The Quick Read: A founder who has sold a business can usually still borrow at super jumbo size, but the file has to qualify on assets or recent deposits instead of an operating company’s income. The lender models your liquid, personally held assets as monthly income, or reads twelve months of bank statements if deposits are still flowing. Through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting, the outcome turns on where the proceeds sit, how the assets are classified, and how much is left after the down payment.
- Sale proceeds must be in your own name, documented, and not left in the company account.
- Asset allowance divides eligible liquid assets by 36, 60 or 84 months to produce qualifying income.
- Assets-only skips the income test but needs liquidity equal to the loan plus closing costs.
- A bigger down payment cuts the loan and also shrinks the asset pool.
- Every loan above $4,000,000 is reviewed case by case before submission.
Selling a company usually ends the paycheck and the tax-return income that lenders ask for. It does not end your ability to repay, and the programs below exist for that gap. Lendmire is a mortgage broker that arranges these loans through select wholesale lenders. It does not lend or approve them.
Key Terms Defined
Super jumbo: a market label for loans far above the conforming limit. Orrick’s summary of the FHFA announcement puts the baseline limit at $832,750, rising to $1,249,125 in high-cost areas. No regulation defines “super jumbo,” so each lender draws its own line.
Asset allowance: a method that turns liquid assets into monthly qualifying income by dividing them over a set number of months. Nothing is sold or withdrawn.
Assets-only: a path with no income or debt-to-income test, where liquid assets must cover the loan, closing costs and certain other obligations.
Bank-statement qualification: income measured from twelve or twenty-four months of deposits after an expense ratio.
Seasoning: the time funds sit in your own accounts so a lender can trace where they came from.
Reserves: liquid money left after closing, counted in months of the monthly obligation.
Why Do Lenders Balk After a Sale?
Lenders balk because a sale converts recurring income into a one-time event. A large deposit from an exit looks like a lump, not a pattern. Underwriters ask whether the money is yours, whether it is liquid, and whether it will still be there.
Three things collide after an exit. The business income that used to qualify you stops. The proceeds land in one big deposit that must be sourced. And at super jumbo size, the lender is already reviewing more closely. Big banks and large retail lenders often decline these files because their standard income formulas have nothing to measure, not because the borrower can’t repay.
A decline from one lender says little about the next. Across our wholesale network, programs differ on how they treat assets, how they discount them, and which paths they offer at all.
How Does Underwriting Treat Sale Proceeds, Step by Step?
Underwriting treats proceeds as an asset pool that gets verified, classified, reduced by the deal, and converted to income. Here is the sequence on a typical file.
1. Document the sale. The lender wants the purchase agreement, the settlement statement, and the wire showing funds landing in your personal account.
2. Move proceeds into your own name. Money sitting in the company or a holding entity generally does not count. Business funds never count as eligible assets in the programs we place.
3. Classify the assets. Cash and brokerage accounts count. Retirement accounts count at 70%, or 80% at age 59.5 and older. Gifts, trusts other than a revocable living trust, unvested stock and cryptocurrency do not count.
4. Subtract what the deal uses. The down payment and closing costs come out of the pool before any calculation.
5. Apply the divisor. Eligible assets divided by 36, 60 or 84 months gives monthly qualifying income.
6. Run the standard checks. Credit, reserves, appraisal, title and housing history all still apply.
Programs in our network use a 36-month divisor when the borrower’s debt-to-income ratio before the asset income is at or below 60%. They use a 60-month divisor when that pre-asset ratio is above 60%. An 84-month divisor applies to standalone files or any loan above $3,500,000. The 60% test only picks the divisor. Once the asset income is counted, the qualifying ratio must still fit the 50% ceiling. A longer divisor means less qualifying income from the same assets. Asset allowance is available on primary and second homes only, at a maximum of 80% leverage. Final terms follow the full file review. Leverage, reserves, and pricing vary by lender and program.
Which Qualification Path Fits Your Situation?
The right path depends on whether deposits are still arriving. A founder with consulting income or a new venture reads differently from one with a fully liquidated portfolio and no new income.
| Path | What drives approval | Best fit after a sale |
|---|---|---|
| Asset allowance | Liquid assets divided by 36, 60 or 84 months | Proceeds invested, no steady deposits |
| Assets-only | Liquidity equal to loan plus costs | Large pool, minimal debts to document |
| Bank statements | 12 or 24 months of deposits | Consulting, earnouts, or a new venture paying you |
| Investment property cash flow | Rent covering the payment | A rental purchase, not a residence |
Bank statements suit operating owners and anyone with strong, steady deposits. Transfers from your own business into a personal account count at 100%. Business-account deposits are reduced by an expense ratio. Fixed ratios run 20%, 40% or 50% depending on staffing and whether the business sells a product, or an accountant can supply a ratio.
Asset-based paths suit a fully wound-down business. The two can coexist in one conversation, and a broker who sees many programs can test both before you commit.
Assets-only qualifies with no debt-to-income test when U.S. liquid assets equal the loan amount, plus closing costs, plus sixty months of any net loss on other residential property. It is the cleanest path for someone with a large liquid pool and little else going on.
What Happens to Proceeds That Aren’t Cash Yet?
Deferred proceeds generally don’t count as liquid assets. Seller notes, earnouts, escrow holdbacks and rollover equity are promises or illiquid positions, not settled cash. Treatment varies by program, so confirm it before you plan around them.
Two more points deserve attention:
- Taxes owed on the sale. Money set aside for the tax bill is not usable for the loan. Plan your asset pool after taxes, not before.
- Entity closure. If you dissolved a company or loan-out entity, expect to show final returns or a K-1 and proof of closure. A lumpy dissolution deposit just before application can read as an unsourced large deposit.
Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified tax professional before relying on any particular treatment.
Should You Put More Down or Stay Invested?
Putting more down shrinks the loan but also shrinks the asset base that supports it. That is the double cost of a big down payment under an asset-based path, and it is the central decision for most sellers.
Run it both ways before you decide. A larger down payment lowers the monthly obligation and may improve leverage tiers. A smaller one keeps more of the portfolio invested and preserves reserves. Because qualifying income comes from what is left after the deal, a heavy down payment can lower income and reserves at the same moment.
If your pool is large relative to the loan, a bigger down payment is affordable. If your pool is moderate, keeping more invested usually leaves the file stronger even at lower leverage. The balance is specific to each borrower.
What Changes at Super Jumbo Size?
Above the super-jumbo line, overlays tighten. Through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting, the overlays apply above $3,500,000 on a primary residence and above $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property. They include a 700 credit floor, a 0x30x24 housing history, 48-month seasoning on any credit event, and U.S. citizen or permanent resident status. Non-occupant co-borrowers and rural property are out, and ten acres is the maximum. Cash-out proceeds cannot satisfy reserves.
Sizes run from $300,000 to $30,000,000 across two wholesale programs. 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 ladder, at 65% to $5,000,000, 60% to $10,000,000 and 55% to $30,000,000, with interest-only at 60% or the band’s ceiling, whichever is lower. The bank ladder begins above $4,000,000 and overlaps the portfolio program to $6,000,000.
Here is how primary-residence purchase leverage steps down with size, as ceilings subject to underwriting. The bands are loan amounts, not purchase prices:
| Loan size | Purchase LTV, primary residence |
|---|---|
| $300K to $1M | 90% |
| $1M to $2M | 85% |
| $2M to $3M | 80% |
| $3M to $3.5M | 75% |
| $3.5M to $4M | 75% |
| $4M to $5M | 65% on review, bank ladder |
| $5M to $6M | 60% on review, bank ladder |
Second homes and investment property take their own ladders, so read each figure from the occupancy’s own table rather than adjusting the primary number. Above $4,000,000, every figure is reviewed case by case before submission, so treat the ladder as a starting point.
Credit starts at a 660 floor on the portfolio program, and 700 above the super-jumbo line. The bank portfolio program keeps its own 680 floor. Debt-to-income runs to 50%. Reserves are typically 3 months to $500,000, 6 months to $1,500,000, and 9 months above that. On the portfolio program, cash-out is unlimited at or below 60% LTV, with a $1,500,000 cash-in-hand cap above 60%.
A Worked Example: One Founder, One Purchase
Consider a founder who sold her company and now holds proceeds in a personal brokerage account. She wants a primary residence priced at $3,200,000. Her old business income is gone, and her traditional personal-income documentation shows a transition year that tells the wrong story.
| Step | What the lender does |
|---|---|
| Sale paperwork | Verifies the settlement statement and personal wire |
| Asset review | Counts brokerage cash; excludes unvested stock |
| Deal adjustment | Subtracts down payment and closing costs |
| Divisor | Applies 84 months on a loan above $3,500,000 or a standalone file; otherwise 36 or 60 |
| Standard checks | Credit and reserves, appraisal, housing history |
At that price, the leverage she chooses decides which band the loan falls in. At 75% leverage on a primary-residence purchase, the loan falls in the $2M to $3M band, where the ceiling is 80%. At 80%, the loan still sits in that same band, now at its top cell. Either way, she reads a different band from the one the price alone would suggest, which is why the loan comes first and the band second. Credit at 720 or higher is typically what the top cells at that size need. The reserve test then depends on the pool left over. The lesson is that qualification comes from the post-deal asset position, not the headline balance. If the pool looks thin after the down payment, a modest cut in price or leverage often fixes it.
Where the General Rule Breaks
Several situations bend the usual path. They are worth knowing before you apply.
- You still receive deposits. Consulting fees, transition pay or a new venture can make bank statements the stronger path, since they read actual cash flow.
- The purchase is a rental. Asset-based paths are for primary and second homes. If the property is a rental, rent can carry the loan on a DSCR structure, and the complete DSCR loans guide explains how coverage is measured. An asset-based loan and a DSCR loan both draw on the same pool of liquid assets and reserves, so sequencing matters.
- The sale closed only weeks ago. Fresh proceeds need sourcing and may need seasoning in your personal account. Lendmire’s piece How to Qualify for a Super Jumbo DSCR Loan Right After Selling a Company covers that timing for rental purchases.
- A bank denied you. A denial often reflects excluded income, steeper asset discounts or a stricter formula, not inability to repay.
Non-QM loans also tend to be priced above conventional qualified mortgages, because lenders carry added legal risk and weaker secondary-market liquidity. That is the trade for flexible underwriting.
Common Mistakes That Sink Post-Sale Files
- Leaving proceeds in the company or a holding entity.
- Moving large sums between accounts shortly before applying, with no paper trail.
- Counting unvested stock, crypto or gifts toward the pool.
- Overlooking the tax bill when estimating liquid assets.
- Putting down so much that reserves and qualifying income both fall.
- Treating a bank decline as a verdict.
Neither the asset path nor the bank-statement path is a no-documentation loan. Both qualify on documented income or assets under the applicable program, subject to lender guidelines, and both verify credit, reserves and the property.
Questions to Ask Your Broker or Lender
- Which paths does this program offer for a recent business seller?
- What divisor applies at my loan size, and how does it change at a higher debt-to-income ratio?
- Which of my assets are discounted or excluded?
- Will deferred proceeds, earnouts or holdbacks count toward the pool?
- How are reserves counted if I take cash out?
- Does the leverage tier change if I buy as a second home?
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I qualify if I have no income after selling my company?
Yes, through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting. Asset allowance converts eligible liquid assets into monthly income, and assets-only skips the income test entirely. Credit, reserves, the appraisal and the property still have to qualify.
Do I have to sell my investments to get the loan?
No. Asset qualification is a modeled income stream, not a distribution schedule. Nothing is withdrawn or liquidated, and your portfolio stays invested.
Do proceeds in my company account count?
Not in the programs we place. Business funds never count, so proceeds need to be distributed to you personally and documented. Seasoning in your own account makes the source easier to verify.
Can bank statements work after a sale?
They can if deposits are still arriving from consulting, transition pay or a new venture. A pure wind-down with no incoming deposits points to the asset paths instead.
Does the same approach work for a rental purchase?
Not through the asset paths, which cover primary and second homes. A rental can qualify primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines, and some select lenders in the network will review sub-1.00 coverage with adjusted leverage and terms.
If you are financing a high-balance property after an exit and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare super jumbo options based on your assets, deposits, the property, credit profile, leverage and goals. Consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states, so availability depends on where the property sits.
Whatever the path, the founders who close are the ones whose proceeds are already in their own name, documented, and sized with the down payment in mind.
For current guidelines and terms, see Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan programs page.
Self-employed borrowers can compare both super jumbo programs on Lendmire’s self-employed mortgages page.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349), a non-QM mortgage broker serving investors in 41 markets including Washington, D.C., helps structure DSCR scenarios commonly evaluated around a property’s rental income rather than personal income paperwork, subject to lender guidelines. A Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace in 2025 and 2026, Lendmire places loans through wholesale investor lenders and is not a direct lender.
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References
1. Orrick InfoBytes: FHFA announces conforming loan limit increases
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: Can You Get a Super Jumbo Loan on a Second Home? · How to Qualify for a Super Jumbo Loan With Stock Compensation · How to Document a 40-Year Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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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.