Asset Depletion Loans In St. Simons Island — The Quick Read: An asset depletion loan lets a borrower qualify using liquid assets instead of a paycheck or a tax return. The lender totals eligible cash, brokerage, and retirement balances, subtracts what’s needed for closing and reserves, then divides what’s left by a set number of months to create a monthly income figure for the debt-to-income calculation. The property does not have to change hands and the assets are never seized — this is a qualifying convention, not a withdrawal plan. It applies the same way whether the home sits on St. Simons Island, in a major metro, or anywhere else the underwriting rules reach.
Key Takeaways
- Asset depletion converts liquid wealth into a monthly qualifying income figure, without forcing a sale or a taxable event.
- The math runs in five steps: total assets, subtract committed funds, apply asset-class discounts, divide by a set number of months, then plug the result into the debt-to-income ratio.
- Most asset depletion programs are built for a primary residence or second home — investment properties usually fall under a different structure built around the property’s own rent.
- Retirement accounts get fuller credit once a borrower crosses age 59.5; younger borrowers see a lower percentage counted.
- Investors short on rental coverage sometimes blend assets with a property’s cash flow instead of using assets alone — a different tool from the pure asset depletion product.
Because Georgia sits inside the 16-state footprint where Lendmire arranges consumer mortgage lending — AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, IN, MI, MT, NM, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WA — a St. Simons Island purchase or refinance on a primary residence or second home is a normal fit for this program set, subject to full underwriting.
What Counts as an Eligible Asset?
Eligible assets are the liquid ones: checking, savings, money market, brokerage accounts, and retirement funds a lender can verify with recent statements. Business accounts, unvested stock, cryptocurrency, gift funds, and most trusts other than a revocable living trust never count toward the pool.
That last point trips people up. A borrower who assumes every account on a net-worth statement will count usually finds the usable pool is smaller once the underwriter strips out ineligible categories. Retirement accounts get counted at 70% of vested value, rising to 80% once the borrower is 59.5 or older — the discount reflects early-withdrawal penalties and market volatility, not a judgment about the account itself.
How Underwriting Actually Treats the Assets, Step by Step
The math is mechanical once you see it laid out, and it runs the same way across nearly every program in the non-QM space.
1. Total eligible liquid assets. The underwriter pulls verified balances from checking, savings, brokerage, and retirement accounts.
2. Subtract funds already spoken for. Anything earmarked for the down payment, closing costs, or required post-closing reserves comes off the top. What remains is the “net qualifying assets” figure that actually does the work.
3. Apply the asset-class discount. Retirement balances get haircut to 70% (or 80% at 59.5-plus) of vested value. Business funds, gifts, and unvested stock don’t make the cut at all.
4. Divide by the depletion period. The remaining balance is divided by a set number of months — through select lenders in Lendmire’s wholesale network, that’s 36 months for a supplemental use at or below a 60% debt-to-income ratio, 60 months for a supplemental use above that ratio, or 84 months when the asset income has to stand alone or when the loan amount runs above $3,500,000. A shorter divisor produces a bigger monthly figure and supports a larger loan; a longer divisor produces a smaller one and a more conservative file.
5. Plug the result into the debt-to-income calculation. The monthly figure behaves like income for qualifying purposes. Nothing gets liquidated, and the underwriter treats the number as a repayment-capacity estimate, not a spending plan.
Statements have to be fresh and consecutive. Underwriters generally want at least 60 consecutive days of statements, and asset documentation is usually only good for a defined window before the note date — stale statements are one of the more common reasons a file gets bounced back for updated paperwork. Large, unexplained deposits get flagged the same way they do on a bank-statement loan file: the underwriter wants to know where the money came from before it counts.
The Two Structures: Asset Allowance vs. Assets-Only
There isn’t one “asset depletion loan” — there are two different structures that solve different problems, and mixing them up leads borrowers to ask for the wrong product.
Asset allowance is the divisor-based approach described above. It produces a monthly income figure that feeds into a debt-to-income ratio, and it can either supplement other income or stand alone. Through select lenders in the network this structure is capped at 80% loan-to-value and applies to primary residences and second homes only — it isn’t offered on investment property in this program set.
