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
A 600 floor opens the asset qualifier path. On the asset depletion path the floor is a cell in a matrix, higher for larger loans and higher leverage, and a first-time investor on that path needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant. The depletion path also reads the housing history and seasons any prior housing event; the qualifier path’s published rule is the floor.
That ceiling on a purchase and 75% on a refinance when assets cover the loan; 60% on a depletion cash-out
Leverage tops out at 80% on a purchase whichever path carries the file. The paths part on the refinance: 75% when the assets cover the loan, and on the depletion side 80% for a rate-and-term and 60% for a cash-out. Investment property, available on the depletion path only, is capped lower.
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.
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 Novato 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 California; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
A Novato 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
The credited total must reach the loan amount, and the loan must sit inside the path’s leverage: a share of the price on a purchase, a lower share of the value on a refinance. Reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage. The usual way a Novato file that falls short is repaired is a larger down payment, which lowers the loan to what the assets cover.
The asset depletion path
The path exists for the household whose assets are substantial but short of the loan. The minimum is a stated pool of qualified assets or a multiple of the loan balance, whichever is less, with a floor on liquid assets when the depletion income is the only income in the file. When the asset income merely supplements documented earnings, the minimum-assets rule is waived and the combined ratio may run to forty-five percent.
Seasoning, statements, and what counts
Seasoning means how long the money has been where the statements say it is. On the asset qualifier path, two months of statements for each qualifying account is the rule. On the asset depletion path the lender wants statements at least four months old plus the most recent one, with the sale of a business, an inheritance, or a legal settlement excused from the wait. A Novato buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
Every input below is yours: the Novato price, the loan, the balances by account type, the owner’s age against the age line, the benchmark, and the carrying costs. The calculator credits the accounts the way the asset qualifier path does, converts them the way the asset depletion path does, and shows the loan against each, with a thirty-year payment at the benchmark for context.
Novato’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The U.S. Census Bureau figures below set the scale of the Novato market the program lends into. Values set the loan size the assets must cover or carry; ownership sets how many households are candidates; the population sets the depth of the market the appraiser draws comparable sales from.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. These are context figures, not underwriting inputs. A typical value sets the scale of the loan, the ownership share says how many households are likely to be buyers rather than renters, and the owner count says how wide the comparable pool is when the appraisal is written.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct Novato neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
A loan officer sees Novato as a set of distinct files, not one market. Below are the submarkets where asset-based loans are written most often, with the path, the occupancy, and the appraisal question each one usually raises.
Historic and estate homes
Condition and comparable sales decide the appraisal on a Novato historic home; the statements decide the rest. A loan officer runs the file at the contract price and at a lower value so the buyer knows both margins. The margin above the loan is the figure to watch. About 34% of Novato’s households rent — roughly 6,798 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes in the area
Novato’s second homes are bought on assets by households with a residence elsewhere and a portfolio. The asset qualifier path covers the loan when the balances allow; the depletion path converts them when they do not. Roughly 13,258 Novato households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 66% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Lakefront and view properties
View properties around Novato draw the asset-rich buyer, and the file turns on the value the appraiser supports. The usable total is read against the loan the leverage allows at that value, with the flood policy priced into the depletion ratio where it applies. On a home in Novato 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.
The retiree buying on a portfolio
A Novato retiree buying on assets rarely tests the program’s ceilings. The questions are the account rules: the retirement credit by age, which balances count, and whether the proceeds of a prior home sale have seasoned. A loan officer reads the statements and names the path. The median owner-occupied home value in Novato runs near $1,032,500 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer executive subdivisions
A Novato subdivision home bought on assets is read plainly: the comparable sales support the price, the statements are counted, the age rule is applied to retirement accounts, and the path is named. The calculator on this page is seeded to a price typical of such a subdivision. Median household income in Novato sits near $115,736 on the latest Census estimate.
Rural acreage and farmettes
Acreage around Novato raises the residential-use question: the property must be a home, not a farm, and outbuildings carry little value. On the asset side the file is ordinary; on the property side the placing lender’s rules decide eligibility, and a loan officer confirms them before the path is chosen. Novato is home to about 53K people.
A Novato 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 Novato buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones Novato 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.
Keep the investments invested
A Novato 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
A Novato buyer whose usable assets equal or exceed the loan buys a principal residence or a second home on the asset qualifier path: no employment verified, no tax returns, no income calculation. The down payment is at least the share of the price above the leverage ceiling, the statements cover two months, and the credit score sits at or above the published floor.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
Replacing an old loan on assets rather than income keeps a Novato 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.
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 Novato 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 Novato 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 Novato loan officer runs the lender’s own version before anything is written.
Novato asset coverage estimate
Illustrative Novato figures, all editable: the price, the loan, three account buckets, the age switch for the retirement credit, the benchmark, taxes, insurance, and other monthly debts for the ratio.
