The Quick Read: The limit on an asset depletion jumbo loan is not one number but the lowest of several stacked ceilings: the county conforming line that makes a loan jumbo, the program’s maximum loan amount, a leverage cap that shrinks as the loan grows, and how much countable liquid assets can support, all subject to underwriting. Terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, the leverage, and a full review of the credit profile.
- Asset depletion means a lender counts your liquid assets as qualifying income by spreading them over 36, 60 or 84 months. Nothing is sold or pledged.
- Through select wholesale programs, the asset allowance path covers primary and second homes only and tops out at 80% LTV. LTV, or loan-to-value, is the loan as a percentage of the property’s value.
- The divisor is 84 months when assets stand alone or the loan is above $3,500,000. Every file above $4,000,000 is reviewed case by case before submission.
- Credit score floors vary by scenario and rise to 700 above the super-jumbo line. DTI, the share of income that goes to debt, can run up to 50%.
- A separate assets-only path skips DTI when U.S. liquid assets cover the loan, closing costs, and sixty months of any net loss on other residential property.
The Five Layers That Set Your Real Limit
Most pages treat “limit” as one headline number. In practice you hit five different ceilings, and the lowest one wins. Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, two program types carry these files. A portfolio non-QM program (a lender that keeps loans on its own books rather than selling them) carries files to $6,000,000. A bank portfolio program carries twelve-month-statement files to $30,000,000 on its own size ladder. The ladder begins above $4,000,000 and overlaps the portfolio program to $6,000,000.
| Layer | Who sets it | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Conforming line | Federal formula, by county | Whether the loan is jumbo |
| Program ceiling | Each wholesale lender | Maximum loan amount |
| Leverage ladder | Each program | Highest LTV at each size |
| Income test | Divisor and DTI | Payment your assets can support |
| Asset sufficiency | Reserves and countable assets | Whether the file clears |
One quick disambiguation. Some pages use “asset depletion” to mean spending down your cash on a down payment. Here it means the underwriting method that turns a balance sheet into qualifying income. It suits founders, physicians, retirees, and investors whose paychecks or traditional personal-income documentation understate what they own.
The leverage ladder is where size bites hardest. Through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting, the ceilings on a primary-residence purchase step down like this:
| Loan size | Primary-residence purchase LTV ceiling |
|---|---|
| To $1,000,000 | 90% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 | 85% |
| $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 | 80% |
| $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 | 75% (top credit tier) |
| $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 | 65%, on review |
| $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 | 60%, on review |
| $10,000,000 to $30,000,000 | 55%, on review |
Second homes and investment properties run about five points lower at every size. The asset allowance path has its own 80% maximum, so the lower of the two numbers governs. A 90% or 85% band on the ladder does not lift an asset allowance file above 80%.
How Underwriting Treats Your Assets, Step by Step
Underwriting follows the same six moves on most files. The details vary by program, but the order rarely does.
1. Pick the eligible accounts. Cash, brokerage balances, and vested retirement accounts count. Retirement accounts count at 70%, or 80% once the borrower is 59½ or older. Business funds, gifts, unvested stock, cryptocurrency, and trusts other than a revocable living trust never count.
2. Set aside the deal’s own needs. The down payment, closing costs, and reserves come out first. Those dollars cannot also support income.
3. Divide what remains. The lender divides the remainder by 36, 60 or 84 months to get imputed monthly income. Imputed means assigned by formula, not earned.
4. Run the rest of the file. That income goes into a standard DTI. Then credit, reserves, and the property get reviewed like any other non-QM file.
5. Document everything. Expect consecutive account statements and sourced, seasoned funds. Depending on the program, anyone on a qualifying account may need to be on the note.
6. Sell nothing. Asset depletion is a qualifying calculation, not a liquidation plan. You keep the portfolio.
The divisor is the lever that matters most. It runs 36 months on supplemental files in the lower DTI band, 60 months on supplemental files in the higher band, and 84 months when assets stand alone or the loan tops $3,500,000. Run the ratio. The same assets produce about 2.3 times as much qualifying income at 36 months as at 84, and about 1.4 times as much at 60 as at 84.
That is why the jumbo tier feels harsher. Once a loan crosses $3,500,000, the longest divisor applies no matter how the file is built. For a closer look at sizing for a retiree, see Lendmire’s piece How a Jumbo Lender Sizes a Loan on Asset Depletion for a Retiree.
Reserves come out of the same pool. Typical reserves are 3 months of payment on loans up to the lowest loan tier, 6 months on mid-sized loans, and 9 months above that. Each additional financed property adds 2 months, up to a 12-month maximum. First-time investors are generally held to twelve months.
