The Quick Read: The right program depends on how your assets are held and how much cash you want out. Asset-based loans qualify you on documented balances instead of a paycheck, and cash-out is where the rules get tightest. Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, two paths exist, and a borrower is qualified on one at a time.
- Asset qualifier path: eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented.
- Asset depletion path: eligible assets are converted into monthly income, and that income must carry the full housing payment and other debts.
- Cash-out is the strict part. The depletion path publishes 60% maximum leverage on a cash-out. The qualifier path’s cash-out terms are set by the lender and are not published.
- Documentation: Neither path requires tax returns, pay stubs or employment verification. Every file is still fully underwritten, and the assets are documented with statements.
Lendmire is a mortgage broker. It does not lend. It compares select lenders’ asset-based programs against your statements and your goals. Everything below is subject to underwriting.
Who This Fits
This is built for people whose balances are large and whose documented income is not. Think retirees living on a portfolio, someone who just sold a business, an inheritance or settlement recipient, or an early-retired professional.
If you still earn a steady traditional employment income, a conventional cash-out will usually be simpler. If you are self-employed and your deposits tell the story, a bank statement program may fit better. The asset route makes sense when the balance sheet is your strongest document.
What Does the Best Program Depend On?
No single program wins for everyone. The best program for your situation turns on five things:
1. How large your eligible assets are relative to the loan.
2. Whether those assets are in cash, securities or retirement accounts.
3. The property’s use: principal residence, second home or investment property.
4. How much cash you want out.
5. Your credit profile and housing history.
A broker’s value here is shopping. Different lenders in the network set different overlays on cash-out, so the lenders that write your scenario depend on those five inputs. Lendmire matches the file to the program rather than the reverse.
How Does Underwriting Treat Each Path?
Start with the path, because the numbers differ.
Asset qualifier path. The lender counts a percentage of each account. Brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market and savings count at 100%. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% if you are under 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. Accounts combine. The total must cover the whole loan.
Here is an illustration, and the lender’s own calculation governs. Take an $800,000 loan. You hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% counts, so $330,000). You hold $300,000 in a 401(k) while under 59½ (90% counts, so $270,000). You hold $200,000 in savings (100%, so $200,000). That is $800,000 of usable assets, which is reviewed on assets alone.
Credit starts at a 600 minimum score. Seasoning is 60 days, with two months of statements per qualifying account. No reserves are required at or below 75% loan-to-value. Above that, the lender sets them.
Asset depletion path. Here the share that counts is smaller. Cash accounts and certificates of deposit count at 100%. Securities count at 80%. Retirement accounts count at 70% at any age. Real-estate equity counts at 60%. Usable assets are divided by 60 months to produce qualifying income.
Illustration, again governed by the lender’s calculation: $1,500,000 in securities counts at 80%, or $1,200,000. Add $300,000 in cash at 100%. That is $1,500,000 usable. Divided by 60 months, it is $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then carries the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test.
Statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus one statement within 45 days. Funds from a business sale, inheritance or legal settlement are excused from that seasoning.
The Two Paths Side by Side
| Factor | Asset Qualifier | Asset Depletion |
|---|---|---|
| What counts | Assets cover whole loan | Assets become income |
| Loan size | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000–$3,500,000 |
| Refinance leverage | Up to 75% | Higher on rate-and-term |
| Cash-out leverage | Lender-set, not published | 60% |
| Credit | 600 minimum | Lender’s matrix |
| Income documented | None | Derived from assets |
Note the depletion path’s cash-out leverage: 60% on a principal residence or second home, and 60% on an investment property. On a purchase or rate-and-term refinance, the depletion path allows up to 80% on a principal residence or second home and 65% on an investment property. Qualifier-path leverage is up to 80% on a purchase and 75% on a refinance. These are ceilings, not offers.
Why Cash-Out Changes the Math
Cash-out is where most asset-based files get harder, for three reasons.
First, leverage drops. On the depletion path, cash-out sits at 60% against 80% on a rate-and-term refinance for a residence. You reach less equity per dollar of home value.
Second, cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets. If you plan to borrow cash and then use that cash to qualify, it does not work. The lender wants seasoned assets that existed before the loan.
Third, a larger loan raises the bar. On the qualifier path, the whole loan must be covered by eligible assets. On the depletion path, derived income must carry the new, larger housing payment. Test the numbers on the new balance, not your current one.
For the qualifier path, ask any broker directly whether a given lender allows cash-out at all and at what leverage. That answer varies by lender, and the program does not publish a figure.
What Counts, and What Doesn’t
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.
Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles, pledged or borrowed funds, and business accounts beyond your ownership share are not published as eligible on either path. The route is to convert them to cash in a regulated account and season the balance, with the source reviewed by the lender.
Privately held company stock is not an eligible asset on either path. If you own a closely held business, the documented route is a sale or buyout converted into a seasoned cash balance.
Credit and Housing History
The qualifier path starts at a 600 score. The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix of score and loan size, and a first-time investor on that path needs 700. Housing history is typically 0x30x12, though one 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible. A housing event needs 4 years of seasoning on the depletion path.
Large assets do not erase a weak credit file. Credit is a separate gate.
Where the General Rule Breaks
Assets that look big but don’t count. A borrower with $2 million mostly in privately held company stock has nothing usable from that stock, because it is not an eligible asset on either path. Run your usable total first.
Minimum assets on the depletion path. Qualified assets must be at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan, and never below $250,000 liquid when depletion is the only income source. If asset-derived income supplements documented income, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, that minimum is waived.
Investment property. Cash-out against a rental can run on the depletion path at 60%. Rental loans are normally a DSCR question, where qualification rests primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Asset-based is the alternative when the rent is thin or you prefer to document assets instead.
Owner-occupied properties are different. A residence or second home is a consumer mortgage, so the usual consumer disclosures apply. A genuine non-owner-occupied rental is treated differently. Under Regulation Z’s business-purpose exemption, credit to acquire, improve or maintain a non-owner-occupied rental is generally deemed business purpose. That is not a free pass. As a law firm’s regulatory alert points out, business purpose does not mean compliance-exempt, and some states require licensing for loans secured by residential property either way.
Should You Do It? Risks and Alternatives
Pulling cash out while living on a portfolio has a cost. You raise your debt while your income stays fixed. If a market drop lowers the securities backing the file, your cushion shrinks.
Before committing, weigh the alternatives:
- Selling assets to raise the cash may cost less than borrowing, though it may trigger taxes.
- A home equity line may fit a smaller, short-term need.
- A rate-and-term refinance under this program reaches higher leverage if you do not need cash out.
Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional.
For a related scenario, see Lendmire’s piece Best Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Program Without a Current Job or Paycheck.
How the Process Runs
Gather these before you talk to a broker:
1. Two months of statements for each qualifying account (qualifier path), or statements 120 days old plus a recent one (depletion path). 2. Proof of the source for any large recent deposit. 3. A current credit report and your housing history. 4. Property details and an estimate of value. 5. A clear number for how much cash you actually need.
Lendmire reviews these against several programs and presents the fit. The lender then underwrites, and the lender’s decision governs. The asset-based mortgage programs are available through select lenders for consumer mortgage lending in these 16 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier: a path where eligible assets, after credit percentages, equal or exceed the whole loan.
Asset depletion: a path that divides usable assets by 60 months to create qualifying monthly income.
Haircut: the share of an account’s balance a lender does not count.
Seasoning: how long funds must sit in your accounts before they count.
Cash-out refinance: a new loan larger than your payoff, with the difference paid to you.
Rate-and-term refinance: a new loan that replaces the old balance without returning cash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a cash-out refinance with no job?
Yes, through select programs, if your assets qualify. The depletion path allows cash-out at up to 60% leverage, and the qualifier path’s cash-out terms depend on the lender. You document assets, not employment. Every file is fully underwritten, and the lender’s decision governs.
Does privately held company stock count?
No. Your route is documented liquid assets: seasoned proceeds from a sale or conversion, cash, public securities and retirement accounts at the shares that count.
Do retirement accounts count?
Yes, at a reduced share. On the qualifier path, 401(k) and IRA balances count at 90% under 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path they count at 70% at any age.
Can cash-out proceeds be used to qualify?
No. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on the depletion path. The lender looks for seasoned assets that existed before the loan.
Is this a no-documentation loan?
No. There is no traditional personal-income documentation: no pay stubs or employment verification, but assets are documented with statements, and credit, property and title are all reviewed.
If you are weighing a bank statement route instead, see Lendmire’s piece Best Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Program Without a Job and Relying on Liquid Assets.
About Lendmire
Lendmire, NMLS# 2371349, is a mortgage brokerage with consumer lending licenses in 16 states. Bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based mortgages are arranged through wholesale lending partners for borrowers whose tax returns understate their income, and each application is underwritten individually by the lender. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
For the mechanics of pulling equity out of a rental property, see Lendmire’s guide to cash-out refinance on an investment property.
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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 §1026.3, Exempt transactions
2. Hunton Andrews Kurth, Beware of Business Purpose
This article is part of Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Best Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Program at 50% LTV
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
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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.