Assets-only qualification skips the debt-to-income calculation entirely. Instead, the borrower needs U.S.-based liquid assets equal to the loan amount, plus closing costs, plus 60 months of any net loss the borrower carries on other residential property. There’s no monthly income figure computed at all — the lender is simply confirming the borrower has enough liquid capital sitting behind the loan.
Here’s the practical difference: a borrower with a strong but irregular balance sheet and modest debt elsewhere is often a fit for asset allowance. A borrower who’s sitting on a very large liquid position and wants the cleanest possible file, with no DTI math at all, is more often a fit for assets-only.
Where the Loan Sizes and Leverage Actually Land
Loan sizes on this program set run from $300,000 to $30,000,000 through two separate wholesale channels: a portfolio non-QM program that carries files to $6,000,000, and a bank portfolio jumbo program that takes twelve-month-statement files up to $30,000,000 on its own ladder — 65% loan-to-value to $5,000,000, 60% to $10,000,000, and 55% to $30,000,000, with interest-only capped at 60% or the band’s own ceiling, whichever is lower.
Leverage on a primary residence steps down as the loan gets bigger — 90% up to $1,000,000, tapering through the mid-size bands, down to 75% at the top credit tier around $3,500,000, then case-by-case review from there. Second homes and investment properties generally run about five points lower at every size band. Credit needs a 660 floor on the portfolio program, 680 on the bank program, and 700 once a loan crosses the super-jumbo line. Debt-to-income can run as high as 50%, and reserve requirements step up with loan size — roughly three months of reserves to $500,000, six months to $1,500,000, and nine months above that, plus two additional months of reserves for each additional financed property, capped at twelve months. A borrower buying their first investment property typically needs the full twelve months up front.
Every figure above $4,000,000 gets reviewed case by case before it’s even submitted — that’s not a soft caveat, it’s how the file actually moves through underwriting at that size.
Where This Breaks Down for Investors
The single biggest misconception among rental property investors is thinking asset depletion is the same tool as a DSCR loan. It isn’t. Asset depletion qualifies the person. A complete DSCR loans guide covers the other side of that coin — loans that qualify the property, based on the rent it generates rather than the borrower’s balance sheet or traditional personal-income documentation. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties. Because they’re business-purpose investor loans, they’re reviewed differently than a standard owner-occupied mortgage.
That distinction matters here because most asset depletion structures in this program set are built for a primary residence or second home — not a rental. An investor trying to buy a straight rental property with asset depletion math is usually pointed toward a DSCR structure instead, one that looks at the lease and the rent roll rather than the brokerage statement.
There’s a middle path for investors whose rental income falls just short of covering the mortgage payment. Some lenders in the network will let liquid assets fill that gap alongside the property’s own cash flow, rather than replacing it outright — a blended approach rather than pure asset depletion. Sub-1.00 coverage scenarios are available through select lenders in the network, though leverage and terms adjust when the property’s rent alone doesn’t clear a full 1.00x. That’s a different underwriting conversation from a straight asset depletion file, and it’s worth asking about specifically if the rent-to-payment math is tight. For a side-by-side look at how these two qualification paths differ mechanically, see DSCR loan vs. asset depletion loan.
Entity vesting is the other edge case that catches serious landlords off guard. Asset depletion underwriting generally runs through a personal borrower, which conflicts with LLC-based ownership that many portfolio investors use for liability protection. DSCR programs, by contrast, evaluate the entity’s income directly and are generally more comfortable with LLC-titled ownership, subject to lender program eligibility. An investor who wants both — personal wealth doing the qualifying work and an LLC holding the title — will usually find that combination doesn’t exist cleanly in one product, and has to pick a lane based on what matters more for a given deal.
Reserve overlap is a smaller but real trap. In some programs, the same pool of assets can satisfy both the income calculation and the post-closing reserve requirement. In others, reserves have to sit completely separate from whatever assets were used to generate the qualifying income figure — meaning a borrower needs more total liquidity than the depletion math alone suggests. This is worth confirming on a specific file before assuming the full balance is available to work double duty. Every figure here varies by lender and program — guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.
The Investor Decision in Practice
Picture an investor who recently sold a business and is sitting on a large brokerage balance but has thin recent tax-return income to show for it. That’s close to the textbook use case — asset depletion converts the balance sheet into qualifying capacity for a primary residence or second home purchase without forcing a sale of the portfolio that just paid off. Compare that to an investor buying a straight rental property where the lease already covers the payment. That file belongs on the DSCR side, not the asset depletion side, because the property itself is doing the qualifying work.
Where the two genuinely overlap is the high-net-worth buyer purchasing a second home in a resort or coastal market who also holds a rental portfolio elsewhere. The second home purchase might run through asset depletion; the rental portfolio keeps running through DSCR financing, refinanced or cashed out as needed through a structure like the one described in DSCR cash-out refinance coverage elsewhere on the site. Keeping the two products straight — one for the primary or second home, one for the rentals — tends to produce cleaner files than trying to force one tool to do both jobs.
Timing discipline matters more than people expect. Because statement freshness and seasoning windows are strict, an investor planning to use asset depletion should pull account statements and avoid large, unexplained deposits well before applying. A big unexplained transfer showing up shortly before an application is one of the more common reasons an otherwise strong file gets delayed for documentation, since underwriting timelines vary by file and lender.
Tax treatment can depend on how funds are used and how a property is held; investors should keep clear records and talk with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Key Terms Defined
Asset depletion (asset dissipation): a qualification method that divides a borrower’s eligible liquid assets by a set number of months to create a monthly income figure used in the debt-to-income calculation.
Assets-only qualification: a structure with no debt-to-income calculation at all — the borrower simply needs liquid assets equal to the loan amount plus closing costs and any carrying costs on other property.
Depletion divisor: the number of months a lender divides the qualifying asset pool by; a shorter divisor produces a larger monthly income figure and supports a bigger loan.
Net qualifying assets: the asset balance left over after subtracting funds already committed to the down payment, closing costs, and required reserves.
Seasoning (asset seasoning): the length of time an asset has to sit in a documented account before a lender will count it toward qualification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the lender ever take my assets to repay the loan? No. Asset depletion is a qualifying calculation, not a lien or a withdrawal requirement. The borrower keeps full control of the accounts; the lender is only using the balance to estimate repayment capacity under an ability-to-repay standard that non-QM lenders still have to satisfy, since it’s asset verification principles under the ability-to-repay rule that shape how any lender documents this kind of file.
Can I use asset depletion to buy a rental property? Usually not on this program set — asset allowance here is built for primary residences and second homes, capped at 80% loan-to-value. Straight rental purchases generally run through a DSCR structure that qualifies the property’s rent instead.
How much do retirement accounts count for? Retirement balances count at 70% of vested value, rising to 80% once the borrower is 59.5 or older. The discount reflects early-withdrawal penalties, not a judgment about the account.
Is asset depletion only for retirees? No — trade coverage notes it’s used broadly by asset-rich borrowers including business sellers and self-employed borrowers with strong balance sheets but irregular recent income, not retirees exclusively.
What if my rental property’s income doesn’t quite cover the payment? Some lenders in the network will blend liquid assets with the property’s own cash flow rather than replacing income entirely, and sub-1.00 coverage scenarios are available through select lenders, though leverage and terms adjust in that case. That’s a different structure from pure asset depletion and is worth raising as its own question on a specific file.
If you’re weighing whether a primary residence purchase should run through asset depletion or whether a rental purchase belongs on a DSCR track instead, Lendmire can help sort through which structure fits the property, the assets, and the goal — reach the team at 828-256-2183 or request a quote to compare the options side by side.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan programs page.
Self-employed borrowers can compare both super jumbo programs on Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage brokerage focused on DSCR investor financing, helping arrange programs through wholesale and investor-lending channels in 40 markets, including Washington, D.C. DSCR loans are evaluated by the lender on property cash flow rather than personal income, subject to lender guidelines, supporting LLC closings and accommodating investors with four or more financed properties. Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Scotsman Guide — Which Groups Are Driving Non-QM Lending?
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Required disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) operates as a licensed mortgage broker, not a direct lender or depository. The discussion in this article is general in nature and should not be relied upon as financial, legal, or tax advice — every investment scenario is unique and should be reviewed by a qualified professional. Any loan inquiry is subject to lender underwriting, and this article is not a commitment to lend or a guarantee of approval. Mortgage rates, loan terms, and program guidelines vary by borrower, property, and state, and may change without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. Verify licensure at NMLS Consumer Access.
