Current asset-based guidelines, updated from one source.
Four cards and three tables carry every figure an asset-based file turns on, drawn from one source built on the wholesale program sheets: amount, credit, leverage, and the retirement credit in the cards; the account-by-account credit, the depletion haircuts, and the leverage by occupancy in the tables. The prose around them explains how the figures are used.
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
The age line at 59½ is a program rule, not a tax rule, though it echoes one: below it the asset qualifier path credits 90% of a retirement balance, above it 100%. The asset depletion path ignores age and counts 70% of the balance before dividing by the months.
| Account type | Credit toward the loan |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts (stocks, bonds, funds) | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Money market accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Savings and checking | 100% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner under 59½ | 90% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) — owner 59½ or older | 100% of the balance |
| Account type | Share counted |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts | 100% of the balance |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% of the balance |
| Securities (stocks, bonds, funds) | 80% of the balance |
| Private stock | 75% of the balance |
| Retirement accounts (any age) | 70% of the balance |
| Real-estate equity | 60% of the balance |
| Path and occupancy | Purchase | Rate-and-term | Cash-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier — primary residence or second home | 80% | 75% | set by the lender |
| Asset depletion — primary residence | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — second home | 80% | 80% | 60% |
| Asset depletion — investment property | 65% | 65% | 60% |
Two paths behind these pages: on the asset qualifier path the usable assets must equal or exceed the whole loan and no employment or income is documented; on the asset depletion path the usable assets are divided across the published number of months (the table above) into a qualifying income that carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test. Reserves are not required on the qualifier path at or below the refinance leverage; the depletion path asks for statements at least one hundred twenty days old plus a current one. Minimum assets on the depletion path: the lesser of one million dollars or one and a quarter times the loan, never below a quarter million liquid when assets are the only income. Lendmire is a broker, not the lender, and the lender is not named.
Current asset-based snapshot · updated October 21, 2026 · a Lendmire loan officer confirms the path, the asset credit, and the leverage for the file before an offer.
Not a commitment to lend, not an offer of credit, not a quote. The figures shown are current wholesale program parameters that change without notice and apply only after full underwriting of the borrower and the property; the lender is never named on this page and no rate, fee, or payment is quoted. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender, licensed to broker consumer mortgages in sixteen states. NMLS #2371349.
What an asset-based mortgage is — and how the two paths qualify a file.
The asset-based program is one program with two doors. Through the first, a Pennsylvania buyer walks in with statements that add up to the loan and leaves employment and income out of the file entirely. Through the second, a buyer whose balances do not cover the loan walks in with the same statements and the lender turns them into a monthly figure to test against the payment. The cards below describe each door and the rules at the threshold.
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 asset qualifier path and the asset depletion path share a premise and differ in arithmetic. Both qualify a Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
The calculator runs a Pennsylvania 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.
Pennsylvania’s market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
A Pennsylvania asset-based file usually sits above the state’s median home, and these Census figures show the ground it sits above: the state’s population and its typical home value on the latest estimate, then the owner households of the markets Lendmire tracks and the share of households they are.
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 Pennsylvania’s asset-rich buyers borrow — market by market.
Market by market across Pennsylvania: 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.
Philadelphia
Near 351,905 Philadelphia households own (52% 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 $243,100, median household income near $61,953, population near 1.58M.
Pittsburgh
With owner households around 65,856, about 48% of households, Pittsburgh 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 $205,800, median household income near $65,742, population near 305K.
Erie
With owner households around 21,574, about 54% of households, Erie 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 $115,200, median household income near $46,113, population near 94K.
Allentown
With owner households around 20,035, about 43% of households, Allentown 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 $206,600, median household income near $55,494, population near 126K.
Bethlehem
Bethlehem’s roughly 15,509 owner households (50% of the total) sit in a metropolitan market where a retiree or a seller of a business buys on the strength of the accounts, not the pay stub. Census context: median value near $260,400, median household income near $68,879, population near 78K.
Scranton
Scranton’s roughly 15,083 owner households (50% of the total) sit in a metropolitan market where a retiree or a seller of a business buys on the strength of the accounts, not the pay stub. Census context: median value near $158,100, median household income near $50,739, population near 76K.
From the largest Pennsylvania market to the smallest, the file is qualified the same way: accounts sorted, shares applied, total against the loan or divided into income, leverage checked, credit read. A cash-out refinance follows the state’s home-equity rules where the state has them, and the loan officer confirms them before the path is chosen.
Four ways Pennsylvania buyers put their assets to work.
What a Pennsylvania 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
A Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
A Pennsylvania 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
The seller of a Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania loan against the assets before requesting a review.
Use the calculator to see which path a Pennsylvania balance sheet favors. If the usable assets cover the loan, the asset qualifier path is open and no income enters the file; if they fall short, the depletion reading beside it shows the monthly income the assets would produce and the payment that income would need to carry.
Pennsylvania asset coverage estimate
The calculator is seeded with a Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania (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.
Three routes to the same closing table, compared on what each one counts: the balance sheet in full, the balance sheet as income, or the deposit history of a business owner. A Pennsylvania loan officer prices the route the file supports best, and the comparison below explains how the choice is made.
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.
The deposit route reads the statements for inflows rather than balances. For a business owner whose accounts turn over, it usually produces 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania scenario review.
Because the assets are the whole case on the asset qualifier path and most of it on the depletion path, the lender reads them carefully. A Pennsylvania buyer who assembles complete statements, with the transfers and the deposits explained, is far less likely to meet the questions that stall a file.
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.
These are the questions a Pennsylvania loan officer asks before recommending a path, because each can change the loan: the retirement credit, the seasoning, the eligible accounts, the occupancy, and the leverage for the purpose. None is a surprise if it is asked early.
Use these checks to keep the Pennsylvania file clean and fundable.
The checklist for a Pennsylvania asset-based file starts with the accounts: the age of each retirement owner, the months of statements, the eligibility of each account type. The path and the leverage follow from the answers.
- Confirm the age rule: 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.
- Name the occupancy: investment property opens the depletion path only, at its own ceiling.
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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania file with a clean trail seasons without friction; one with unexplained deposits waits.
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 Pennsylvania buyer, naming the occupancy honestly is the first step, because it settles which path is open before the balances are read.
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 Pennsylvania 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.
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 Pennsylvania buyer still plans the down payment and closing costs so the usable total is not reduced at closing.
From a Pennsylvania asset review to keys in hand.
The process is short on paperwork about income and long on paperwork about accounts. A Pennsylvania buyer who understands that order, statements first, then contract, then underwriting, then closing, arrives at each step prepared.
Asset review
A Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania buyer.
Both paths, one set of statements
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every Pennsylvania file: assets that cover the loan beside assets that become income beside deposits read as income, and the written terms follow from it. The buyer sees the usable total on each path, the margin above the loan, and the derived income beside the payment before anything is signed.
The account rules explained before the offer
The age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible-account list are the three places an asset-based file surprises people. Lendmire walks a Pennsylvania buyer through all three at the review, with the statements open, so the file that goes to underwriting is the file the buyer expected. The margin above the threshold is written down too.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
Asset-based mortgages on a principal residence or a second home are consumer loans, placed under Lendmire’s consumer licensing in sixteen states with the disclosures that attach to any consumer mortgage. A Pennsylvania 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.
Pennsylvania asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions Pennsylvania 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?
Asset-based means the ability to repay is shown through accounts. The program behind these pages reaches principal residences and second homes on the path that documents no income, adds investment property on the path that converts assets into income, and is placed with select lenders in Lendmire’s network.
How does the asset qualifier path work?
The lender adds up the eligible accounts, credits each at its share, and compares the total with the loan. If the total equals or exceeds the loan, the Pennsylvania file is qualified on assets alone: no employment verification, no tax returns, no income calculation. The leverage is a share of the price on a purchase and a lower share of the value on a refinance.
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 Pennsylvania 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?
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 Pennsylvania 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?
The asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor, shown in the snapshot above. The asset depletion path reads the score against the documentation suite’s matrix, where the floor rises with the leverage and the loan amount. On the depletion path the housing history is reviewed as well, and a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning; the qualifier path publishes the floor alone.
How long does an asset-based mortgage take to close?
On any mortgage the appraisal and the title are the long poles, and an asset-based file adds the account review while removing the income review. A Pennsylvania buyer plans the seasoning ahead of the offer; the program promises no timeline.
How is this different from a bank statement loan?
A bank statement loan reads the deposits flowing into a self-employed owner’s accounts as income; an asset-based mortgage reads the balances sitting in the accounts. The first suits the Pennsylvania business owner with strong cash flow and modest savings; the second suits the household with strong savings and little or no income. Lendmire places both.
I just sold my business. Can I buy on the proceeds?
A liquidity event produces exactly the balance sheet the program expects: assets well above the loan and earnings that have paused. A Pennsylvania seller covers the loan on the asset qualifier path when the proceeds reach it, or converts smaller proceeds into income on the depletion path with the seasoning excused.
Do I need to show any income at all?
Income is optional on one path and derived on the other. A Pennsylvania buyer with no earnings is written on the asset qualifier path if the balances cover the loan, and on the depletion path on standalone asset income if they do not; a buyer with some earnings is often strongest on a supplemented depletion file.
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 Pennsylvania 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.
Cover the loan or convert the assets in Pennsylvania: compared on your statements.
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 Pennsylvania — for the program overview, see Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program.
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans