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
The largest loan on the asset qualifier path is $4,000,000, provided the usable assets equal or exceed it; the asset depletion path tops out at $3,500,000. Neither figure is a quote, and the lender’s own calculation of the usable assets governs the amount.
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
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.
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.
The asset-based program is one program with two doors. Through the first, a San Marcos 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, or the statewide guide at Asset-Based Mortgage in California; for the age rule on retirement withdrawals, see the IRS.
Two paths, one program
Think of the two paths as two thresholds. On the asset qualifier path the threshold is the loan amount itself: the credited balances must reach it. On the asset depletion path the threshold is a ratio: the credited balances, divided into monthly income, must carry the housing payment and the other debts. A San Marcos file with a large balance sheet usually clears the first; a file with a moderate one is often written on the second.
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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos buyer planning a purchase after a liquidity event plans the seasoning first.
Enter the San Marcos price and the loan wanted, then the balances. The first result is the asset qualifier verdict: the usable assets cover the loan or fall short by a stated margin. The second set of results is the asset depletion reading: the haircut assets, the monthly income they produce, and the housing payment at the benchmark against that income.
San Marcos’ market in figures — and how asset-based lending fits.
The local median home value is the floor of the conversation for a buyer who qualifies on assets, not the ceiling: the program’s loan amounts run well past it. The Census figures below give San Marcos’ population, typical home value, and ownership, the ground an asset-based file sits above.
Read the figures as backdrop. 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 San Marcos neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
Each card below is a San Marcos submarket seen through the program: who buys there on assets, which path usually fits, and what the loan officer checks first. The figures in the snapshot apply everywhere; the emphasis changes from one card to the next.
Historic and estate homes
San Marcos’ historic and estate homes are valued on few comparable sales, and the leverage is applied to the appraised value. A buyer covering the loan on assets plans a margin above the loan so a value that lands under the contract does not push the file onto the depletion path. The median owner-occupied home value in San Marcos runs near $868,000 on the latest Census estimate.
Lakefront and view properties
Lakefront and view homes near San Marcos appraise on scarce comparable sales and often carry flood insurance, which enters the depletion path’s ratio as part of the housing payment. On the asset qualifier path the insurance is a cost of ownership; on the depletion path it is part of what the derived income must carry. San Marcos is home to about 95K people.
Newer executive subdivisions
San Marcos’ newer executive subdivisions appraise cleanly and produce the program’s simplest files: a retiree or a seller of a business, a loan inside the purchase leverage, and usable assets that cover it. The only questions are the account rules. On a home in San Marcos 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.
Rural acreage and farmettes
For rural property near San Marcos, residential use and comparable sales are usually the hardest questions in the file. The usable total and the path are settled first so the buyer knows the loan the assets support before the appraisal answers whether the property qualifies. About 36% of San Marcos’ households rent — roughly 11,374 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes in the area
San Marcos’ 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 19,976 San Marcos households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 64% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
The retiree buying on a portfolio
In a smaller market like San Marcos the balance sheet often covers the loan outright. When it does not, a supplemented depletion file with the pension and the derived income together is the common answer, with the minimum-assets rule waived. A loan officer runs both versions on the same statements. Median household income in San Marcos sits near $109,377 on the latest Census estimate.
Across these San Marcos 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 San Marcos buyers put their assets to work.
What a San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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
After a sale, the question is documentation rather than qualification. The San Marcos loan officer traces the proceeds with the sale paperwork, confirms the accounts they landed in, counts the statements, and chooses the path the total supports. Cash-out proceeds from a refinance never count as assets on either path.
Buy a home on assets alone, with no income in the file
A San Marcos 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.
Finance a second home or a rental on assets
Second homes are a natural fit: a San Marcos 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.
Measure a San Marcos loan against the assets before requesting a review.
The starting figures are a San Marcos 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.
San Marcos asset coverage estimate
The starting figures are a San Marcos 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 $1,225,000 price above the San Marcos 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.
The same San Marcos 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.
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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos file clean and fundable.
Three things to settle before a San Marcos review: which side of the age line the owner of each retirement account stands on, whether every account has seasoned for the path, and whether the usable total reaches the loan or the file belongs on the depletion path instead.
- 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.
- Confirm the reserves: the depletion path lists no reserve months of its own.
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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos file with a clean trail seasons without friction; one with unexplained deposits waits.
Reserves by path
The practical question for a San Marcos file is whether the down payment and closing costs come out of the same accounts that cover the loan. They can, but the lender reads the balances after those draws, so a file that just clears the threshold before closing may not clear it after. The calculator’s margin is the figure to watch.
Credit and housing history
The asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor; the depletion path reads the score against a matrix where the floor rises with the leverage and the loan amount, and it reads the housing history too: a clean recent record is expected, one late payment in the past year is tolerated, and a San Marcos file with a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning.
Occupancy decides the path
A second home on assets is common and straightforward on both paths; a rental on assets is a depletion file by definition. The San Marcos loan officer confirms the occupancy with the borrower’s intent and the property’s use, and the lender holds the file to it. A rental’s own appraisal and lease are read beside the statements.
From a San Marcos asset review to keys in hand.
An asset-based purchase runs in a fixed order: a review of the statements that settles the path and the leverage, a contract and an appraisal, underwriting of the accounts and the credit, and closing. The steps below describe each for a San Marcos file.
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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage licensed for consumer lending in sixteen states, and on an asset-based file the brokerage’s job is to read the balance sheet against both paths, place the loan with the wholesale program that fits, and put the terms in writing. The lender is never named on these pages; the arithmetic is.
Both paths, one set of statements
The comparison printed on this page is run for real on every San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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
Every figure on this page is a program parameter drawn from one guideline source. The written terms for a San Marcos 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.
San Marcos asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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 San Marcos 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?
A 401(k), a traditional or Roth IRA, and similar employer plans are read the same way: by the owner’s age on the asset qualifier path and at a flat haircut on the depletion path. Vested balances count; stock options and unvested restricted stock do not. A San Marcos loan officer confirms each account’s treatment at the review.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
A clean recent housing record and a score at or above the floor are the expectation. A San Marcos buyer with a strong portfolio and a weak score is not repaired by the portfolio; the credit question is answered first, and the asset question second.
Which accounts count, and which do not?
Publicly traded securities count; options and unvested units do not. Vested retirement balances count; deferred compensation does not. Money in the borrower’s own domestic accounts counts; cash on hand and foreign funds do not. The sorting is the first step of a San Marcos review.
Are reserves required?
Not at or below the refinance leverage on the asset qualifier path, and the depletion path lists no reserve months; above the refinance leverage the lender sets the requirement. The practical reserve question is different: a file that just clears the asset threshold before closing may not clear it after the down payment leaves the account, and the calculator’s margin is the figure a San Marcos buyer watches; a loan officer plans the funds to close around it.
Do I need to show any income at all?
Not on the asset qualifier path. No employment is verified and no income is documented; the lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets, which is why they must cover the whole loan. On the asset depletion path the assets are converted into income, and any documented earnings can be added to it.
How is this different from a bank statement loan?
The comparison on this page puts them side by side: assets that cover the loan, assets that become income, and deposits that become income. The right route for a San Marcos household is read off its statements, and the written terms follow from the one that fits.
How large can the loan be?
The ceilings differ by path because the paths prove ability to repay differently. A San Marcos loan officer confirms the amount for the file after the usable total is calculated; the figures in the snapshot are the program’s limits, not an offer.
A San Marcos mortgage sized to the balance sheet, not the pay stub.
Begin with an asset review: the statements, the loan, the occupancy, the purpose. A Lendmire loan officer sorts the accounts, runs both paths, and puts the written terms for the one that fits in front of you.
This guide covers San Marcos — 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: Escondido · Vista · Carlsbad · Encinitas · Oceanside · Santee · San Diego · Temecula
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans