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 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
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
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.
For informational purposes only. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit, an offer, or a quote. Program parameters shown are wholesale lender guidelines in force on the date shown, are subject to change without notice, and every figure depends on the borrower, the property, the occupancy, the selected path, and full underwriting. Asset credit percentages and the qualifying arithmetic shown are illustrative; the lender’s own calculation governs. 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.
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 Florida 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; 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. A Florida buyer with a rental in mind is on the depletion path by definition.
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 a Florida loan officer settles that before an offer is written.
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 Florida 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 Florida buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
Enter the Florida price and the loan wanted, then the balances. The first result is the asset qualifier verdict: the usable assets cover the loan or fall short by a stated margin. The second set of results is the asset depletion reading: the haircut assets, the monthly income they produce, and the housing payment at the benchmark against that income.
Florida’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The share of households that could qualify on assets changes from one Florida city to the next, as do ownership and values. The U.S. Census Bureau figures below, the state’s population and median value and the ownership of the markets Lendmire tracks, set the baseline the local guides depart from.
Statewide 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.
Where Florida’s asset-rich buyers borrow — market by market.
Market by market across Florida: the cities below rank by owner households and open local asset-based guides with Census context, the snapshot, and a calculator seeded to local values.
Jacksonville
With owner households around 227,054, about 58% of households, Jacksonville is a metropolitan market with a deep upper tier, and an asset-based mortgage is how the asset-rich, income-light part of that tier is financed. Census context: median value near $293,700, median household income near $69,872, population near 978K.
Tampa
With owner households around 83,683, about 50% of households, Tampa is a metropolitan market with a deep upper tier, and an asset-based mortgage is how the asset-rich, income-light part of that tier is financed. Census context: median value near $420,400, median household income near $75,475, population near 402K.
St. Petersburg
Near 74,915 St. Petersburg households own (63% of the total); at the top of that market are the retirees, business sellers, and investors who buy on assets rather than income, and the asset-based paths are written for them. Census context: median value near $371,100, median household income near $75,192, population near 263K.
Port St. Lucie
Near 70,522 Port St. Lucie households own (84% of the total); at the top of that market are the retirees, business sellers, and investors who buy on assets rather than income, and the asset-based paths are written for them. Census context: median value near $369,200, median household income near $80,648, population near 232K.
Cape Coral
Cape Coral ranks fifth by owner households in Lendmire’s Florida footprint, near 64,036, about 77% of households, and in a metropolitan market of that depth the households whose wealth sits in accounts rather than paychecks are a market of their own. Census context: median value near $373,500, median household income near $78,104, population near 216K.
Miami
With owner households around 60,068, about 31% of households, Miami is a metropolitan market with a deep upper tier, and an asset-based mortgage is how the asset-rich, income-light part of that tier is financed. Census context: median value near $518,100, median household income near $62,462, population near 460K.
A Florida asset-based file is decided by the same things in every city: the eligible accounts, the usable total on each path, the leverage for the purpose and occupancy, the seasoning, and the credit. The price changes from market to market; the program does not.
Four ways Florida buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones Florida 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 a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
When the balance sheet covers the loan, a Florida household keeps the income question out of the file entirely. The lender credits the accounts, confirms the total against the loan, checks the leverage for a purchase, and reads the credit report; reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage, and the path reaches well into the jumbo range.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
A Florida 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.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
After a sale, the question is documentation rather than qualification. The Florida 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.
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 Florida 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 Florida loan against the assets before requesting a review.
This is an asset coverage estimate, not an approval: it credits each account type the way the program does, switches the retirement credit at the age line, measures the total against the loan, applies the depletion haircuts and the divisor, and estimates the payment at the Freddie Mac benchmark. A Florida loan officer runs the lender’s own version before anything is written.
Florida asset coverage estimate
The calculator is seeded with a Florida price above the median, a loan inside the purchase leverage, and accounts split three ways. Edit the price, the loan, the balances, the age switch, the benchmark, or the carrying costs, and both paths recompute.
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 Florida 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 Florida (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 Florida buyer with assets and an unconventional income picture, the comparison is between covering the loan, depleting the assets, and documenting deposits. The cards set out the strengths of each, and the fourth card 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.
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.
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 a Florida 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 Florida scenario review.
Preparation for a Florida 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.
Details that can change the loan.
What changes an asset-based file is rarely the headline figure. It is the retirement balance credited at a lower share because the owner is a year short of the age line, the deposit that has not seasoned, the account type the lender will not count, or the rental occupancy that moves the file to the depletion path. The items below catch them.
Use these checks to keep the Florida file clean and fundable.
Settle the age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible accounts first. Everything else in a Florida file, the path, the leverage, the loan amount, is arithmetic once those three are known.
- Confirm the age rule: a birthday close to the age line can change the usable total and the path.
- Count the months: two months of statements per account cover the loan on the asset qualifier path.