What Makes a Loan Jumbo (the Official Line)
A loan is jumbo when it exceeds the conforming limit for its county. The Federal Housing Finance Agency sets that limit, and its announcement of the current conforming loan limits puts the one-unit baseline at $832,750 in most of the country. That is up $26,250 from the prior year. In high-cost counties the ceiling is $1,249,125, which is 150% of the baseline. The formula ties high-cost limits to local median home values.
Two details matter for your sizing. The test applies to the loan amount, not the price. A bigger down payment can pull a loan under the line, and the same loan can be conforming in one county and jumbo in the next. The limits also reset every November, and per HousingWire the ceiling does not drop even when home prices fall.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use their own formulas for counting assets, a different method with its own fixed periods. Jumbo loans can’t be sold to those two agencies, so those formulas don’t govern here. Each lender or investor sets its own divisor, haircut, and cap.
“Super jumbo” has no official definition. Each program draws its own line. In this network, extra overlays begin above $3,500,000 on a primary residence and $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property:
- A 700 credit floor.
- A 0x30x24 housing history, meaning no late payments in the past 24 months.
- 48 months of seasoning after any credit event.
- U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.
- No non-occupant co-borrowers.
- No rural property, and ten acres maximum.
- Cash-out proceeds that cannot satisfy reserves.
Two Different Tests for Sufficiency
Asset depletion sounds like one test. It is really two, and they answer different questions.
| Item | Asset allowance | Assets-only |
|---|---|---|
| Question asked | Do assets produce enough income? | Do assets cover the whole loan? |
| Math | Liquid assets ÷ 36, 60 or 84 | Loan + costs + 60 months of other-property net loss |
| DTI | Applies | Not used |
| Maximum LTV | 80% | Per the leverage ladder |
| Eligible homes | Primary and second | Per program |
The first test is the income method. The second is a liquidity method, where U.S. liquid assets must equal the loan amount plus closing costs plus sixty months of any net loss on other residential property. In the second test, the other-property term only matters if you own property that loses money.
Either way, the lender has to verify what it relies on. The CFPB’s small entity compliance guide lists current or expected income or assets, other than the property’s own value, as a legitimate basis. It also requires verification from reasonably reliable third-party records. In practice that means statements, not a signed estimate of your wealth.
Three Worked Scenarios
These are modeled illustrations using percentages and ratios, not offers or quotes.
Scenario one: a $2,500,000 primary residence purchase. The ladder’s $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 band allows 80% on a purchase, typically at credit of 720 or higher. The asset allowance path also tops out at 80%, so the two lines agree. If the assets must stand alone, the divisor is 84 months. Under the assets-only test, liquidity has to equal 80% of the price plus closing costs. If countable assets fall short, the loan size or the LTV comes down until the file clears.
Scenario two: a loan above $3,500,000. The 84-month divisor applies no matter how the file is built. The super-jumbo overlays apply too. Purchase leverage on a primary residence runs 75% in the top credit tier, and the file needs a 700 credit floor at minimum. Here the divisor, not the ladder, is usually what stops the file.
Scenario three: a loan above $4,000,000. This is reviewed case by case before submission. The ladder drops to 65% on a purchase, on review, and keeps stepping down. A large portfolio does not force a large loan, because LTV, DTI, credit, reserves, and the program ceiling all bind at once.
Where the General Rule Breaks
- Standalone versus supplemental. Pension or Social Security income can be blended with asset income. Some programs require assets to stand alone, and others relax their asset minimum once pension income is on the file. No single industry rule applies, so it is a program-by-program question.
- Retirement accounts. The 70% and 80% counts above are the typical treatment. Balances held before 59½ are discounted more heavily.
- Margin balances. A margin loan against your brokerage account can shrink the countable total.
- Condos. Warrantable condos run to 85% and non-warrantable to 80%, though the 80% asset allowance maximum still governs.
- Cash-out. Cash-out ceilings sit below purchase ceilings at every size. On a primary residence the best is 80%, and above $4,000,000 every cash-out is reviewed case by case. Cash-out is unlimited at or below 60% LTV. Above 60% on the portfolio program, cash-in-hand is capped at $1,500,000.
- Rural property. It runs to 80% on ten acres or less and never above $3,000,000.
- Rental purchases. The asset allowance path applies to primary and second homes only. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties, and because they are business-purpose investor loans, they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. A rental qualifies primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Select lenders in the network offer programs below 1.00 coverage, though leverage and terms adjust.
An investor who clears DSCR coverage comfortably generally doesn’t need asset depletion at all. Assets still matter on DSCR files, because sourced closing funds and verified reserves are required. The same dollars can’t produce income and also pay the closing costs. The complete DSCR loans guide covers that path in full.
Asset Depletion, Bank Statements, or DSCR?
Pick the path that matches how your wealth shows up on paper. Lenders treat these as separate tracks, and they generally don’t substitute for each other.
| Your situation | Likely path |
|---|---|
| Big balance sheet, thin deposits | Asset depletion |
| Strong business deposits | Bank statements |
| Buying a rental that cash-flows | DSCR |
Bank statement files use 12 or 24 months of deposits after an expense ratio, and transfers from your own business into a personal account count in full. For a head-to-head on a jumbo, read Lendmire’s piece Asset Depletion vs Bank Statement Loan on a Jumbo Over One Million.
Many borrowers end up with a mix: asset depletion for the residence and DSCR for the rentals. Keeping the portfolio intact also leaves it available as reserves. Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; investors should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Why You See Different Maximums Online
Different pages quote different ceilings because each lender sets its own. A lender that keeps loans on its books sets caps by its own appetite and risk. Some publish low maximums, and others serve much larger files. One lender’s number says little about the next lender’s.
The point of working through a broker is comparing those ladders side by side. Across the wholesale network, most programs tighten leverage as size grows. The strictest overlays want the strongest credit and the deepest reserves at the top of the range. Every figure here reflects select wholesale programs and changes as programs change.
Key Terms Defined
Conforming limit: The county-by-county loan ceiling above which a loan is classed as jumbo.
Jumbo loan: A mortgage larger than the conforming limit for its county.
Super jumbo: A lender-defined tier of very large jumbo loans with tighter overlays.
Divisor: The number of months, here 36, 60 or 84, that countable assets are divided by to produce monthly income.
Haircut: The discount a lender applies to an asset that can swing in value or is hard to access.
Assets-only path: A qualification method that skips DTI when liquid assets cover the loan, costs, and any net loss on other residential property.
Reserves: Liquid funds held after closing, measured in months of payment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does asset depletion work on a jumbo loan?
Yes, through select wholesale programs. The file is underwritten like other non-QM jumbo files, with a longer divisor and tighter leverage as the loan grows. Above $4,000,000, every file is reviewed case by case before submission.
Is there one national divisor?
No. Each lender sets its own, and this network’s programs use 36, 60 or 84 months depending on DTI and whether assets stand alone. An 84-month divisor applies to standalone files and any loan above $3,500,000.
Can crypto or business funds count?
No. Cryptocurrency, business funds, gifts, unvested stock, and most trusts do not count toward asset depletion. Retirement accounts do count, at 70%, or 80% from age 59½.
Does a big portfolio mean a big loan?
Not automatically. LTV, DTI, credit, reserves, and the program ceiling all bind at once. A loan can fail on any one of those even when the assets look large.
Can I use asset depletion to buy a rental?
Not on the asset allowance path in this network. That path covers primary and second homes only. Rentals are generally reviewed on property cash flow through DSCR programs, subject to lender guidelines.
Next Step
If you are financing a high-balance property on your assets rather than income documents and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare super jumbo asset-qualification options based on your liquid assets, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals. Lendmire’s consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states: AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, IN, MI, MT, NM, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WA. Nothing here is a commitment to lend, and every file is underwritten individually.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan programs page.
Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page presents both super jumbo programs, bank statement and DSCR, side by side.
About Lendmire
Lendmire is a non-QM mortgage brokerage (NMLS# 2371349) arranging DSCR investor loans in 41 markets, including Washington, D.C., through wholesale and investor-lending channels. DSCR loans are evaluated by the lender on rental income rather than personal income, subject to lender guidelines — a fit for LLC-owned portfolios, self-employed investors, and operators scaling beyond conventional loan caps. Recognized as a Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace in 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. FHFA announcement of the current conforming loan limits
2. HousingWire on the conforming loan limit
3. CFPB ATR/QM small entity compliance guide
This article is part of Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: How Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan Rules Work for Asset-Rich Retirees · How Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan Rules Work for Business Account Deposits · Jumbo Loan vs Super Jumbo for a Retiree on Asset Depletion
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Legal disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage that arranges financing through wholesale lender relationships. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or registered financial advisor. The discussion above is general informational content about real estate financing — it is not financial, legal, or tax advice, and readers should consult licensed professionals for guidance on their individual circumstances. Loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not represent a commitment to lend. Loan terms, rates, and qualification standards vary by borrower, property, and state, and are subject to change at any time. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.