The Quick Read: Few large retail banks write this loan, and the lenders that do are mostly non-bank lenders reached through a broker that shops several wholesale programs. The right program depends on the borrower’s assets, property, credit profile, and leverage need, not on a bank’s name. Cash-out is the narrow part of the product, and it is set by program and lender.
- Assets can carry the loan in one of two ways: they cover the whole loan outright, or they convert into monthly qualifying income.
- On the asset depletion path, the cash-out refinance limit is 60% loan-to-value on a principal residence, second home, or investment property, subject to underwriting.
- Qualifier-path cash-out terms are set by the lender and are not published, so no figure applies there.
- Privately held company stock is not an eligible asset on either path.
What Is an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance?
An asset-based cash-out refinance replaces your current mortgage with a larger one and pays you the difference, with qualification resting on your balances rather than your paycheck. The file is fully underwritten. Credit, the property, the appraisal, and the assets are all reviewed. What you skip is tax returns, pay stubs, and employment verification.
Two paths exist, and a borrower is reviewed on one at a time.
The asset qualifier path covers the entire loan amount with eligible assets. No employment or income is documented. The asset depletion path divides usable assets by 60 months to create a monthly qualifying income. That income then runs through the debt-to-income test, along with the housing payment and other debts.
Say you hold a large brokerage account and live on distributions. Your taxable income looks small, but your balance sheet is not. These programs read the balance sheet.
Do Banks Offer This? The Lender Categories
Large retail banks rarely build their standard mortgage lines around asset-based qualification. Their products lean on W-2s, tax returns, and debt-to-income math. Asset-based lending sits mostly with non-bank lenders and non-QM programs. Non-QM loans are documented outside agency standards, so Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t buy them and the lender carries the risk.
Here is how the lender types sort out.
| Lender type | How it qualifies you | Fit for limited income |
|---|---|---|
| Large retail bank | Income and DTI | Weak |
| Portfolio lender | Personal income, often recourse | Varies |
| Non-bank wholesale lender | Assets, deposits, or rent | Strong |
| Broker shopping many lenders | Matches file to program | Strongest |
Lendmire is a mortgage broker, not a lender. It places files with select lenders in its wholesale network. A list of bank names would go stale and would not fit your file anyway. What matters is whether a lender’s program matches your assets, property, and leverage need.
How Underwriting Treats the Asset Qualifier Path
On the qualifier path, eligible assets, after the credit percentages, must equal or exceed the whole loan. Leverage runs up to 80% on a purchase and up to 75% on a refinance, with loans up to $4,000,000, through select programs and subject to underwriting. Whether cash-out is allowed on this path, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published.
Here is the share of each balance that counts:
- Brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market, and savings count at 100%.
- Retirement accounts (401(k) and IRA) count at 90% under age 59½ and at 100% from 59½ on.
- Accounts combine.
Seasoning is 60 days, with two months of statements for each qualifying account. Credit starts at a 600 minimum. No reserves are required at or below 75% loan-to-value. Above that, the lender sets them.
Here is the published shape of the arithmetic. An $800,000 loan with $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% counts, so $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) under 59½ (90% counts, so $270,000), and $200,000 in savings (100% counts, so $200,000) shows $800,000 of usable assets. That is reviewed on assets alone. The lender’s own calculation governs.
How Underwriting Treats the Asset Depletion Path
Here assets become income. Usable assets divided by 60 months gives monthly qualifying income, and that income must carry the full housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test.
The shares that count on this path:
- Cash accounts and certificates of deposit count at 100%.
- Securities count at 80%. The 20% that does not count is the haircut.
- Retirement accounts count at 70% at any age. The haircut is 30%.
- Real-estate equity counts at 60%.
The worked example: $1,500,000 in securities (80% counts, so $1,200,000) plus $300,000 in cash (100%) is $1,500,000 usable. Divided by 60 months, that is $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That figure then carries the housing payment and other debts.
Minimums apply. Qualified assets must be at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance, and never below $250,000 liquid when depletion is the only income source. Loan amounts run $125,000 to $3,500,000. Documentation has two parts: statements at least 120 days old at application show the funds have been in place, and the most recent statement must fall within 45 days. Funds from a business sale, inheritance, or legal settlement are excused from that seasoning.
Asset-derived income can also supplement documented income up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived.
Cash-Out Leverage: Where the Limit Bites
Cash-out is the tightest part of this product. On the asset depletion path, a cash-out refinance tops out at 60% loan-to-value on a principal residence, second home, or investment property. Rate-and-term refinances and purchases get more room on that path: up to 80% on a principal residence or second home, and up to 65% on an investment property. These are ceilings, not offers.
Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets. You can’t pull equity and then count that cash toward the minimum.
Investment property is financed only on the depletion path, where the loan is business-purpose. A consumer-purpose cash-out on a home you live in may run through the depletion path, or through the asset qualifier path where the lender allows it. The qualifier path’s cash-out terms are set by the lender and are not published, so no leverage figure applies there. Business-purpose credit is treated differently from a standard owner-occupied mortgage.
Which Assets Do Not Count
Some assets look large and count for nothing. On the depletion path, these are not eligible: custodial accounts, deferred compensation, escrow accounts, foreign funds, cash on hand, stock options, non-vested restricted stock units, and funds from non-regulated financial companies.
Privately held company stock is not an eligible asset on either path. That is the rule. A founder or shareholder’s route is documented liquid assets: seasoned proceeds from a sale or buyout, cash, public securities, and retirement accounts at their shares.
Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, business accounts beyond your ownership share, and pledged or borrowed funds are not published as eligible on either path. Converting them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the source reviewed by the lender, is the documented route.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier: a path where eligible assets cover the whole loan and no income is documented.
Asset depletion: a path that divides usable assets by 60 months to create monthly qualifying income.
Haircut: the part of an asset balance that does not count toward qualifying.
Seasoning: the time funds must sit in an account before they count.
Cash-out refinance: a new, larger mortgage that pays off the old one and returns the difference.
Non-QM: a loan documented outside agency and qualified-mortgage standards.
Where the General Rule Breaks
Business-purpose loans. Credit extended primarily for a business purpose is exempt from the consumer-credit rules, as set out in the CFPB’s Regulation Z exemptions and the eCFR text of 12 CFR 1026.3. That is why a rental can be reviewed differently from a home you live in. Entity-held eligibility depends on program terms.
Consumer-purpose loans. A cash-out on a primary home is a consumer mortgage. The ability-to-repay rule applies, and the assets are how these programs meet it. TRID disclosures apply to this consumer loan.
Young or early-retired borrowers. Retirement accounts count at 90% on the qualifier path before 59½, then 100% after. On the depletion path they count at 70% at any age.
First-time investors. On the depletion path, a first-time investor needs a 700 score. Housing history is 0x30x12, with one 30-day late considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible, and a housing event needs 4 years of seasoning on the depletion path.
Rental-income borrowers. If the property rents well and your assets are thin, rental-income financing is the better fit. Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program is built for the cash-heavy, income-light borrower, not the rent-driven one.
Which Path Fits You?
Start with one question: do your eligible assets equal or exceed the entire loan amount?
- If yes, the qualifier path may fit, and no income is documented.
- If no, but your balances are large, the depletion path turns them into income. Check the $250,000 liquid floor and the 1.25x loan test.
- If your assets are mostly private stock, crypto, or collectibles, plan to convert them to seasoned cash first.
- If you can document income through deposits, a bank statement program may suit you better. That is a different program with different rules.
Retirees, business sellers, inheritance and settlement recipients, early-retired professionals, and households living on a portfolio are the typical fit. The next question is how much cash you need. A 60% ceiling on the depletion path may be lower than you expect, so size the pull before you apply.
For more on the neighboring options, see Lendmire’s piece Best Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Program When Monthly Income Is Limited.
What to Prepare
1. Statements for every account you plan to use. Two months on the qualifier path. On the depletion path, statements at least 120 days old plus one within 45 days.
2. A current mortgage statement and a payoff figure.
3. Credit and housing history, since late payments matter.
4. A paper trail for any sale, inheritance, or settlement funds.
5. For a business sale, proof the proceeds landed in a regulated account.
These files are fully underwritten. The documents are statements and sources of funds rather than tax returns, pay stubs, or employment verification.
Questions to Ask Before You Apply
- Does this program allow cash-out on the path I need?
- What share of each account counts, and which accounts are excluded?
- Which path does it use, qualifier or depletion?
- What are the seasoning rules for my funds?
- Do my balances meet the minimum-asset tests?
A broker shopping multiple wholesale lenders can compare these answers across programs. Terms change, and every file is underwritten individually.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do big banks offer this loan?
Few do as a standard product. Asset-based qualification sits mostly with non-bank wholesale lenders, and a broker can match your file to the programs that write it.
Can I pull cash out on the asset qualifier path?
Whether cash-out is allowed there, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published. The depletion path publishes a 60% cash-out ceiling on a principal residence, second home, or investment property, subject to underwriting. Exact terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, property type, leverage, and a full review of the borrower’s file.
Does my private company stock count?
No. Sale proceeds that have seasoned as cash do count.
Is there any income documentation?
Not tax returns, pay stubs, or employment verification. The assets are fully documented with statements, and every file is underwritten.
Can I count the cash-out proceeds toward my assets?
No. On the depletion path, cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets.
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. Reach the team at 828-256-2183. Consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states, programs are placed through select lenders, and nothing here is a commitment to lend.
For how equity extraction works on an investment property, see Lendmire’s guide to cash-out refinance on an investment property.
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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Informational only. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
References
1. CFPB, Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.3 exemptions
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Banks That Offer an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance With Liquid Assets Instead of Income · Banks That Offer an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance to Build an Addition or ADU · Can You Get Approved for an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance With No Income Verification?
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.