- Check the minimum: the minimum is waived when the asset income supplements documented earnings.
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. A Florida 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
The lender wants to see that the money has been the borrower’s for a while and is not a loan dressed as an asset. Recent transfers are traced to the account they came from; recent deposits are documented with their source. A Florida file with a clean trail seasons without friction; one with unexplained deposits waits.
The minimum-assets rule on the depletion path
The minimum is measured on qualified assets after the haircuts, so a Florida balance sheet heavy in securities or retirement money counts for less than its face value and can fall short of the minimum. The loan officer checks the minimum first and the ratio second. A file that misses the minimum is often rewritten as a supplemented file when any documented income exists.
Leverage by purpose
The purchase ceiling and the refinance ceiling are not the same on the asset qualifier path, and on the depletion path a cash-out carries its own, lower ceiling on every occupancy. A Florida borrower refinancing on assets plans the new loan against the refinance figure, not the purchase figure, and a cash-out against the cash-out figure.
Large and recent deposits
The lender’s concern is that the asset is the borrower’s to keep and not a loan in disguise. A Florida buyer who moves money between accounts before applying creates a paper trail that has to be reconstructed; the cleaner approach is to leave the accounts as they are and document the history that already exists.
From a Florida asset review to keys in hand.
From the first conversation to the keys, a Florida 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
The first conversation settles the shape of a Florida file: which path the balances support, what leverage the purpose allows, how long the accounts have seasoned, and whether the usable total clears the loan with a margin. The review names the path, and the loan officer writes the outcome down before any offer is drafted.
Contract and appraisal
A Florida 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
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
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 Florida loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
Asset-based files reward careful reading. Which accounts count, at what share, on which path, with what seasoning, at what leverage for the purpose: each is a place where a file placed carelessly costs the buyer a larger down payment or a longer wait. Lendmire reads them in order, before the offer, for every Florida buyer.
Both paths, one set of statements
A Florida file is never assumed onto a path. The balances are read both ways, and when the depletion income would supplement documented earnings that version is run as well. The recommendation is the version with the cleanest file and the leverage that fits the purpose. The loan officer shows the arithmetic, not just the answer.
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 Florida 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
Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, and the lender behind these pages is never named. The program parameters shown are wholesale guidelines, subject to change and to full underwriting; the Florida loan officer’s written terms are what the buyer relies on.
Trusted by buyers & families alike.
Florida asset-based mortgage FAQs
The questions Florida buyers bring to an asset-based mortgage, answered in order: the two paths, the age rule, the seasoning, the eligible accounts, the leverage, the occupancies, and the comparison with a bank statement loan.
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 Florida it is the loan for retirees, sellers of businesses, and households living on a portfolio.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
It covers the loan with the balances. Brokerage, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit count in full; retirement accounts count at a reduced share under 59½ and in full from 59½ on; the accounts combine. A Florida buyer whose credited total reaches the loan is written on this path with two months of statements per account.
How does the asset depletion path work?
Picture the balance sheet spread evenly across a span of months: that monthly slice is the income the lender uses. For a Florida household, the question is whether that slice, added to any documented income, carries the housing payment and the other debts within the ratio. The calculator on this page shows the slice beside the payment.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
On the asset qualifier path a retirement account is credited at a reduced share of its balance while the owner is under 59½ and at the full balance from 59½ on; the age line is the lender’s, and it tracks the age at which retirement plans generally allow withdrawals; what a withdrawal would cost is a question for a tax adviser. On the asset depletion path retirement accounts are haircut at a flat share regardless of age. The figures are in the snapshot above.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
The published floor opens the asset qualifier path. On the depletion path a first-time investor needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant, and larger loans at higher leverage want more. A Florida loan officer reads the report before the statements are counted, because credit decides the door.
How long do the assets need to be in the accounts?
Count the months before the offer. For a Florida purchase timed after a sale or an exit, the asset qualifier path is usually reachable sooner, and the depletion path’s seasoning is excused for sale-of-business, inheritance, and settlement funds, so the path choice can turn on the calendar as much as on the balances.
Do I need to show any income at all?
Not on the asset qualifier path. No employment is verified and no income is documented; the lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets, which is why they must cover the whole loan. On the asset depletion path the assets are converted into income, and any documented earnings can be added to it.
How is this different from a bank statement loan?
Deposits versus balances. The bank statement program applies an expense factor to a run of business deposits and calls the result income. The asset-based program credits or haircuts the balances and either covers the loan or divides them into income. A retiree with no deposits has nothing for the first and everything for the second.
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 Florida 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.
How large can the loan be?
On the asset qualifier path the loan is bounded twice: by the program ceiling and by the usable assets, whichever is lower. On the depletion path it is bounded by the ceiling and by the ratio the derived income supports. The calculator on this page shows both bounds on a Florida balance sheet.
A Florida 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 Florida — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans