The Quick Read: It depends on the path: on a home you will live in, $1 million of eligible assets either covers the loan outright or becomes qualifying income, while on a rental the property’s rent sets the loan and your assets fund the down payment and reserves, all subject to underwriting. No single price comes from the balance alone. The answer turns on how much of the $1 million gets counted, how much goes into the purchase, and which program fits.
- Asset qualifier path (primary residence or second home): counted assets must equal or exceed the entire loan amount, with up to 80% loan-to-value on a purchase through select programs.
- Asset depletion path: usable assets divided by 60 months become monthly income that must carry the housing payment and your other debts.
- Rental purchase: a DSCR loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines.
- Documents still apply: no income documentation never means no documentation, because the assets are verified with statements.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier loan: a mortgage where eligible assets, after credit percentages, cover the whole loan amount, so no employment or income is documented.
Asset depletion loan: a mortgage where eligible assets, after haircuts, are divided over a set number of months to create a monthly qualifying income.
Haircut: the share of an account’s balance a lender refuses to count, because the money could lose value or carry penalties.
Seasoning: how long funds must sit in your accounts, shown by statements, before a lender counts them.
Debt-to-income (DTI): your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, compared with your monthly qualifying income.
DSCR: the debt service coverage ratio, which is a rental’s monthly rent divided by its full monthly payment of principal, interest, taxes, insurance and association dues.
Reserves: money left after closing that shows you can keep paying if something goes wrong.
Which Path Fits a $1 Million, No-Paycheck Borrower?
The right path depends on what you are buying. A home you will live in, or a second home, uses one of the two asset-based paths. A pure rental uses a DSCR loan. Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, borrowers who hold a large portfolio and little documented income usually sort themselves out on that one question.
Lendmire is a mortgage broker, so it arranges these loans through select lenders rather than lending directly. The figures below are program ceilings and floors through those programs, never offers, and the lender’s own calculation governs.
| Path | Property | Maximum leverage |
|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier | Primary or second home | 80% purchase, 75% refinance |
| Asset depletion | Primary or second home | 80% purchase or rate-and-term, 60% cash-out |
| Asset depletion | Investment property | 65% purchase or rate-and-term, 60% cash-out |
| DSCR | Rental | Set by the program and the rent |
You qualify on one path at a time. The two never blend, and you cannot count the same dollars on both.
How Does the Asset Qualifier Path Work?
On the asset qualifier path, your counted assets must equal or exceed the whole loan. Nothing about employment or income is documented. Through select programs, loans run up to $4,000,000, with a 600 minimum credit score and up to 80% loan-to-value on a purchase of a primary residence or second home.
Each account counts at a set share of its balance. Brokerage accounts, certificates of deposit, money market and savings count at 100%. A 401(k) or IRA counts at 90% if you are under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. Accounts combine.
Here is the illustrative arithmetic. Say you want an $800,000 loan. You hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% counts as $330,000), $300,000 in a 401(k) while under 59½ (90% counts as $270,000) and $200,000 in savings (100% counts as $200,000). That is $800,000 of usable assets, so the file is reviewed on assets alone, subject to underwriting.
Funds need 60 days of seasoning, and the lender wants two months of statements for each qualifying account. Reserves are not required at or below 75% loan-to-value. Above that, the lender sets them.
Now apply this to a flat $1 million. Counted assets cap the loan, and the down payment has to come from somewhere. A lender typically subtracts funds going into the purchase before it counts what remains. Ask how a specific program treats that before you pick a price. A balance of exactly $1 million, fully spent on the purchase, would leave nothing to count.
How Does Asset Depletion Turn $1 Million Into Income?
Asset depletion divides your usable assets by 60 months and treats the result as monthly income. That income then runs through the debt-to-income test against the new housing payment and any other debts. Through select programs, loans range from $125,000 to $3,500,000.
Cash accounts and certificates of deposit count at 100%. Securities count at 80%, private stock at 75%, retirement accounts at 70% at any age, and real-estate equity at 60%. The assets stay invested, because the method counts them without requiring you to sell.
Take the illustrative example. You hold $1,500,000 in securities (80% counts as $1,200,000) and $300,000 in cash (100% counts as $300,000). That is $1,500,000 of usable assets. Divided by 60 months, it produces $25,000 of monthly qualifying income, which then has to carry the payment and other debts.
Several other rules apply on this path:
- Statements must be at least 120 days old at application, plus the most recent statement within 45 days. Sale-of-business, inheritance and legal-settlement funds are excused from that seasoning.
- Minimum qualified assets are the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. When assets are your only income, they must never fall below $250,000 liquid.
- Credit follows the lender’s matrix. A first-time investor on this path needs a 700 score.
- Housing history is 0x30x12. One 30-day late payment in the last twelve months gets a case-by-case look.
- After a housing event, this path requires 4 years of seasoning. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible.
- Asset income can also supplement documented income up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and the minimum-assets rule is waived when it does.
Which Assets Count, and How Much?
The asset type decides how much of each balance counts. Cash is simplest, and market-based and retirement holdings shrink. Read your column of the table, and do not mix the two.
| Asset | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| Savings, money market | 100% | 100% (cash accounts) |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 100% |
| Brokerage accounts | 100% | 80% (securities) |
| Private stock | Not published | 75% |
| 401(k) or IRA | 90% under 59½, 100% after | 70% at any age |
| Real-estate equity | Not published | 60% |
Some holdings do not count on the depletion path at all: 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, borrowed funds and pledged 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. The lender then reviews the source. Cash-out proceeds from a refinance never count as qualifying assets.
The $1 Million Trap: Why Your Balance Is Not Your Budget
A $1 million balance does not produce $1 million of buying power. Three things shrink it before the math starts, and the biggest is that the same dollar cannot do two jobs.
First, the down payment comes out. Money used for the down payment and closing costs cannot also generate qualifying income. Lenders subtract those funds first.
Second, haircuts apply. Securities, retirement accounts and real-estate equity count for less than their balance.
Third, the divisor does the rest. On the depletion path, every dollar of usable assets is spread over 60 months, so each dollar you move into the purchase removes a sixtieth of itself from monthly qualifying income.
Run the numbers on a modeled borrower. These are illustrative assumptions, not a quote, and the lender’s own calculation governs. Say you hold $400,000 in cash and $600,000 in securities.
- Before any purchase, the cash counts at 100% ($400,000) and the securities at 80% ($480,000). That is $880,000 usable, which spread over 60 months translates to a substantial monthly qualifying income.
- Now spend $200,000 of the cash on the down payment and closing costs. Usable assets drop to $680,000, which spread over the same 60 months supports a noticeably smaller monthly qualifying income.
That one decision cut qualifying income by a meaningful amount each month. The size of the home that income supports depends on the new payment, taxes, insurance, association dues and your existing debts, so it is not a fixed multiple of the balance.
The practical answer is to test two or three splits of the same $1 million before you shop. A bigger down payment lowers the loan you need and lowers the income that loan requires, while a smaller one keeps more assets counting. Neither extreme usually wins.
What If You Are Buying a Rental?
For a rental, the $1 million stops being your income and becomes your equity. DSCR loans qualify primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. Assets fund the down payment, closing costs and reserves. They do not raise the maximum loan.
The formula is gross monthly rent divided by the full monthly payment. An appraiser sets the rent through a market-rent schedule, using the single-family form (Form 1007) or the small-income-property form (Form 1025). The loan size is the largest payment the rent can support at the program’s coverage floor.
Programs below 1.00 coverage are available through select lenders in the network, but loan-to-value and terms adjust. Credit is still reviewed, and the file still carries reserves. Loans to an LLC are possible on some programs, subject to program terms.
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. That treatment fits a true rental, and Compliance Alliance explains that it changes if you expect to occupy the property more than 14 days in the coming year. If you will live there, you want one of the asset paths above.
California rents can be thin against high prices, which makes coverage the binding limit. A larger down payment or a lower price fixes a thin ratio.
The $1 million can also spread across several down payments, which one asset-based home loan would consume in a single income calculation. Some investors use the depletion path for a residence and DSCR for rentals. The same dollars still cannot be counted twice.
Why No Income Still Means Documents
“No income” means no documented employment income. It has never meant no paperwork. Under federal ability-to-repay rules, a lender may base its decision on income, on assets other than the home being financed, or both, and must verify whichever it uses with reasonably reliable third-party records, per the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule and its text at Cornell Law.
That is why both asset paths ask for statements, seasoning and a credit review. It is also why these programs are not the old no-income, no-asset loans. Expect an underwriter to look at large deposits and ask where the money came from.
What Does the Price Look Like in California?
California spans very different price tiers, from coastal metros to inland regions, and the same qualifying income buys more house the farther you move from the coast. Condos and townhomes with association dues carry a higher monthly obligation than their price suggests, which matters on a debt-to-income test. Price local listings against the payment, not just the loan amount.
Edge Cases and Who This Isn’t For
Some situations break the simple version of the answer:
- Retirement-heavy portfolios: the qualifier path counts a 401(k) or IRA at 90% under 59½ and 100% after. The depletion path counts it at 70% at any age.
- Thin documentation on your funds: a recent inheritance, business sale or settlement has special seasoning treatment on the depletion path, but it still needs paperwork.
- Cash-out refinances: the depletion path allows 60% on a cash-out for a primary residence, second home or investment property. Whether the qualifier path allows cash-out is set by the lender and is not published.
- Low balances: under the depletion path, you need at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan, and never below $250,000 liquid when assets are your only income.
- Concentrated portfolios: if most of your wealth is private stock or real-estate equity, the haircuts bite harder than they do on cash.
The qualifier path looks cleaner on paper, but it asks the most of your balance sheet. The depletion path asks less of the total and more of the debt-to-income math. For a borrower with several million, the qualifier path may fit. For one with exactly $1 million, the depletion path may leave more room to buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I qualify with $1 million and no job at all?
Yes, through select programs, provided the assets are verified and seasoned. The qualifier path documents no employment or income and rests on counted assets covering the loan. The depletion path turns your assets into income. In both cases, credit and statements are reviewed, and underwriting decides.
Does the depletion path make me sell my investments?
No. Depletion is a way of counting your assets as income, and the assets stay invested. You may still choose to sell some to fund a down payment, and money that leaves your accounts no longer counts.
Does a 401(k) count toward the loan?
Yes, though the percentage differs by path. The qualifier path counts it at 90% under age 59½ and 100% at 59½ or older. The depletion path counts retirement accounts at 70% at any age. Either way, the statements must show the funds as yours.
What if I want to buy a rental instead of a home to live in?
A DSCR loan is the usual fit, because the property’s rent sets the loan size. Your assets fund the down payment and reserves. On the asset depletion path, an investment property is limited to 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out.
Will my credit be checked?
Yes. The qualifier path has a 600 minimum score, and the depletion path follows the lender’s matrix, with 700 for a first-time investor. A recent housing event or multiple bankruptcies can limit eligibility.
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 programs based on your statements, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals. You can reach the team at 828-256-2183.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in California page presents the program for California borrowers.
About Lendmire
Lendmire — NMLS# 2371349 — is a mortgage broker that arranges bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based home financing in 16 states through wholesale lenders, on primary residences, second homes and investment properties. Every option is subject to the lender’s guidelines and full underwriting. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
Get Started
Ready to find the right loan for you?
In about 30 seconds you can review financing options available for your home or investment property. No commitment required.
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. Compliance Alliance, investment properties and business-purpose lending
2. CFPB, ability-to-repay rule, 12 CFR 1026.43
3. Cornell Legal Information Institute, 12 CFR 1026.43
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 Much Does a California Retiree Need in Assets to Buy a Home Without Income? · Can You Relocate to Georgia and Buy a Home on Assets Before You Have Local Income? · Can You Refinance a Michigan Home on Assets When Your Income Stops?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in California
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
Important disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a licensed mortgage brokerage. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or financial advisor. All loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not constitute a commitment to lend. Rates, terms, and program guidelines are subject to change without notice and vary by borrower profile, property type, and state. Information in this article is general in nature and is not financial, legal, or tax advice. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.