The Quick Read: The asset qualifier path lets vested stock, cash and savings cover the entire loan with no income documented, while the asset depletion path turns those assets into monthly income that can stand alone or supplement your salary, so you pick qualifier when assets exceed the loan and depletion when salary and portfolio must work together. Both are consumer mortgages for a home you will live in or use as a second home. Depletion is the only one of the two that reaches investment property.
- Qualifier path: eligible assets, after credit percentages, must equal or exceed the whole loan. No employment or income is documented.
- Depletion path: usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying income, which runs through the debt-to-income test (DTI, your monthly debts as a share of income).
- Tech angle: vested shares in a brokerage account count. Unvested restricted stock units (RSUs, shares your employer grants over a vesting schedule) do not.
- Rental purchase: a pure rental usually belongs on a DSCR loan, where the property’s rent drives lender review.
- One path at a time: a borrower is reviewed on one path, never a blend of the two.
Here is the honest answer. A tech employee with a big vested portfolio and a modest loan should look at the qualifier path first. A tech employee whose salary carries part of the load, or who wants an investment property, should look at depletion. Everything below shows how to tell which one you are.
Side-by-Side
The two paths share a name family and a lot of paperwork, but they test different things. Across Lendmire’s wholesale network, the figures below are typical ceilings and floors, subject to underwriting and through select programs. They are not offers.
| Factor | Asset Qualifier | Asset Depletion |
|---|---|---|
| Review basis | Assets cover the entire loan | Assets become monthly income |
| Income or DTI test | None documented | Derived income runs through DTI |
| Property types | Principal residence, second home | Also investment property |
| Purchase leverage | Up to 80% LTV | Up to 80% (residence), 65% (investment) |
| Loan amounts | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Reserves | None at or below 75% LTV | No published months |
| Seasoning | 60 days, two months of statements | Statements 120+ days old plus one within 45 days |
| Credit | 600 minimum score | The lender’s score and loan-amount matrix |
| Vesting | Individual borrower | Individual borrower |
Entity vesting (holding title in an LLC) is a DSCR feature, not an asset-program feature. Both asset paths are personal consumer loans, and any entity vesting depends on program terms.
Two terms need a plain definition. LTV is loan-to-value: the loan as a percentage of the property’s value. Seasoning is how long money must sit in an account before a lender counts it.
What Counts When Your Pay Is Stock
Tech compensation creates an odd profile. Your salary may look ordinary on paper while your net worth sits in employer shares. The two paths treat those shares differently.
On the qualifier path, brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market and savings all count at 100%. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% if you are under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. Accounts combine, so vested shares in one brokerage account can sit next to cash in another.
On the depletion path, a haircut (a discount on volatile or restricted assets) applies to each type:
- Cash accounts and CDs: 100%
- Securities: 80%
- Private stock: 75%
- Retirement accounts: 70% at any age
- Real-estate equity: 60%
Stock options and non-vested RSUs are not eligible on the depletion path. The reason is simple. Shares you do not yet own are not your assets. They become yours on vesting, and only then do they show up as a balance.
Other holdings, such as crypto, precious metals and collectibles, are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is converting them to cash in a regulated account and letting the source be reviewed.
Funds meant for your down payment also cannot count twice. CFS Review’s coverage of the ability-to-repay guidance notes that a down payment is not treated as an asset for repayment purposes. Lenders subtract it before measuring what is left.
When Asset Qualifier Is the Better Fit
Qualifier fits when your liquid assets exceed the full loan amount after the credit percentages. It asks one question: do your seasoned balances equal or exceed the loan?
Take an $800,000 loan. Say you hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts (counted at 100%, so $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) while under 59½ (counted at 90%, so $270,000) and $200,000 in savings (100%, so $200,000). That counts $800,000 of usable assets and is reviewed on assets alone. Treat this as illustrative only, because the lender’s own calculation governs.
A few situations point toward qualifier:
- Post-IPO or post-vest wealth. You have sold or vested enough stock that the pile in your accounts is larger than the mortgage.
- Variable pay. Your income swings with bonuses and vesting schedules, and you would rather not argue about it.
- Higher leverage. Qualifier allows up to 80% LTV on a purchase and 75% on a refinance, on a principal residence or second home.
- Larger loans. The ceiling reaches $4,000,000, above the depletion path’s range.
- No reserve burden. No reserves are required at or below 75% LTV. Above that, the lender sets them. The exact numbers vary by lender and program and follow a full review of property, leverage, and credit.
The tradeoffs are real. You need the entire loan amount in countable assets, which is a high bar. The 60-day seasoning clock applies to every qualifying account, and two months of statements per account are required. The minimum credit score is 600, and a housing event such as a foreclosure needs the program’s own seasoning.
Documentation is lighter, but it is not zero. Your assets are documented in full. The only thing skipped is employment and income documentation.
The lender still reviews ability to repay on the strength of those assets. Cornell’s text of the Regulation Z commentary says a creditor may base that review on income, on assets other than the collateral, or on both. It also says the value of the home securing the loan does not count as evidence of repayment. So the equity in the house you are buying never helps you qualify.
When Asset Depletion Is the Better Fit
Depletion fits when your assets are large but smaller than the loan, or when you want assets to supplement salary. It answers a different question: what income would this portfolio support over 60 months?
Here is the sanctioned example. You hold $1,500,000 in securities, counted at 80%, so $1,200,000, plus $300,000 in cash at 100%. That is $1,500,000 of usable assets. Divided by 60 months, that is $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then carries the housing payment and your other debts through the DTI test. The lender’s own calculation governs, and this is illustration only.
Depletion suits several tech-employee situations:
- Salary plus portfolio. Asset-derived income may supplement documented income up to a 45% DTI. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived. For a W-2 employee whose salary almost qualifies, this is the practical blend.
- Investment property. Depletion is the only asset path that allows it, at up to 65% LTV on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out.
- Smaller loans. Loans start at $125,000.
- Cash-out refinance. Leverage is 60% on a principal residence or second home. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets. Final terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, and the borrower’s complete credit picture.
The costs of depletion are also real. Haircuts shrink the pool: a retirement account counts at 70% at any age, against 90% to 100% on the qualifier path. Minimum assets are the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan, and never below $250,000 liquid when depletion is your only income source. A first-time investor on this path needs a 700 score. A housing event needs 4 years of seasoning. Statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus a recent one within 45 days. Sale-of-business, inheritance and legal-settlement funds are excused from that seasoning, but most RSU-driven wealth is not.
Your debts matter here too. Because depletion runs through DTI, car loans, student loans and other mortgages reduce what the derived income can carry. Qualifier does not test DTI the same way, since no income is documented.
Why a Big Portfolio Does Not Always Win
The same assets produce very different results on the two paths. On the qualifier path, a dollar of brokerage balance counts in full against the loan. On the depletion path, the same dollar is discounted and then spread over 60 months, so it looks small as monthly income.
A portfolio that comfortably covers a modest loan on the qualifier path can fall short of the depletion path’s minimum assets. Likewise, a portfolio too small to cover a large loan outright may still generate enough monthly income to carry it. Run both before you assume one is stronger.
Concentration is a separate question. Many tech employees hold most of their wealth in one stock. The published percentages above do not spell out how a lender treats a heavily concentrated position, so ask what overlay applies before you build a plan around it. A big drop in that stock between statements can also change the pool the lender counts. Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional before selling shares to build seasoned cash.
What About Buying a Rental?
If the property is a rental, compare the third path before choosing between these two. A DSCR loan (debt service coverage ratio) divides the property’s rent by its full monthly obligation. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties. Because they are business-purpose investor loans, they are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. The loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines, so your stock stays out of the qualification test.
Your assets still matter on a DSCR file. They show up mainly as cash to close and reserves. Select lenders in the network will review coverage below 1.00, with LTV and terms adjusting. Entity vesting, such as an LLC, is typically available, subject to program terms.
Depletion can finance a rental in your personal name, but it ties the loan to your personal DTI. That becomes a ceiling if you plan to add several rentals. The complete DSCR loans guide walks through how the rental-based path works.
If your wealth sits in a company you founded rather than employer stock, the tradeoffs shift again. Lendmire’s piece Bank Statement Loan vs. Asset Depletion Loan for Tech Founders covers that profile.
A Practical Way to Choose
Work through these in order:
1. Is it a rental? Look at DSCR first. Depletion is the only asset path left if you want personal-name financing.
2. Do countable assets exceed the loan? If yes, price out qualifier. If no, move on.
3. Does your salary help? If salary plus derived income clears the 45% DTI limit, depletion with supplemental income may work.
4. Is your wealth vested and seasoned? Unvested RSUs help neither path. Shares need to be in a regulated account, and statements must meet the seasoning rules.
5. How much leverage do you need? On a principal residence or second home, qualifier tops out at 80% on a purchase and 75% on a refinance. Depletion goes to 80% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance.
Moving money around within the last 60 days and breaking seasoning is a common mistake on tech files.
The Verdict
Neither path is better in the abstract. The qualifier path is the cleaner tool when your seasoned, vested assets exceed the loan: it skips income testing and supports higher loan amounts. The depletion path is the more flexible tool when assets and salary need to work together, when the loan is larger than your countable assets, or when the property is an investment.
For most tech employees, the deciding variable is how much of the wealth is vested and sitting in a regulated account today. Unvested equity does not help either path, and a pure rental usually belongs on DSCR.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to sell my shares to use either path?
No. On the depletion path, assets are converted into qualifying income on paper, and you keep them. On the qualifier path, shares count as a brokerage balance while they stay in the account. Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional before any sale.
Do unvested RSUs or stock options count?
No. Stock options and non-vested RSUs are not eligible on the depletion path, and unvested shares are not a balance you own on the qualifier path either. Once shares vest and sit in a brokerage account, they count at the percentages for that path.
Can I combine my salary with asset income?
On the depletion path, yes. Asset-derived income may supplement documented income up to a 45% DTI, and the minimum-assets rule is waived when it does. On the qualifier path, no income is documented, so there is nothing to combine.
Can I use these paths for a rental property?
Only the depletion path allows investment property, at up to 65% LTV on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. Most pure rental purchases fit a DSCR loan better, since the property’s rent drives lender review. Each figure is subject to lender guidelines and a complete review of property type, leverage, and credit.
Are the two names used the same way everywhere?
No. Lenders use asset qualifier, asset depletion and asset utilization loosely. Ask any lender whether the program tests assets against the whole loan or converts them to income.
Next Step
If you are qualifying on assets rather than income and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare asset-based mortgage options based on your statements, the property, credit profile, leverage and your goals. Lendmire is a broker that arranges these consumer mortgages in 16 states through select lenders in its network. Every file is underwritten individually, and nothing here is a commitment to lend.
About Lendmire
Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage (NMLS# 2371349) licensed for consumer mortgage lending in 16 states, arranging bank statement and other alternative-documentation mortgages — P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based paths — through a wholesale lending network. Eligibility is determined by the lender on each file. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. CFS Review, down payments and non-QM ability to repay
2. Cornell LII, 12 CFR Part 1026, Supplement I
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: How Asset Depletion Income Is Calculated From Your Portfolio · How Big Can an Asset Depletion Jumbo Loan Be? · How an Asset Depletion Mortgage Works
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Important disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage brokerage. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or financial advisor. All loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not constitute a commitment to lend. Rates, terms, and program guidelines are subject to change without notice and vary by borrower profile, property type, and state. Information in this article is general in nature and is not financial, legal, or tax advice. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.