The Quick Read: A private bank mortgage fits a founder whose wealth sits in assets already held at that bank. Through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting, both can reach very large balances.
- A private bank reviews your file on the whole relationship: assets held there, deposits, and the bank’s own policy.
- A bank statement loan is reviewed around 12 or 24 months of eligible deposits after an expense ratio, with no banking relationship required.
- Private, illiquid startup equity generally counts as neither income nor assets under either path.
- Through select wholesale programs, loan sizes run from $300,000 to $30,000,000, and every file above $4,000,000 is reviewed case by case before submission.
- Documented does not mean easy. Both paths verify what they rely on, and the deposit path does it line by line.
Here is the honest answer on who each option is for. A private bank is built around you as a client. A bank statement loan is built around your cash flow. It does not care how much you keep at any one institution.
Many founders fit both, and that is why the choice feels hard. This piece lays the two paths side by side so you can see which one matches your situation.
Side-by-Side
The table below shows the private bank column as published industry norms, which vary from bank to bank. The bank statement column reflects the guidelines of select wholesale programs Lendmire places files with, subject to full underwriting.
| Factor | Private Bank Mortgage (industry norms) | Super Jumbo Bank Statement (network) |
|---|---|---|
| Review basis | Relationship, assets, whole-picture review | Eligible deposits after expense ratio |
| Documentation | Often returns, K-1s, P&L, asset statements | 12 or 24 months of consecutive statements |
| Relationship required | Often assets or deposits at that bank | None |
| Business income treatment | Judged from returns and the full file | Expense ratio applied to business deposits |
| Property types | Varies by bank, often primary and second homes | Primary, second home, investment; 1-unit only for second homes |
| Entity vesting | Some banks lend to trusts and LLCs | Varies by program, subject to program terms |
| Review process | Committee-style, relationship-led | Deposit-based, file by file |
| Reserve expectations | Often cumulative across financed properties | 3, 6 or 9 months by loan size |
| Credit | Often prime, bank-set | 660 floor, 680 on bank program, 700 above super-jumbo line |
| Top-end handling | Frequently manual review | Case by case above $4,000,000 |
Key Terms Defined
Private bank mortgage: A jumbo loan a bank usually keeps on its own books, often tied to a wealth-management or deposit relationship.
Bank statement loan: A non-QM mortgage that is reviewed around deposits in your bank accounts instead of tax-return income.
Non-QM: Short for non-qualified mortgage, a loan that follows its own documentation rules rather than the standard qualified-mortgage box.
Super jumbo: A loan size category with no legal definition. Each lender draws its own line, and in the Lendmire network the stricter overlays start above $3,500,000 on a primary residence.
Expense ratio: The share of business deposits treated as the cost of running the business, subtracted before income is counted.
Reserves: Liquid funds you keep after closing, measured in months of the housing payment.
When a Private Bank Mortgage Is the Better Fit
A private bank is the better fit when your wealth is concentrated in assets you are happy to keep at one institution. It also fits when your income documents cleanly and you value one point of contact for everything.
Several situations favor the private bank.
- You already hold significant assets there. The bank values the whole relationship. A file that looks ordinary on paper can get discretionary treatment that no published guideline spells out.
- Your traditional personal-income documentation tells the truth. If your returns show the income you actually earn, you do not need a deposit-based workaround. Large banks tend to do well with clean, fully documented files.
- You want credit for something no guideline recognizes. A wealth-advisor guide from Compound Planning notes that most banks do not count private stock as an asset, though tech-friendly banks may take startup equity in order to win the company’s banking business. That is discretion, not a rule, and it is hard to count on.
- You hold a complex ownership structure. Some private banks lend to trusts, LLCs and partnerships as part of a relationship. Check what your bank allows before you plan around it.
- Pledged-asset structures appeal to you. Borrowing against a portfolio custodied at the bank is mostly a private-bank tool.
The tradeoff is the tie. If the loan is linked to assets under management, leaving later means moving the relationship or refinancing. A refinance is a new loan with full re-underwriting. The old note is paid off at funding, and you can walk away before then.
Entry can also be gated. Private banks often reserve mortgage access for existing clients, and a bank’s committee may weigh reserves, income stability and the source of your assets. You have little visibility into that process until you are inside it.
When a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan Is the Better Fit
A super jumbo bank statement loan is the better fit when deposits show your real earning power and your returns do not. That describes many founders. Write-offs, retained earnings and irregular owner pay can leave a tax return looking thin next to the cash moving through your accounts.
The program reviews your file on documented income under the applicable program, subject to lender guidelines. Here is what that looks like across the wholesale network.
Income paths. You choose 12 or 24 consecutive months of personal or business statements. Business statements require at least 25% ownership. Qualifying income is eligible deposits divided by the number of statement months, after an expense ratio.
Expense ratios. Fixed ratios are 20% for a service business with no employees, 40% for one to five employees, and 50% for six or more employees or any product business. An accountant-provided ratio is another route. A profit-and-loss method, capped at 80%, is also available.
Transfers from your own company. Transfers from your business into your personal account count at 100%. For a founder who pays themselves by transfer, that is a meaningful advantage.
Other qualification paths. Asset allowance divides liquid assets by 36, 60 or 84 months to create income. Assets-only needs liquidity equal to the loan amount plus closing costs, plus sixty months of any net loss on other residential property. Retirement accounts count at 70%, or 80% at age 59½ and older. Business funds, gifts, unvested stock and cryptocurrency never count.
Credit and ratios. The floor is 660 on the portfolio non-QM program and 680 on the bank portfolio program. It is 700 above the super-jumbo line. Debt-to-income runs up to 50%. Reserves are typically 3 months to $500,000, 6 months to $1,500,000, and 9 months above that.
Entity vesting. Whether a trust or LLC can hold title depends on the program, so confirm it before you plan around it.
The loan does not require a banking relationship. Your deposits, credit, reserves and the property drive the file. That makes it portable, and it means the loan stands on its own merits.
How Much Can You Borrow, and at What Leverage?
Size and leverage are where the two paths feel most different. Through select wholesale programs, loan amounts run from $300,000 to $30,000,000. A portfolio non-QM program carries files to $6,000,000. A bank portfolio program carries twelve-month-statement files to $30,000,000 on its own size ladder. That ladder begins above $4,000,000 and overlaps the portfolio program up to $6,000,000.
On a primary residence purchase, leverage steps down as the loan grows. These are ceilings, subject to full underwriting.
- Up to 90% on loans to $1,000,000.
- Up to 85% on loans to $2,000,000.
- Up to 80% on loans to $3,000,000.
- Up to 75% at the top credit tier on loans to $4,000,000.
- Above $4,000,000, case-by-case review before submission. On review, the bank portfolio program’s ladder runs 65% to $5,000,000, 60% to $10,000,000 and 55% to $30,000,000.
Second homes and investment property use their own ladders, which can sit well below the primary-residence figures. A founder buying a second home should read the second-home ladder, not subtract points from the primary figures.
Above $3,500,000 on a primary residence, and $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property, stricter overlays apply. They include a 700 credit floor, a 0x30x24 housing history, and 48-month seasoning on any credit event. They also require U.S. citizen or permanent resident status, with no non-occupant co-borrowers, no rural property and a ten-acre maximum.
On a cash-out refinance, the portfolio program caps cash in hand at $1,500,000 above 60% LTV. Cash-out proceeds cannot be used to satisfy reserves in the super-jumbo overlay. Lendmire’s piece Private Bank Mortgage vs Super Jumbo Bank Statement on Purchase vs Cash-Out covers that decision in detail. Each figure is subject to lender guidelines and a complete review of property type, leverage, and credit.
How the Deposit Math Works for a Founder
Deposit math is simpler than it sounds, but founders trip on it. The lender collects statements, removes what does not count, applies your ownership share and an expense ratio, then divides by the months.
Take a founder with a product business and a 50% expense ratio. Half of the eligible business deposits count toward income. If the same founder pays themselves by transfer into a personal account, those transfers count in full. Which account carries the money can change the answer a lot.
Several kinds of deposits get screened out.
- Transfers between your own accounts.
- Loan proceeds.
- One-time or non-business deposits.
- Investor funds and financing proceeds that are not earnings.
- Unexplained large deposits.
Money left sitting in the company account is a documentation problem, not income. It becomes useful when it moves to you in a way the lender can trace.
The statements must be consecutive, and every page of every account used has to be included. Transaction histories do not substitute. Ownership matters as well, since a founder with a partial stake only counts the matching share of a business account.
Then debt-to-income is tested against the 50% ceiling. For many founders with large existing mortgages, that ratio is the binding limit. It is rarely the deposits.
Four Founder Profiles
The founder with a recent exit. Cash is large, but the company no longer pays them. Asset allowance or assets-only often fits better than deposits. The divisor depends on the file: 36 months supplemental when pre-asset debt-to-income is at or below 60%, 60 months above that, and 84 months for standalone use or any loan above $3,500,000.
The equity-heavy founder with irregular pay. Salary is modest and the valuation is high, but the valuation counts for nothing. Deposits from distributions or owner transfers usually carry the file. A private bank may offer discretion here, though you cannot count on it.
The founder with a young company. The lookback is 12 or 24 months, so a company under two years old may fit the 12-month path. Programs vary on how much self-employment history they want. Confirm before you plan around it.
The founder with several entities. Money moves between accounts, and each movement needs a clean explanation. Ownership share, transfer treatment and the expense ratio all apply entity by entity. Messy flows are a common reason these files slow down.
Where Founder Files Stall
Most stalls trace to the same few causes. Fixing them early helps.
- Deposits that are really transfers. Moving money between your own accounts inflates the numbers, and the lender removes it.
- Financing proceeds in the mix. A funding round is not income.
- An expense ratio that does not match the business. A CPA letter can support a different ratio, subject to lender review.
- Thin reserves. Reserves of 3, 6 or 9 months by loan size are required, plus 2 months per additional financed property up to 12. First-time investors need 12.
- Credit that sits below the leverage you want. A lower score takes a lower leverage cell inside the same band.
- Existing debts that crowd the ratio. Other mortgages count toward debt-to-income.
Does Non-QM Mean Less Paperwork?
No. Non-QM means the documentation follows a different path. It does not mean less verification. For a primary or second home, federal ability-to-repay rules apply to the loan. The CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule requires a reasonable, good-faith determination that you can repay. Cullen and Dykman notes that the general qualified-mortgage update replaced the old 43% debt-to-income cap with a price-based test while keeping the requirement to consider and verify.
Investment property is different. Investor loans for non-owner-occupied rentals are business-purpose loans, which are reviewed differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage. If your next purchase is a rental, Lendmire’s comparison of a super jumbo bank statement loan against a DSCR loan for a founder buying a rental explains when the property’s income can carry the file instead of yours. The complete DSCR loans guide covers the full mechanics.
The Verdict
Stay with the private bank if three things are true. Your assets already live there. Your returns show your income. You value the relationship more than portability.
Choose the bank statement loan if three different things are true. Your deposits show more income than your returns. You want to qualify without moving assets. You want a file judged on its own numbers.
Some founders use both. They keep the banking relationship but place the mortgage elsewhere. Others ask both channels to review the file and compare terms. That comparison is worth the effort for any loan in the multi-million range.
Whichever way you lean, remember that private equity valuations do not count as income in either channel. Liquid assets, clean deposits and documented ownership are the building blocks. Everything above $4,000,000 is reviewed case by case in the network, so treat any figure at that size as a starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch from a private bank to a bank statement loan?
Yes, through a refinance. A refinance is a new loan with full re-underwriting, and the old note is paid off at funding. You can walk away before then. Moving also changes your relationship with the bank, so check whether any pricing tied to assets under management will change.
Does my startup equity count toward qualifying?
Generally no. Private, illiquid equity does not count as income or as a qualifying asset. In the network’s asset paths, unvested stock never counts. If you sell shares, the proceeds can count as liquid assets once they are in your accounts.
How many months of statements should I use?
It depends on which window shows stronger deposits. Programs accept 12 or 24 consecutive months, and the bank portfolio program uses 12. A growing company often looks better on 12 months. A steady one may be fine on either.
What counts as super jumbo?
There is no legal definition, so each lender sets its own line. In the Lendmire network, stricter overlays start above $3,500,000 on a primary residence and $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property. Case-by-case review applies above $4,000,000.
Can I use an LLC or trust to hold title?
It depends on the program. Some private banks lend to trusts, LLCs and partnerships. Wholesale programs vary too, subject to program terms, and a trust other than a revocable living trust does not count toward asset paths.
Next Step
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. Lendmire is a broker, not a lender, and nothing here is a commitment to lend. You can reach the team at 828-256-2183.
Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page presents both super jumbo programs, bank statement and DSCR, side by side.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage brokerage serving self-employed and high-net-worth borrowers in 16 states. Bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based mortgages are arranged through wholesale lending channels; Lendmire brokers the financing and the lender underwrites each application. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Compound Planning, Founder’s Guide to Buying a House
2. CFPB, Regulation Z § 1026.43 (Ability-to-Repay)
3. Cullen and Dykman LLP, General QM Final Rule
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 a 10-Year ARM Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan Works · Full-Doc Jumbo vs Super Jumbo Bank Statement for a Marketplace Seller · How Much a Retirement Account Adds to a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Disclosure information. Lendmire is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage under NMLS# 2371349. Lendmire is not a depository institution, direct lender, or financial advisor — all loans referenced are placed through wholesale lender partners and are subject to each lender's underwriting standards. This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not a commitment to lend, nor does it constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Loan programs, terms, rates, and qualification standards change without notice and depend on borrower profile, property type, and the state in which the subject property is located. Equal Housing Opportunity provider. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.