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
Loan size follows the path. Covering the loan outright with usable assets reaches $4,000,000; spreading a pool of assets into a monthly income reaches $3,500,000 and starts at $125,000. The amount on either path is a program parameter, subject to the lender’s guidelines at lock.
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
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
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.
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.
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 Palm Desert 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
The asset qualifier path and the asset depletion path share a premise and differ in arithmetic. Both qualify a Palm Desert buyer on eligible accounts rather than earnings. The first requires the usable assets to equal or exceed the entire loan and documents no employment or income; the second does not require the assets to cover the loan: it converts them into a monthly income and runs that income through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
The asset qualifier path
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 Palm Desert file that falls short is repaired is a larger down payment, which lowers the loan to what the assets cover.
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 Palm Desert file then runs through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
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 Palm Desert buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
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 Palm Desert buyer can see which path the balance sheet favors before a loan officer confirms it.
Palm Desert’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
An asset-based mortgage is written against the top of a local market, and these are Palm Desert’s numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau: the population, the median home value, the share of households that own, and the owner households the program is sized against. Program figures live in the snapshot above; the figures here describe the market, not the file.
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 Palm Desert neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
The Palm Desert market breaks into submarkets, and an asset-based mortgage reads differently in each: a condominium near the center, a second home on the water, an estate on acreage, a rental on the far side of town. The cards describe the typical file in each and what the path choice turns on there.
Estate properties
Palm Desert’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 Palm Desert sits near $77,513 on the latest Census estimate.
Newer luxury infill and new construction
A newer Palm Desert home at the top of the market rarely draws condition notes; the question is whether the balance sheet covers a loan that size or converts into an income that carries it. The loan officer reads the statements against the program ceiling before the contract. The median owner-occupied home value in Palm Desert runs near $542,000 on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes and pied-à-terre purchases
A Palm Desert pied-à-terre bought by a household whose principal residence is elsewhere is a second-home file at the second-home leverage on either path. The asset qualifier path covers the loan with the statements; the depletion path converts them. Neither asks about the income that supports the other home. About 35% of Palm Desert’s households rent — roughly 8,651 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Two-to-four-unit homes
Small multi-unit buildings in Palm Desert 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. Roughly 16,039 Palm Desert households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 65% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Close-in architect-designed homes
The architect-designed homes on Palm Desert’s close-in streets are hard to value, and on an asset-based file the appraisal decides the leverage: the loan is measured against the lower of price and value. A buyer covering the loan on assets answers a low appraisal with a larger down payment, which lowers the loan the assets must cover. On a home in Palm Desert 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.
High-rise and luxury condominiums
A Palm Desert condominium bought on assets is an asset-based file with the building added. Established projects usually pass review; the account rules are the same as for a house, and the asset qualifier path keeps income out of the file when the usable total covers the loan. Two months of statements season the proceeds. Palm Desert is home to about 52K people and sits within the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA area.
Across these Palm Desert submarkets the program is identical; what varies is the price the assets must cover or carry and the occupancy the buyer intends. A loan officer confirms the path, the credit, and the leverage for the specific file before an offer is written.
Four ways Palm Desert buyers put their assets to work.
What a Palm Desert 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.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
A Palm Desert 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.
Buy after a liquidity event, before the next venture
The seller of a Palm Desert business, the founder after an exit, the household after an inheritance: the money is new, large, and often unaccompanied by income. The asset qualifier path reads it once the two months of statements exist; the depletion path excuses the usual seasoning for sale-of-business, inheritance, and legal-settlement funds.
Keep the investments invested
For a Palm Desert 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.
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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert loan against the assets before requesting a review.
The starting figures are a Palm Desert price above the median, a loan at a share of the price inside both paths’ purchase leverage, and a balance sheet split among cash, brokerage, and retirement accounts with the owner under 59½. Change any of them. The verdict, the margin, the depletion income, and the payment update as you type.
Palm Desert asset coverage estimate
The calculator is seeded with a Palm Desert 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 $750,000 price above the Palm Desert 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.
For a Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert 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.
The figures in the snapshot are the program’s; the details below are where a Palm Desert file moves. Which side of the age line the owner stands on, how long the money has been in place, which accounts the lender will count, and which path the occupancy allows are settled before the terms are written.
Use these checks to keep the Palm Desert file clean and fundable.
Settle the age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible accounts first. Everything else in a Palm Desert file, the path, the leverage, the loan amount, is arithmetic once those three are known.
- Confirm the age rule: the depletion path haircuts retirement balances at a flat share regardless of age.
- Count the months: a sale of a business, an inheritance, or a settlement is excused from the depletion wait.
- Confirm the reserves: balances are read after the down payment and closing costs are drawn.
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 Palm Desert 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
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 Palm Desert buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
Reserves by path
Reserves are light on this program: the assets that qualify the loan are the reserves, and on the asset qualifier path none are required at or below the refinance leverage; above it, up to the purchase ceiling, the lender sets the requirement. A Palm Desert buyer still plans the down payment and closing costs so the usable total is not reduced at closing.
Credit and housing history
Score and credit history decide whether a path is open, and the assets decide what is behind it. For a Palm Desert buyer, that order matters: the credit question is answered before the statements are counted, and a weak score is not repaired by a strong portfolio. The report is pulled once and read against the path chosen.
Occupancy decides the path
A principal residence or a second home can be written on either path. An investment property can be written on the asset depletion path only, at a lower leverage ceiling, and a first-time investor needs a stronger score. For a Palm Desert buyer, naming the occupancy honestly is the first step, because it settles which path is open before the balances are read.
From a Palm Desert asset review to keys in hand.
The process is short on paperwork about income and long on paperwork about accounts. A Palm Desert buyer who understands that order, statements first, then contract, then underwriting, then closing, arrives at each step prepared.
Asset review
A Palm Desert asset review is a sizing exercise with the account rules open: the balances by type, the share credited on each path, the total against the loan, the income against the payment. The loan officer writes the outcome down for the offer. Nothing is assumed; every account is read from its statement.
Contract and appraisal
With the path settled, the Palm Desert offer is written to the leverage the path allows, and the appraisal is ordered once the contract is signed. The appraised value, not the price, sets the leverage on a refinance, and the lower of the two on a purchase.
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
The final figures arrive in the closing disclosure, the funds to close are wired from a documented account, and the Palm Desert home records in the buyer’s name. Nothing about the portfolio changes unless the buyer chose to draw the down payment from it.
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 Palm Desert buyer.
Both paths, one set of statements
Before any recommendation, the Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert 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.
Palm Desert asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert it is the loan for retirees, sellers of businesses, and households living on a portfolio.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
It is the simplest file in the program, and the one that asks the assets to cover the whole loan. For a Palm Desert retiree with a portfolio equal to the loan, the file is the statements, the credit report, and the appraisal; the age rule on retirement accounts is the detail most often checked.
How does the asset depletion path work?
The lender haircuts each eligible account by type, adds up what remains, and divides the total by a fixed number of months to produce a monthly qualifying income. That income is then run through the debt-to-income test with the new payment and other debts. A Palm Desert buyer whose assets are meaningful but short of the loan is written this way.
How are 401(k) and IRA balances counted, and why does 59½ matter?
The age line is applied per owner and per account. A Palm Desert 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 Palm Desert file.
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 Palm Desert 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.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
Yes to both, on different paths. For a second home a Palm Desert buyer covers the loan on the asset qualifier path when the balances allow and depletes them into income when they do not. For a rental only the depletion path is open, and it is read with the investment-property row of the leverage table.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
Yes, and the program is built for it. Once two months of statements show the proceeds in the account, the asset qualifier path reads them toward covering the loan with no income in the file. On the depletion path, sale-of-business funds are excused from the usual seasoning and documented with the sale paperwork instead.
How long do the assets need to be in the accounts?
On the asset qualifier path, two months of statements for each qualifying account. On the asset depletion path, a statement at least four months old at application plus the most recent one, with funds from the sale of a business, an inheritance, or a legal settlement excused from the wait. The money must be traceable as the borrower’s.
Can I take cash out?
A Palm Desert 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.
A Palm Desert mortgage sized to the balance sheet, not the pay stub.
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 Palm Desert — 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: Indio · Cathedral City · Palm Springs · Joshua Tree · Beaumont · Hemet · San Jacinto · Yucaipa
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans