The Quick Read: Usually there is no fixed savings minimum, because the asset qualifier path requires eligible assets, after the credit percentages, to equal or exceed the entire loan amount, while the asset depletion path sets a floor of the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan, and never below $250,000 liquid when assets are the only income source. Savings are not a separate bucket with its own number. Cash simply counts at full value, which makes it the most efficient asset you can hold. All figures below are typical ceilings and floors through select programs, subject to underwriting.
- On the asset qualifier path, usable assets must cover the whole loan, and savings, money market, CDs and brokerage accounts all count at 100%.
- On the asset depletion path, usable assets are divided by 60 months to create qualifying income, and cash counts at 100% while securities count at 80%.
- Retirement money counts at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older on the qualifier path, and at 70% at any age on the depletion path.
- Nothing is sold or withdrawn. The assets are documented, not spent.
- A borrower is reviewed on one path at a time, so never mix the two sets of numbers.
Two Paths, Two Different Answers
The question sounds simple, but it has two answers because Lendmire’s network offers two different asset-based structures. Lendmire is a mortgage broker, and it places these loans through select lenders in its wholesale network. Consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states.
The asset qualifier path asks one question: do your eligible assets cover the entire loan? If they do, no employment or income is documented. The asset depletion path asks a different one. It converts your usable assets into monthly income, and that income must carry the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test.
| Factor | Asset qualifier | Asset depletion |
|---|---|---|
| Core test | Usable assets ≥ whole loan | Assets ÷ 60 months = income |
| Purchase leverage | Up to 80% | 80% primary/second; 65% investment |
| Refinance leverage | Up to 75% | 80% rate-and-term; 60% cash-out |
| Loan size | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Minimum score | 600 | The lender’s matrix |
| Savings floor | Assets must equal the loan | Lesser of $1M or 1.25x loan |
The qualifier-path leverage applies to a principal residence or second home. On the depletion path, 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out apply to an investment property. The 80% purchase and rate-and-term figure and the 60% cash-out figure apply to a principal residence or second home. Terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, the leverage, and a full review of the credit profile.
Terminology is messy across the industry. Accredited Real Estate Schools notes that asset-based, asset depletion and asset qualifier are often used as overlapping names, and lenders sometimes attach different rules to each label. Always ask which structure a program actually uses before you compare numbers.
What Counts as Cash in Savings?
Cash is the best-treated asset on both paths. Savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit count at 100% of the balance. Here is how the full list looks, path by path.
| Asset type | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| Savings / cash accounts | 100% | 100% |
| Money market | 100% | 100% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 100% |
| Brokerage / securities | 100% | 80% |
| Retirement (401(k), IRA) | 90% under 59½; 100% at 59½+ | 70% at any age |
| Private stock | Not published | 75% |
| Real-estate equity | Not published | 60% |
Accounts combine, so a balance spread across several institutions adds up. You do not need all your money in one place.
Several things do not count. On the depletion path, 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 are not eligible. Cryptocurrency, precious metals, collectibles and pledged or borrowed funds are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is to convert them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the source reviewed by the lender.
Retirement balances raise one more issue. Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional before you move or draw on any retirement account.
Run the Numbers: Two Illustrations
These are illustrations only. The lender’s own calculation governs, and every file is underwritten individually.
Qualifier path. Picture a borrower seeking an $800,000 loan on a purchase. The borrower holds $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% counts, so $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) at age 55 (90% counts, so $270,000) and $200,000 in savings (100% counts, so $200,000). Usable assets total $800,000, which equals the loan, so the borrower is reviewed on assets alone, subject to underwriting.
Notice what happened. The savings were only a quarter of the pool, yet the file worked. Cash was never required to be a set share of the total. The question is whether the sum after credit percentages reaches the loan amount.
Depletion path. Now consider a borrower with $1,500,000 in securities and $300,000 in cash. Securities count at 80%, which is $1,200,000, and cash counts at 100%, which is $300,000. That makes $1,500,000 of usable assets. Divide by 60 months and you get $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income then has to carry the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test.
Here a longer divisor would shrink the income from the same pool, which is why the divisor drives results more than almost any other input. The 60-month divisor is the one used on this path in Lendmire’s network. Lenders use different divisors, and comparing a different program’s income figure against this one tells you nothing.
Working Backward From the Loan
Most borrowers start with a house, not a balance sheet. So reverse the math.
On the qualifier path, a purchase at 80% loan-to-value needs usable assets equal to 80% of the price. A refinance at 75% loan-to-value on a principal residence or second home needs usable assets equal to 75% of the value. That is the whole formula, and it is why a borrower with a large cash position and modest income can still reach a large loan.
Then adjust for the haircuts. Each retirement dollar under age 59½ counts as ninety cents. A borrower short of the target can see which account types are dragging the total down.
On the depletion path, work in three steps. First, check the asset minimum: at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. Second, confirm at least $250,000 sits in liquid form if assets are your only income source. Third, test whether usable assets divided by 60 produce enough income for the payment and your other debts. The third step is usually the tightest, because the debt-to-income test is the binding constraint for most borrowers.
When asset-derived income only supplements documented income, the rules relax. It may supplement documented income up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and in that case the minimum-assets rule is waived.
Seasoning and Sourcing: How Long the Money Must Sit
The assets are documented on both paths. Dropping income documentation never means dropping documentation altogether.
On the qualifier path, funds need 60 days of seasoning, and each qualifying account needs two months of statements. On the depletion path, statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement within 45 days. Funds from the sale of a business, an inheritance or a legal settlement are excused from that seasoning on the depletion path.
Practical consequences follow:
- Moving money between your own accounts just before you apply can reset the clock on those funds.
- Large new deposits will draw questions. Keep a paper trail showing where each one came from.
- Gift money and borrowed funds do not count as qualifying assets.
- If you are selling a business or collecting a settlement, ask how that cash is treated before it moves.
The reason lenders insist on this is simple. The CFPB’s ability-to-repay compliance guide lists eight factors a lender must consider, and one is the borrower’s income or assets, excluding the value of the home securing the loan. Assets can stand in for income, but they have to be verified like anything else.
If Your Savings Fall Short
A gap is not a dead end. Walk through these options in order.
1. Check the account mix. Moving funds from a retirement account to cash on the depletion path changes how they count, since retirement counts at 70% and cash at 100%. Weigh that against the cost of the move before you act.
2. Let funds season. If money arrived recently, waiting out the 60-day or 120-day window may be all that stands between you and approval.
3. Lower the loan. A larger down payment shrinks the loan the assets must cover. Just remember that the same dollar cannot do double duty, so plan the down payment and the qualifying pool together and ask the lender how funds to close are treated.
4. Switch paths. A borrower who falls short of the full-loan test may fit the income-conversion test, or the reverse. Lendmire’s piece How Much Down Payment Does an Asset Qualifier Mortgage Need? covers how the down payment interacts with the qualifying pool.
5. Consider a different program. Some borrowers belong in a different product altogether, as a later section explains.
Common Mistakes
Double-counting is the first one. Money used for the down payment cannot also be the cushion that qualifies you. Count each dollar once.
The second is assuming every balance counts at face value. Retirement accounts and securities are discounted, and home equity does not count on the qualifier path at all.
The third is believing you must drain the account. Nothing is liquidated. Statementsready describes the calculation as a qualifying convention, not a withdrawal plan, and that matches how the programs work. Lendmire’s piece Do You Have to Liquidate Assets to Reserve an Asset Qualifier Mortgage? goes deeper on that point.
The fourth is mixing up the two paths. A borrower reads a depletion-path haircut, applies it to a qualifier-path file and miscounts by thousands. Name the path every time you run a number.
Investors: Where Asset-Based Fits and Where DSCR Does
Pay attention to occupancy here. The asset qualifier path covers principal residences and second homes. Investment property appears only on the asset depletion path, at up to 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out refinance.
For a pure rental purchase, many investors move to a different product. 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. A DSCR loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines, so a large savings balance matters less than the rent. The reasoning behind that split is in the Federal Register’s ability-to-repay rule, which treats business-purpose loans as outside its scope. Compliance Alliance adds that the test turns on the loan’s purpose, not just the property type.
So who should use asset-based qualification? Think of retirees living on a portfolio, someone who just sold a business, an heir, a settlement recipient or an early-retired professional. Their balances are large and their documented income is not. For a deeper look at the rent-based alternative, see the complete DSCR loans guide.
If the home or rental has a cash-out component, remember that cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on the depletion path.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier: a path where eligible assets, after credit percentages, must equal or exceed the entire loan amount.
Asset depletion: a path that divides usable assets by 60 months to create monthly qualifying income.
Usable assets: the balances left after each account type’s credit percentage is applied.
Seasoning: the length of time funds must sit in an account before they count.
Haircut: the discount a lender applies to an asset, such as 80% credit for securities on the depletion path.
Debt-to-income (DTI): monthly debts compared with monthly income, which on the depletion path includes the derived income.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to withdraw my savings to qualify?
No. The assets are documented, not spent. Both paths treat the balance as a qualifying figure, and the money stays in your account. Statements prove it exists and has been yours long enough, subject to underwriting.
Does cash count at full value?
Yes, on both paths. Savings, money market accounts and CDs count at 100%. Securities count at 100% on the qualifier path and 80% on the depletion path, so cash is the simplest asset to count.
Can retirement funds fill the gap?
Often, with a discount. On the qualifier path, 401(k) and IRA balances count at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. On the depletion path, they count at 70% at any age.
Do I need other income or a job?
Not on the qualifier path, where no employment or income is documented. On the depletion path, derived income may stand alone or supplement documented income up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. A credit score still applies: 600 on the qualifier path and the lender’s matrix on the depletion path.
Is there a reserve requirement on top of the assets?
On the qualifier path, none is required at or below 75% loan-to-value, and above that the lender sets them. The depletion path has no published reserve months, but its minimum-assets and liquidity rules do the same work. The exact numbers vary by lender and program and follow a full review of property, leverage, and credit.
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. Programs change, and every file is reviewed individually. This is not a commitment to lend.
About Lendmire
As a mortgage broker (NMLS# 2371349), Lendmire helps self-employed and high-net-worth borrowers in 16 states qualify on bank statements, a profit-and-loss statement, 1099s or liquid assets instead of tax returns, through wholesale lenders. Lendmire is never the lender; program terms are set by the lender and its guidelines. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Accredited Real Estate Schools
2. CFPB ATR/QM Small Entity Compliance Guide
3. Statementsready – Asset Depletion Loan
4. Federal Register – Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Standards
5. Compliance Alliance – Regulation Z and Investment Properties
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 Qualifier Income Is Calculated for a Jumbo Mortgage · How to Qualify for an Asset Qualifier Jumbo Loan · Asset Qualifier Mortgage vs Bank Statement Mortgage
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
- North Carolina Real Estate Broker · License# 343312 · Verify on NCREC
- North Carolina Insurance Producer · License# 19053198 · Property, Casualty, Life, Health · Verify on NAIC SBS
- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Disclosures. The information presented in this article is general market commentary, not financial, legal, or tax advice. Lendmire is a mortgage brokerage (NMLS# 2371349) — not a direct lender or depository institution — and loan placement is subject to lender underwriting. Nothing in this content represents a commitment to lend. Loan terms, pricing, and program availability vary based on borrower qualifications, property characteristics, and state of subject property, and are subject to change at any time. Lendmire complies with Equal Housing Opportunity requirements. Consumer access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.