path on the asset qualifier side, so the file is often quieter than an income file at this stage.
Underwriting
The underwriter reads what the loan officer read: the statements for the required months, the eligibility of each account, the credit shares or the haircuts, the usable total against the loan or the derived income against the payment, the credit report, and the appraisal. A Dalton file that was documented completely at review usually moves through with few new questions.
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. A Dalton loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
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
Before any recommendation, the Dalton statements are run through the asset qualifier path and the asset depletion path on the lender’s own rules: the credit shares and the age line on one side, the haircuts and the divisor on the other. The buyer sees the usable total against the loan and the derived income against the payment, and the path is chosen on the result.
The account rules explained before the offer
Which accounts count, how retirement money is credited by age, how long each account must season, what a large deposit needs behind it: a Dalton buyer hears these before the contract is signed, not after the underwriter asks. The margin above the threshold is shown, so the down payment and the closing costs can be planned around it.
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. A Dalton 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.
Dalton asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Dalton 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?
It is a mortgage where the statements, not the pay stubs, make the case. Two paths run under the program: cover the loan outright with usable assets and document no income, or deplete the assets into a qualifying income and run the usual ratio test. A Dalton buyer is written on whichever path the balances support.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
The path has three tests: the usable assets must cover the loan, the loan must sit inside the leverage for the purpose, and the credit score must be at or above the published floor. Reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage. Income is never asked for.
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. A Dalton 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?
Retirement money counts on both paths, and it counts most generously on the asset qualifier path for an owner past the age line. For a Dalton file built mostly on retirement balances, the owner’s birthday can decide whether the assets cover the loan, and a loan officer checks the date first.
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 Dalton file.
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. A Dalton 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.
Do I need to show any income at all?
Income is optional on one path and derived on the other. A Dalton buyer with no earnings is written on the asset qualifier path if the balances cover the loan, and on the depletion path on standalone asset income if they do not; a buyer with some earnings is often strongest on a supplemented depletion file.
Can I take cash out?
A Dalton 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.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
A liquidity event produces exactly the balance sheet the program expects: assets well above the loan and earnings that have paused. A Dalton seller covers the loan on the asset qualifier path when the proceeds reach it, or converts smaller proceeds into income on the depletion path with the seasoning excused.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
On the asset qualifier path a purchase reaches a share of the price and a refinance a lower share of the value, both shown in the snapshot. On the asset depletion path a purchase or rate-and-term refinance on a principal residence or second home reaches the same purchase share, a cash-out stops lower, and investment property, on the depletion path only, has its own lower purchase ceiling and the same cash-out ceiling.
A Dalton 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 Dalton — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in Georgia, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in Georgia: Rome · Marietta · Roswell · Alpharetta · Johns Creek · Sandy Springs · Smyrna · Dunwoody
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans