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 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
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.
The program’s distinguishing rule is how much of an account it counts, and that it will count retirement money on the path that documents no income at all. For a South Lake Tahoe household living on a portfolio, the practical questions are which path fits, how each account type is credited, and how long the money needs to have been in place. The four cards answer them in order.
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 South Lake Tahoe 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
No employment and no income is documented on this path. That is not a loophole; it is the structure. The lender’s ability-to-repay review rests on the assets themselves, which is why they must cover the whole loan rather than a share of it. A South Lake Tahoe retiree whose statements add up to the loan amount is read on those statements, without a tax return, a pay stub, or a bank statement income calculation.
The asset depletion path
On the asset depletion path the lender applies a haircut to each account type, adds up what remains, and divides the total by a fixed number of months to produce a monthly qualifying income. Cash and certificates of deposit count in full, securities at a lower share, private stock lower still, retirement accounts lower again regardless of age, and real-estate equity lowest. A South Lake Tahoe file then runs through the debt-to-income test with the new payment included.
Seasoning, statements, and what counts
Seasoning is the proof that the assets are the borrower’s to keep: two months of statements on the asset qualifier path, older statements plus the current one on the asset depletion path. Large recent deposits inside that window are read, not ignored: a transfer between the borrower’s own accounts is documented as such, a sale of property or a business with its paperwork, and a gift under the lender’s gift rules. A South Lake Tahoe file that shows the trail cleanly meets fewer questions in underwriting.
Every input below is yours: the South Lake Tahoe 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.
South Lake Tahoe’s 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 South Lake Tahoe’s population, typical home value, and ownership, the ground an asset-based file sits above.
Citywide figures provide general market context, not an appraisal or an income calculation. A high median value means a larger loan for the assets to cover and a larger monthly income for the depletion path to produce; a lower one means the same balance sheet goes further. The owner share says how established the market is, and the owner count how deep the comparable sales run.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-Year (2024) housing and population estimates, including tenure, home values, gross rents, and household income.
Distinct South Lake Tahoe neighborhoods, distinct asset files.
Where a South Lake Tahoe buyer is looking shapes the file as much as the balance sheet does. The cards below walk through the city’s submarkets and the asset-based questions each raises: the price the assets must cover, the occupancy the path allows, and the valuation the appraiser faces.
Resort condominium projects
A South Lake Tahoe resort condominium is an eligibility question before it is an asset question. The loan officer orders the project review early; if the building qualifies, the file proceeds on the account rules like any second-home purchase. The building’s status is settled before the path is chosen. The median owner-occupied home value in South Lake Tahoe runs near $682,400 on the latest Census estimate.
Rental-ready properties
A South Lake Tahoe rental financed on assets is a depletion file by definition, read with the investment row of the leverage table and the program’s investor credit rules. The asset qualifier path does not reach investment property. Cash-out on a rental is capped at the depletion path’s cash-out ceiling, and the proceeds never count as assets. South Lake Tahoe is home to about 21K people.
Year-round primary residences
Principal residences in South Lake Tahoe are financed on the program’s full purchase leverage, with the assets covering the loan or converting into income. A loan officer confirms the occupancy with the borrower’s plans and reads the statements against both paths. The occupancy row sets the leverage. About 49% of South Lake Tahoe’s households rent — roughly 4,634 renter households on the latest Census estimate.
Second homes and vacation condominiums
South Lake Tahoe’s second homes are the program’s natural market: a principal residence elsewhere, a portfolio, and a vacation home bought on the statements. The asset qualifier path keeps income out of the file when the usable total covers the loan. Roughly 4,885 South Lake Tahoe households own their homes on the latest Census estimate — 51% of all households, the pool an asset-based purchase joins.
Estate and compound properties
South Lake Tahoe’s estate and compound properties are where the program’s largest loans are written, and the asset qualifier path is the natural fit there: a balance sheet that covers a loan near the ceiling, no income in the file, and an appraisal that takes its time. The margin above the loan is the figure the loan officer watches. Median household income in South Lake Tahoe sits near $82,002 on the latest Census estimate.
Waterfront and view homes
Scarce comparable sales and high values make the appraisal the hardest part of the file on a South Lake Tahoe view home; the assets are usually the easy part. A loan officer runs the file at the contract price and at a lower value so the margin is known before the offer. On a home in South Lake Tahoe 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.
A South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe buyers put their assets to work.
The uses below are the ones South Lake Tahoe 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.
Refinance a home the assets already stand behind
Replacing an old loan on assets rather than income keeps a South Lake Tahoe 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.
Keep the investments invested
A South Lake Tahoe 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.
Turn a portfolio into qualifying income
Depletion is the path for the household with meaningful savings and a modest paycheck, or no paycheck at all. The assets are read as income rather than as collateral, the leverage matches the qualifier path on a purchase, and the ratio test comes back into the file. A South Lake Tahoe loan officer runs both paths before recommending this one.
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 South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe loan officer runs the lender’s own version before anything is written.
South Lake Tahoe asset coverage estimate
The calculator is seeded with a South Lake Tahoe 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 $950,000 price above the South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe 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.
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.
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 South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe 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.
Local details that can change the loan.
Here are five details, chosen for the South Lake Tahoe file, that most often reshape an asset-based loan. The first two apply to nearly every file; the rest depend on the accounts, the occupancy, and the purpose.
Use these checks to keep the South Lake Tahoe file clean and fundable.
Settle the age rule, the seasoning, and the eligible accounts first. Everything else in a South Lake Tahoe file, the path, the leverage, the loan amount, is arithmetic once those three are known.
- Confirm the age rule: a birthday close to the age line can change the usable total and the path.
- Count the months: a sale of a business, an inheritance, or a settlement is excused from the depletion wait.
- Read the credit report: the asset qualifier path publishes a credit floor; the depletion path reads a matrix.
Retirement accounts and the age line
The age line is applied per owner and per account. A South Lake Tahoe couple where one spouse is past 59½ and the other is not sees each account credited by its own owner’s age, and the sum is what counts against the loan. The accounts stay where they are; the age rule governs the credit, not the custody. The birthday is checked against the date of the application.
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 South Lake Tahoe buyer timing a purchase after a liquidity event counts the months before the offer.
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 South Lake Tahoe file with a prior housing event waits out the program’s seasoning.
Which accounts count
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 is what differs. A South Lake Tahoe household whose wealth sits in a private company, in options, or in an account held abroad may find the usable total smaller than the net worth suggests, and the sorting is done before the path is chosen so the result is not a surprise.
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 South Lake Tahoe 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.
From a South Lake Tahoe asset review to keys in hand.
Four steps carry a South Lake Tahoe asset-based loan from review to closing. Nothing on this page commits anyone to lend; the written terms come from a licensed loan officer after the review, and the appraisal and the underwriting decide the rest.
Asset review
A South Lake Tahoe 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 South Lake Tahoe 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
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 South Lake Tahoe loan officer attends to the funds to close so the usable total is intact.
A brokerage that reads both paths.
The program behind these pages is placed with select lenders in Lendmire’s wholesale network, and Lendmire is never the lender. What the brokerage adds is the comparison: the asset qualifier path against the depletion path against a bank statement loan on the same South Lake Tahoe statements, and written terms for the one that fits.
Both paths, one set of statements
A South Lake Tahoe file is never assumed onto a path. The balances are read both ways, and when the depletion income would supplement documented earnings that version is run as well. The recommendation is the version with the cleanest file and the leverage that fits the purpose. The loan officer shows the arithmetic, not just the answer.
The account rules explained before the offer
Reading the statements early is the whole method. A South Lake Tahoe loan officer sorts the accounts, confirms the owners’ ages against the age line, counts the months, and names the usable total on each path, in writing, before an offer is drafted. The aim is a file with as little as possible left to be discovered in underwriting.
Licensed, consumer-purpose, in writing
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 South Lake Tahoe 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.
South Lake Tahoe asset-based mortgage FAQs
Plain answers to the questions South Lake Tahoe 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 path has three tests: the usable assets must cover the loan, the loan must sit inside the leverage for the purpose, and the credit score must be at or above the published floor. Reserves are not required at or below the refinance leverage. Income is never asked for.
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?
Under 59½, the asset qualifier path credits most of a 401(k) or IRA; at or past 59½, all of it. The depletion path ignores age and applies its own haircut before dividing by the months. The calculator on this page has a switch for the age line so a South Lake Tahoe buyer can see the difference on the actual balances.
What credit score does an asset-based mortgage need?
The published floor opens the asset qualifier path. On the depletion path a first-time investor needs a stronger score than an owner-occupant, and larger loans at higher leverage want more. A South Lake Tahoe loan officer reads the report before the statements are counted, because credit decides the door.
How is this different from a bank statement loan?
Deposits versus balances. The bank statement program applies an expense factor to a run of business deposits and calls the result income. The asset-based program credits or haircuts the balances and either covers the loan or divides them into income. A retiree with no deposits has nothing for the first and everything for the second.
Do I need to show any income at all?
The program exists because income on paper understates many households’ means. On the asset qualifier path the question is never asked; on the depletion path it is answered by arithmetic. A South Lake Tahoe loan officer explains which path the statements support before any income paperwork is discussed.
Can I take cash out?
A South Lake Tahoe 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.
Can I buy a second home or a rental on assets?
The program reaches both, and the distinction matters: a second home is an owner-occupied occupancy with the full purchase leverage, a rental is an investment occupancy with a lower one and a depletion-only path. The South Lake Tahoe file is structured around that answer from the start.
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 South Lake Tahoe buyer plans the transfer and the statements before the offer.
Qualify on what you own in South Lake Tahoe, with both paths read.
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 South Lake Tahoe — 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: Folsom · Rocklin · Lincoln · Rancho Cordova · Citrus Heights · Roseville · Elk Grove · Sacramento
Related programs: Bank Statement Loans · Jumbo Loans · Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans