Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
The block below is the asset-based program reduced to the figures that decide a file, read from Lendmire’s single guideline source and refreshed on this page when the wholesale sheets change: the loan ceiling on each path, the credit floor, the leverage by purpose and occupancy, and the share of each account type that counts. Everything else on the page is explanation.
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 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
The leverage ceilings are 80% for a purchase and 75% for a refinance on the asset qualifier path, and 80% for a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% for a cash-out on the asset depletion path, both on a principal residence or second home. The leverage table shows the investment-property row.
Credited under 59½, and at 59½ or older, when assets cover the loan; 70% at any age when assets become income
The age line at 59½ is a program rule, not a tax rule, though it echoes one: below it the asset qualifier path credits 90% of a retirement balance, above it 100%. The asset depletion path ignores age and counts 70% of the balance before dividing by the months.
| 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.
Not a commitment to lend, not an offer of credit, not a quote. The figures shown are current wholesale program parameters that change without notice and apply only after full underwriting of the borrower and the property; the lender is never named on this page and no rate, fee, or payment is quoted. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, licensed to broker consumer mortgages in sixteen states. NMLS #2371349.
What an asset-based mortgage is — and how the two paths qualify a file.
There are two questions a lender can ask of a balance sheet. Is there enough here to cover the whole loan? Or, spread across a fixed number of months, is there enough here to look like the income the loan needs? The asset qualifier path asks the first and the asset depletion path the second, and a Fairhope buyer is qualified on one of them, not both at once.
For the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program, or the statewide guide at Asset-Based Mortgage in Alabama; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
A Fairhope loan officer reads the statements against both paths before recommending one. Covering the loan outright keeps income out of the file and keeps the reserve requirement off at the refinance leverage, but it needs assets equal to the loan. Depleting the assets into income does not need the balances to cover the loan, opens investment property and cash-out at their own ceilings, and brings the ratio test back. The recommendation follows the balances.
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 Fairhope 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 Fairhope 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 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. A Fairhope file that shows the trail cleanly meets fewer questions in underwriting.
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 a Fairhope buyer can see which path the balance sheet favors before a loan officer confirms it.
Fairhope’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 Fairhope’s population, typical home value, and ownership, the ground an asset-based file sits above.
Read the figures as backdrop. 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 Fairhope neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
Where a Fairhope buyer is looking shapes the file as much as the balance sheet does. The cards below walk through the city’s submarkets and the asset-based questions each raises: the price the assets must cover, the occupancy the path allows, and the valuation the appraiser faces.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
New luxury construction in Fairhope 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. Fairhope is home to about 24K people and sits within the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL area.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
The downsizer’s file: the house is sold, the proceeds sit in the accounts, and the Fairhope 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. The median owner-occupied home value in Fairhope runs near $430,900 on the latest Census estimate.
Close-in architect-designed homes
A distinctive Fairhope 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 Fairhope 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.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Small multi-unit buildings in Fairhope 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 20% of Fairhope’s households rent — roughly 1,899 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
For a second home in Fairhope, 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 7,807 Fairhope households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 80% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Estate properties
Fairhope’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. Median household income in Fairhope sits near $94,274 on the latest Census estimate.
A Fairhope loan officer uses submarket knowledge to set expectations about value and comparable sales; the program’s figures are set by the sheets, not by the neighborhood, and every file is held to them.
Four ways Fairhope buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones Fairhope 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.
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. A Fairhope 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.
Keep the investments invested
A Fairhope 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.
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 Fairhope retiree the file is the statements and the credit report, and the home can be the principal residence or a second one.
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. A Fairhope 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 a Fairhope loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Use the calculator to see which path a Fairhope 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.
Fairhope asset coverage estimate
A worked Fairhope 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 $600,000 price above the Fairhope 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 Alabama (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.
For a Fairhope buyer with assets and an unconventional income picture, the comparison is between covering the loan, depleting the assets, and documenting deposits. The rows set out the strengths of each, and the last row says where each one fits.
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.
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 a Fairhope 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 Fairhope scenario review.
Preparation for a Fairhope 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.
Here are five details, chosen for the Fairhope file, that most often reshape an asset-based loan. The first two apply to nearly every file; the rest depend on the accounts, the occupancy, and the purpose.
Use these checks to keep the Fairhope file clean and fundable.
The checklist for a Fairhope 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: a birthday close to the age line can change the usable total and the path.
- Count the months: the depletion path wants a statement at least four months old plus a current one.
- Confirm the reserves: reserves are not required on the asset qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage.
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 a Fairhope 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. A Fairhope buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
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 Fairhope loan officer confirms what, if anything, must be held after closing.
Credit and housing history
The asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor; the depletion path reads the score against a matrix where the floor rises with the leverage and the loan amount, and it reads the housing history too: a clean recent record is expected, one late payment in the past year is tolerated, and a Fairhope file with a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning.
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 Fairhope 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 a Fairhope asset review to keys in hand.
Four steps carry a Fairhope asset-based loan from review to closing. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend; the written terms come from a licensed loan officer after the review, and the appraisal and the underwriting decide the rest.
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
The contract sets the price the loan is measured against; the appraisal confirms the value supports it. On a Fairhope 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 a Fairhope 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 Fairhope 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 a Fairhope 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. A Fairhope 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.
Fairhope asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Fairhope 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 Fairhope 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 assets are haircut by type and divided by the divisor into a monthly income that runs through the ratio test. Seasoning is longer on this path: statements at least four months old plus a current one, with sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds excused. Cash-out refinances have their own ceiling, cash-out proceeds never count as assets, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
A 401(k), a traditional or Roth IRA, and similar employer plans are read the same way: by the owner’s age on the asset qualifier path and at a flat haircut on the depletion path. Vested balances count; stock options and unvested restricted stock do not. A Fairhope loan officer confirms each account’s treatment at the review.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
The asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor, shown in the snapshot above. The asset depletion path reads the score against the documentation suite’s matrix, where the floor rises with the leverage and the loan amount. On the depletion path the housing history is reviewed as well, and a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning; the qualifier path publishes the floor alone.
Are reserves required?
No reserve months are published for the asset qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage, and the depletion path lists none; above the refinance leverage the lender sets the requirement. The assets that qualify the loan stay where they are, and the lender reads them again for a Fairhope file after the funds to close are drawn.
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.
Which accounts count, and which do not?
Brokerage, savings, checking, money market, certificates of deposit, and vested retirement balances count on both paths; custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow balances, foreign funds, cash on hand, options, and unvested units do not. Equity in other real estate and private stock count on the depletion path only, at reduced shares, with real-estate equity the smallest of any account type, so a Fairhope buyer whose balance sheet is mostly property usually lands on that path, with the equity counted at a fraction.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
Yes. The timing question is the seasoning: two months of statements on the path that covers the loan, and an excused wait on the depletion path for sale-of-business funds. A Fairhope loan officer reads the calendar with the statements and names the path that is reachable soonest.
How long do the assets need to be in the accounts?
Seasoning differs by path, and it sets the calendar for a Fairhope buyer after a liquidity event. The shorter wait is on the asset qualifier path; the depletion path waits longer unless the source is a sale, an inheritance, or a settlement, which are documented with their paperwork instead.
Qualify on what you own in Fairhope, with both paths read.
Tell us the price, the loan wanted, and the accounts, and we will show the usable total on each path, the margin above the loan, and the depletion income beside the payment, in writing.
This guide covers Fairhope — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in Alabama, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in Alabama: Daphne · Foley · Mobile · Gulf Shores · Orange Beach · Dothan · Montgomery · Tuscaloosa
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans