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
Up to $4,000,000 on assets alone, and up to $3,500,000 when assets are read as income: the two paths carry different ceilings because they prove ability to repay in different ways. A loan officer confirms which path the file fits before the amount is settled.
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
A 401(k) or IRA is credited at 90% of its balance for an owner under 59½ and 100% for an owner at 59½ or older on the asset qualifier path; the asset depletion path counts a flat 70% of the balance. Brokerage, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit count in full when the assets cover the loan.
| Account type | Credit toward the loan |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts (stocks, bonds, funds) | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Money market accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Savings and checking | 100% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner under 59½ | 90% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner 59½ or older | 100% of the balance |
| Account type | Share counted |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Securities (stocks, bonds, funds) | 80% of the balance |
| Private stock | 75% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (any age) | 70% of the balance |
| Real-estate equity | 60% of the balance |
| Path and occupancy | Purchase | Rate-and-term | Cash-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier — primary residence or second home | 80% | 75% | set by the lender |
| Asset depletion — primary residence | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — second home | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — investment property | 65% | 65% | 60% |
Two paths behind these pages: on the asset qualifier path the usable assets must equal or exceed the whole loan and no employment or income is documented; on the asset depletion path the usable assets are divided across the published number of months (the table above) into a qualifying income that carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. Reserves are not required on the qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage; the depletion path asks for statements at least one hundred twenty days old plus a current one. Minimum assets on the depletion path: the lesser of one million dollars or one and a quarter times the loan, never below a quarter million liquid when assets are the only income. Lendmire is a broker, not the lender, and the lender is not named.
Current asset-based snapshot · updated October 21, 2026 · a Lendmire loan officer confirms the path, the asset credit, and the leverage for the file before an offer.
Informational only; not a commitment to lend, an approval, or a quote. Every figure on this page is a program parameter read from Lendmire’s guideline source, built on wholesale program sheets, and may change without notice; eligibility, the path, the leverage, and the amount are decided in underwriting. Nothing here is tax or investment advice, and the assets described are never required to be sold or moved by this page. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages. NMLS #2371349.
What an asset-based mortgage is — and how the two paths qualify a file.
An asset-based mortgage is a consumer mortgage qualified on what a household owns rather than what it earns. The program behind these pages offers two ways to prove ability to repay from assets, and the choice between them is the first decision in a Michigan 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
A Michigan 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 Michigan retiree whose statements add up to the loan amount is qualified without a tax return, a pay stub, or a bank statement income calculation.
The asset depletion path
On the asset depletion path the lender applies a haircut to each account type, adds up what remains, and divides the total by a fixed number of months to produce a monthly qualifying income. Cash and certificates of deposit count in full, securities at a lower share, private stock lower still, retirement accounts lower again regardless of age, and real-estate equity lowest. A Michigan file then runs through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
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 Michigan file that shows the trail cleanly meets fewer questions in underwriting.
The calculator runs a Michigan 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.
Michigan’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The share of households that could qualify on assets changes from one Michigan 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 Michigan’s asset-rich buyers borrow — market by market.
Six Michigan markets, six local guides. What stays constant is the program; what changes is the price the assets must cover and the submarkets where asset-rich buyers borrow.
Detroit
Detroit carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Michigan footprint, near 129,895, about 50% 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 $83,900, median household income near $39,938, population near 639K.
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids carries one of the largest owner-household counts in Lendmire’s Michigan footprint, near 43,351, about 54% 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 $244,500, median household income near $69,108, population near 199K.
Sterling Heights
With owner households around 39,206, about 76% of households, Sterling Heights 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 $274,300, median household income near $79,909, population near 134K.
Warren
With owner households around 38,922, about 71% of households, Warren 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 $193,400, median household income near $64,016, population near 138K.
Livonia
With owner households around 33,424, about 87% of households, Livonia 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 $281,100, median household income near $98,460, population near 94K.