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 $1,450,000 price above the Novato 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 California (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 Novato buyer who cannot document income the conventional way has three documentation routes in this program family, and the routes are not interchangeable: assets that cover the loan, assets converted into income, or business deposits read as income. The cards below put the three side by side on the questions that separate them.
Assets that cover the loan, assets as income, or deposits as income.
Usable assets equal to the whole loan, no employment or income documented, principal residences and second homes, purchase and refinance at the path’s leverage, two months of statements, reserves not required at or below the refinance leverage. The path with the fewest questions, and the one that asks the assets to cover the whole loan.
The path for the household whose savings are real but smaller than the loan. It can carry a loan the balances would not cover outright, widens the occupancies to include rentals, and adds a cash-out ceiling; in exchange it brings the ratio back and counts retirement money at a flat haircut.
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 Novato 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 Novato 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 Novato 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.
Local 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 Novato 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 Novato 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.
- Read the credit report: the depletion path reviews the housing history; the qualifier path publishes a floor.
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 Novato 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 Novato buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
Credit and housing history
Assets do not substitute for credit. A Novato borrower with the balance sheet to cover the loan still needs the score at or above the floor; on the depletion path the housing history must be one the program accepts, and more than one bankruptcy is not eligible. The credit report is pulled once and read against the path chosen.
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 Novato 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.
The minimum-assets rule on the depletion path
The rule exists so that the depletion income rests on a real pool rather than on arithmetic. It is waived when the asset income supplements documented earnings, which is why a Novato household with a part-time income and meaningful savings is often written as a supplemented file rather than a standalone one.
From a Novato asset review to keys in hand.
The process is short on paperwork about income and long on paperwork about accounts. A Novato buyer who understands that order, statements first, then contract, then underwriting, then closing, arrives at each step prepared.
Asset review
The first conversation settles the shape of a Novato 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
The contract sets the price the loan is measured against; the appraisal confirms the value supports it. On a Novato 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
Conditions, when they come, are usually documentary: a missing statement page, a deposit without its source, an account that needs its holdings shown. A Novato buyer who gathered the list on this page meets most of them before they are asked. The underwriter’s questions are the loan officer’s questions asked a second time, on the same statements.
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 Novato loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
A single lender with one asset program sells that program. A brokerage with both paths on the table can say which one a Novato file supports and why. That is the service: the statements read twice, the usable totals shown side by side, the recommendation following the numbers.
Both paths, one set of statements
Before any recommendation, the Novato 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 Novato 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 Novato 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.
Novato asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Novato buyers ask most about asset-based mortgages, in the order they usually come up: what the program is, how each path works, how retirement accounts are counted, and what the credit and leverage rules are.
What is an asset-based mortgage?
An asset-based mortgage is a consumer home loan qualified on what the borrower owns rather than what the borrower earns. The lender counts eligible accounts, credits each at a share, and either requires the total to cover the whole loan or converts it into a monthly income. In Novato 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 Novato 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?
The depletion path can carry a loan the balances would not cover outright, but it brings the ratio back. When the asset income stands alone, a minimum pool of qualified assets applies; when it supplements documented earnings, the minimum is waived and the combined ratio may run to forty-five percent. A Novato loan officer runs both versions where earnings exist.
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 Novato 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?
Assets do not replace credit. A Novato borrower needs the score at or above the floor for the path; the depletion path also reads the housing history, tolerates one late housing payment in the past year at a cost, and does not accept repeated bankruptcies. The score is read from the report at application.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
Proceeds in a domestic brokerage, savings, or money market account count in full on the asset qualifier path. Proceeds still inside the company, in escrow, or in a foreign account do not count until they are the borrower’s own domestic funds. A Novato buyer plans the transfer and the statements before the offer.
Can I take cash out?
The depletion path has a cash-out row in the leverage table, lower than the purchase and rate-and-term rows. The asset qualifier path publishes a refinance ceiling without a separate cash-out figure, so the lender’s rule governs. Either way the proceeds are not counted toward the usable total.
How much can I borrow against the price or the value?
Leverage is capped by path, purpose, and occupancy. The snapshot’s leverage table shows every row. For a Novato buyer the practical reading is the down payment: at least the balance of the price above the purchase ceiling, and more when the assets would not otherwise cover the loan.
Are reserves required?
Not on the asset qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage; above it the lender sets the requirement. The depletion path lists no reserve months of its own, though the assets producing the income are by nature in reserve. A Novato loan officer confirms what, if anything, must be held after closing.
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 Novato balance sheet.
Buy on assets in Novato on the path that fits.
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 Novato — for the statewide guidelines, markets, and scenarios, see Asset-Based Mortgage in California, part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Nearby markets in California: San Rafael · Petaluma · Richmond · Sonoma · Vallejo · Napa · Berkeley · Santa Rosa
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans