The Quick Read: Lenders test documented liquid balances rather than contract income. They choose either an asset qualifier path, where eligible assets cover the whole loan, or an asset depletion path, where assets become monthly income. Leverage, credit, seasoning and property tests then apply, all subject to underwriting.
- Qualification runs on statements, not on a contract, a signing-bonus letter or tax returns.
- The qualifier path counts assets against the entire loan. The depletion path divides usable assets by 60 months to create income.
- On the depletion path, cash-out leverage tops out at 60%.
- Future contract payments, escrowed money and borrowed funds are not assets in this underwriting.
- A borrower is qualified on one path at a time, so each path keeps its own rules.
This is mortgage underwriting on a home or property. It is not a contract advance, which is a loan against future pay. Every file is fully underwritten, with no traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification, and programs change. Nothing here is a commitment to lend.
What Is an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance?
It is a refinance that replaces your current mortgage with a larger one and pays you the difference, qualified on what you own rather than what you earn. For an athlete with a large balance sheet and pay that arrives in lumps, that fits better than a paycheck test.
“Asset-based” can mean two things, and the difference matters for how a file is built. On the asset qualifier path, your eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented. On the asset depletion path, the lender converts usable assets into a monthly income figure and runs it through the debt-to-income test.
Lendmire is a mortgage broker. It places these files with select lenders in its wholesale network and does not lend itself. Across that network, the first underwriting question is always which path the borrower fits.
Why Does Athlete Income Break Standard Underwriting?
Standard underwriting wants a steady, two-year income pattern. An athlete’s pay is large but lumpy. Signing bonuses arrive once. Contract years end. Guaranteed money is paid on a schedule. Endorsements and loan-out company income move around.
None of that is wrong. It just does not fit a pay-stub test. An asset file sidesteps the problem. The underwriter looks at the cash, securities and retirement balances already sitting in regulated accounts. Career events such as injury, release or a trade do not change a seasoned brokerage balance.
The tradeoff is that the athlete needs liquid wealth outside the contract. A big contract with no savings behind it does not qualify on either path.
The Two Paths Side by Side
Pick the path first. Everything else follows from it.
| Factor | Asset qualifier path | Asset depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| What is tested | Eligible assets vs. whole loan | Usable assets ÷ 60 months as income |
| Income documented | None | Derived income, run through DTI |
| Rate-and-term refinance leverage | Up to 75% (refinance) | 80% on a principal residence or second home; 65% on an investment property |
| Cash-out leverage | Set by lender, not published | 60% on all property types |
| Loan amounts | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Fits the athlete who | Holds assets larger than the loan | Needs income to carry the payment |
All figures are program ceilings and floors, available through select programs and subject to underwriting. The qualifier path’s 75% applies to refinances on a principal residence or second home. On the depletion path, cash-out is 60% on all three property types.
How Do Underwriters Work the File, Step by Step?
The order is consistent across the programs the network places.
1. Choose the path. If assets cover the loan outright, the qualifier path fits. If they do not, or you need income to carry the payment, the depletion path is the route.
2. Document the assets. The qualifier path wants 60 days of seasoning and two months of statements for each qualifying account. The depletion path wants statements 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 on the depletion path.
3. Apply the asset percentages. Each asset class counts at a set share of its balance (see the next section).
4. Set the leverage limit. The property value and loan purpose cap the loan size. On a depletion-path cash-out, that cap is 60%.
5. Run the main test. On the qualifier path, usable assets must cover the whole loan. On the depletion path, the 60-month income must carry the housing payment and other debts.
6. Check credit and housing history. The qualifier path publishes a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix. A first-time investor on the depletion path needs 700. Housing history is 0x30x12, and one 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case.
7. Review the property. An appraisal sets value, title is cleared and insurance is confirmed.
Which Athlete Assets Count, and How Much?
Each path uses its own percentages, so each table below is labeled with the path it covers. Never mix them on one file.
Asset qualifier path: share of the balance that counts.
| Asset | Counts at |
|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts | 100% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% |
| Money market | 100% |
| Savings | 100% |
| 401(k) / IRA, under 59½ | 90% |
| 401(k) / IRA, 59½ or older | 100% |
Asset depletion path: share of the balance that counts.
| Asset | Counts at |
|---|---|
| Cash accounts | 100% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% |
| Securities | 80% |
| Retirement accounts | 70% at any age |
| Real-estate equity | 60% |
Accounts combine. The haircut is the part that does not count: on the depletion path, 20% of securities and 30% of retirement accounts.
Athlete-specific points that come up on files:
- Signing bonus. Once it sits in a regulated account and has seasoned, it is cash. Taxes withheld and agent or manager fees come off before it lands, so the statement balance is what counts.
- Guaranteed contract money. Payments not yet received are not assets. Money held in an escrow account is not eligible on the depletion path.
- Business-manager accounts. Funds count when they are in your name in a regulated account and the statements show them. Business accounts beyond your ownership share are not published as eligible.
- Deferred compensation, stock options and non-vested restricted stock units. Not eligible on the depletion path.
- Privately held company stock. Not eligible on either path. If you hold closely held shares, the route is a documented sale or buyout converted to a seasoned cash balance.
- Contract advances and other borrowed funds. Pledged or borrowed money does not count. Loan proceeds are debt, not savings.
- Cryptocurrency, precious metals and collectibles. Not published as eligible on either path. The route is converting them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account, with the source reviewed by the lender.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs page lays out both paths in more detail.
How Is the Cash-Out Part Treated?
This is the rule that trips up files built around the idea that the cash received can prove the loan. It cannot. The assets that qualify you have to exist before the refinance and stay in place through it.
Leverage is tighter on a cash-out than on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance. On the depletion path, 60% is the cash-out ceiling whether the property is a principal residence, second home or investment property. On the qualifier path, whether cash-out is allowed, and at what leverage, is set by the lender and is not published. Confirm the lender before you build around a number.
Your existing mortgage is paid off at closing. A home equity line or other lien on the property also has to be resolved, and the payoff figure drives how much cash is left.
One more point on investment property. The Federal Register records the CFPB treating investment-purpose loans as business-purpose loans, and the CFPB’s Truth in Lending overview lists business-purpose credit as exempt from Regulation Z. That label does not loosen the file. Assets, credit and the property are still reviewed in full.
A Worked Example
Take an athlete with $1,500,000 in securities and $300,000 in cash, with no documented income at the moment.
On the depletion path, securities count at 80%, which is $1,200,000. Cash counts at 100%, which is $300,000. Usable assets come to $1,500,000. Divided by 60 months, that is $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income must then carry the housing payment and other debts through the debt-to-income test.
The minimum-assets rule also applies. 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. The loan is sized at no more than 60% of value on the cash-out.
On the qualifier path, the shape is different. Picture an $800,000 loan with $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% counts), $300,000 in a 401(k) for a borrower under 59½ (90% counts, or $270,000) and $200,000 in savings (100% counts). Usable assets total $800,000, which equals the loan amount with no cushion beyond it. That meets the requirement that eligible assets equal or exceed the entire loan, so the file is reviewed on assets alone, subject to the lender’s own calculation.
These are illustrations. The lender’s own calculation governs.
Where the General Rule Breaks
Too little liquidity. An athlete with equity in real estate and a contract but few liquid accounts often fails both paths. Real-estate equity counts at only 60% on the depletion path, and the minimum-asset floors are firm.
Concentrated wealth in private stock. A retired player whose net worth sits in a private business has a strong balance sheet that this program cannot count. The fix is converting it into seasoned cash.
Recent moves of money. Large unexplained deposits and recent transfers draw questions. A fresh bonus or sale needs a paper trail. Sale-of-business, inheritance and settlement funds are excused from the depletion-path age requirement, but they still need documentation.
Market drops. Securities count at 80% on the depletion path, and a decline between application and closing can pull the usable total down. Leave a cushion.
Credit events. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible. A housing event needs 4 years of seasoning on the depletion path.
Rentals that are really rentals. If the goal is to pull cash from a pure rental and the borrower’s strength is rent coverage, the business-purpose DSCR lane fits better.
Asset-Based vs. the Alternatives
| Option | What it relies on | Fits an athlete who |
|---|---|---|
| Asset-based cash-out | Documented liquid assets | Has strong balances, lumpy pay |
| Bank statement loan | Deposits as income | Has steady business or entity deposits |
| DSCR loan | Rent covering the payment | Cashing out a pure rental |
| HELOC | A second lien on the home | Wants to keep the first mortgage |
| Contract advance | Future pay | Needs short-term cash (not a mortgage) |
The best fit depends on your situation: the property, your accounts, how you document income and how much leverage you need. A broker that shops several wholesale lenders can match the scenario to the program.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier path: The route where eligible assets, after the percentages, equal or exceed the entire loan amount, with no income documented.
Asset depletion path: The route where usable assets divided by 60 months become monthly qualifying income, tested through debt-to-income.
Seasoning: The length of time funds have sat in an account, shown by statements.
Haircut: The part of an asset balance that does not count toward qualifying.
Cash-out refinance: A new, larger mortgage that pays off the old one and returns the difference as cash.
Usable assets: The total of balances after each asset class is counted at its percentage.
What to Prepare Before You Apply
- Two months of statements for each qualifying account, and older statements to meet the 120-day test if you use the depletion path.
- A paper trail for any large deposit, including a signing bonus, sale or settlement.
- A payoff statement for the current mortgage and any home equity line.
- Credit review, with attention to housing history.
- Confirmation that the property is a principal residence, second home or investment property, since leverage differs by use.
The program is available through select lenders in 16 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Because this is a consumer mortgage, standard consumer disclosures apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a signing bonus count as an asset?
Once it is deposited in a regulated account and the statements show it, it is cash. On the asset qualifier path it counts at 100% after 60 days of seasoning. On the asset depletion path it counts at 100% as a cash account, subject to that path’s statement-age rules. Money not yet paid, or held in escrow, does not count. Underwriters also want to see where the deposit came from.
Can my guaranteed contract be used to qualify?
No. Future contract payments are not assets, and this program does not document employment or income on the qualifier path. On the depletion path, the income is derived from your assets, not from the contract.
Does privately held company stock count?
No. Privately held company stock is not an eligible asset on either path. The route is a documented sale or buyout, converted into a seasoned cash balance. On the depletion path, securities count at 80%, cash at 100% and retirement accounts at 70%.
Can the cash-out money help me qualify?
Not as an asset. Qualifying accounts must already exist and stay in place.
What credit score do I need?
The qualifier path publishes a 600 minimum. The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix, and a first-time investor on that path needs 700. Approval is never promised and every file is underwritten individually.
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.
Asset files turn on statements and seasoning, so an athlete who moves bonus money into a regulated account early has the cleanest file when the next contract year starts.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage broker licensed for consumer lending in 16 states. Bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based mortgages for self-employed and high-net-worth borrowers are arranged through wholesale lenders on primary residences, second homes and investment properties; every file is underwritten by the lender under its program guidelines. 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. Federal Register – Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Standards under the Truth in Lending Act
2. CFPB – Truth in Lending Act overview
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 Lenders Underwrite an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance With No Income Other Than Assets · Best Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Program for a Professional Athlete With a Contract · How Lenders Underwrite an Asset-Based Cash-Out Refinance Using Retirement Accounts
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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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.