Lansing
Lansing ranks sixth by owner households in Lendmire’s Michigan footprint, near 27,771, about 54% 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 $128,700, median household income near $54,382, population near 113K.
The account rules are the same in every Michigan market: which balances count, the credit shares and the age line on the asset qualifier path, the haircuts and the divisor on the asset depletion path, the seasoning, and the leverage by purpose and occupancy do not change with the city. The lender’s property rules and any state rule on a refinance are confirmed by a Lendmire loan officer for each file.
Four ways Michigan buyers put their assets to work.
What a Michigan 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.
Keep the investments invested
For a Michigan buyer weighing a cash purchase against a mortgage, the asset-based program offers the mortgage without the income file. The assets are counted on paper, the home is financed, and the portfolio stays invested. A loan officer shows the two paths on the actual balances before the offer is written.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
A Michigan owner with a mortgage written on income that no longer exists on paper refinances on the asset qualifier path when the usable assets cover the new loan. The refinance leverage sits below the purchase leverage; whether cash can be taken out on this path, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
Second homes are a natural fit: a Michigan household with a portfolio and a principal residence elsewhere buys the second home on assets, covering the loan outright when the balances allow and depleting them into income when they do not. Rentals follow the depletion path’s investment ceiling and its cash-out rules.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
The seller of a Michigan 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.
Measure a Michigan loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Enter a Michigan 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.
Michigan asset coverage estimate
The starting figures are a Michigan price in the upper part of the market with a loan at seventy percent of it and a balance sheet that covers the loan at the under-59½ retirement credit. Every field is editable, and the benchmark updates weekly from the Freddie Mac series.
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 Michigan 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.
The same Michigan household can often be written three ways. The asset qualifier path asks the assets to cover the whole loan and needs the least paperwork. The asset depletion path does not need the balances to cover the loan and brings the ratio test back. The bank statement loan ignores the balances and reads the deposits instead. Which one fits depends on where the money shows up.
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.
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 Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan scenario review.
An asset-based file is documented through statements rather than pay stubs, so the preparation is account-centered: every eligible account, every page of every statement for the required months, and the paperwork behind any large or recent deposit. The list below is the usual Michigan set.
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 Michigan 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 Michigan file that clears those three rarely surprises anyone in underwriting.
- 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.
- Decide standalone or supplemented: the loan officer runs standalone and supplemented versions where earnings exist.
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 Michigan 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 Michigan buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
Supplementing income with asset income
The depletion path can add asset income to documented earnings rather than replace them. The combined ratio may run to forty-five percent when the income is supplemented, and the minimum-assets rule is waived. For a Michigan household with a pension, a part-time income, or a small business and a meaningful portfolio, the supplemented file is often the stronger one.
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 Michigan loan officer sorts the statements into the two piles first.
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 Michigan 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.
From a Michigan asset review to keys in hand.
Four steps carry a Michigan 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
A Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan buyer.
Both paths, one set of statements
A Michigan 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
Reading the statements early is the whole method. A Michigan 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 a Michigan 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.
Michigan asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Michigan 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 Michigan buyer is written on whichever path the balances support.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
On this path the assets are the ability to repay, which is why they must cover the loan itself rather than a share of it. A Michigan loan officer calculates the usable total before the offer, and a shortfall is usually answered with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan to what the assets cover.
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. A Michigan 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 Michigan file.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
A rental on assets means the depletion path, the investment ceiling, and the investor credit rules. A second home on assets means either path and the owner-occupied ceilings. A Michigan loan officer confirms the occupancy with the borrower’s intent and the property’s use before the balances are read.
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 Michigan balance sheet.
Can I take cash out?
A Michigan 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.
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 Michigan buyer whose balance sheet is mostly property usually lands on that path, with the equity counted at a fraction.
How long do the assets need to be in the accounts?
Seasoning differs by path, and it sets the calendar for a Michigan 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.
Run the Michigan asset numbers, then get the terms in writing.
When you are ready, a Michigan review sizes the loan, settles the path and the leverage, and produces written terms. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend.
This guide covers Michigan — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans