The Quick Read: To qualify, you show a lender that your own money, not just your home’s value, can support a larger loan. That usually means a non-agency jumbo program that reads brokerage, retirement or other investment accounts as proof of repayment ability, reserves, or both. The lender checks your credit, the appraised value, your ratios and the assets left after closing. Subject to lender guidelines and full file review, and not a commitment to lend.
This page is for homeowners borrowing against the home they live in. It is not about rental property. “Investment assets” here means stocks, bonds, mutual funds and retirement accounts.
Key Terms Defined
Jumbo loan: A mortgage one dollar above the conforming limit for your county and unit count. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cannot buy it.
Cash-out refinance: A new, larger mortgage that pays off the old one and hands you the difference in cash.
Reserves: Money you still hold after closing. Lenders count it in months of your full housing payment.
Asset-based qualification: A method where the lender turns eligible assets into a monthly figure that stands in for income. Programs set their own formulas.
Vested: The part of an account that is truly yours and can be withdrawn. Unvested stock options and restricted stock generally don’t count.
LTV/CLTV: Loan-to-value and combined loan-to-value. Your debt divided by the appraised value.
Key Takeaways
- A jumbo loan starts above your county’s conforming limit, so check your own county.
- Your equity alone never qualifies you. The lender must see repayment ability from income or assets.
- Agency asset-as-income rules exclude a true cash-out refinance, so asset-heavy borrowers usually need a non-agency program.
- The same dollars cannot serve as income, reserves and closing funds at once.
- Cash-out leverage sits below purchase leverage, and the largest loans get tighter scrutiny.
What Makes a Cash-Out “Jumbo”?
A cash-out loan is jumbo when the new balance lands above your county’s conforming limit. The Federal Housing Finance Agency sets that limit each year. It has a national baseline and a higher ceiling for expensive counties.
The limit changes with county and unit count. Don’t assume the baseline fits your area. Look up your county on the FHFA page.
Your new loan amount is what matters, not your old balance. A homeowner with a modest mortgage can cross the line by taking a lot of cash out.
Why the Agency Path Usually Doesn’t Work Here
The agencies do count some assets as income. But Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide limits that policy in three ways.
- It covers only employment-related assets, such as 401(k), IRA, SEP and Keogh accounts, plus certain retirement lump sums.
- It applies to purchases and limited cash-out refinances, not full cash-out.
- It carries its own leverage ceiling, with a higher one for asset owners aged 62 or older.
A plain taxable brokerage balance generally doesn’t fit that definition. Combine that with a loan above the conforming limit, and the agency door is closed.
That gap is where non-agency jumbo programs live. Across the wholesale lanes we place files with, assets can carry real weight. The exact formula varies by program.
Step 1: Choose Your Lane
Jumbo files tend to fall into two lanes.
Full documentation. The lender uses your income to qualify you. Your investment assets serve as reserves. This is the simplest path if your income is strong and easy to document.
Asset-based. The lender uses eligible assets as part of the repayment picture. It suits retirees, people between jobs, and owners of businesses with uneven reportable income.
Our wholesale jumbo lanes offer fixed, adjustable and interest-only structures. They run to $5,000,000 on the largest lanes. The headline lane uses a 660 decision score. Leverage reaches 90% on that lane, with several lanes reaching 89.99% CLTV and the rest stopping at 80%. Cash-out always sits below purchase leverage. The two biggest lanes also put a cash cap on how much you can take.
Step 2: How the Lender Reads Your Assets
Here is the agency formula, as a reference point. Fannie Mae takes eligible assets, subtracts any early-withdrawal penalty, subtracts funds you need for closing and reserves, then divides by a set number of months. Non-agency programs choose their own divisors and haircuts, so treat any single formula you read online with caution.
A haircut is a discount. A lender may count a retirement account at less than face value because withdrawing from it can trigger penalties or taxes. Ask each program what discount it applies to each account type.
Expect these checks:
- Recent statements for every account.
- Proof you own the account. Joint accounts generally need the co-owner on the loan.
- Vesting status on retirement accounts and employer stock.
- Confirmation the funds can actually be withdrawn.
Asset-based doesn’t mean paperless. Every dollar the lender relies on needs a statement behind it.
Step 3: Reserves, and the Double-Counting Trap
Reserves are counted in months of your full housing payment, and the required months rise with the loan amount. A $1,000,000 file and a $4,000,000 file are not treated alike.
Here is where files go wrong. Picture a borrower with one large brokerage account. The lender can’t count that account as repayment ability, as reserves and as closing funds all at once. Each dollar does one job.
Many lenders also won’t count your cash-out proceeds as reserves. So the cushion often has to sit in other accounts. Ask this question early: which of my assets count, and for what?
Fannie Mae’s guidance counts stocks, bonds and mutual funds at full value toward reserves without liquidation. Non-agency lenders can apply their own haircuts. Don’t assume the agency treatment carries over.
Step 4: Appraisal and Leverage
The appraisal sets your value, and value sets your LTV. Bigger loans get more appraisal scrutiny. On our wholesale lanes, two appraisals are required once a loan passes a lane’s threshold amount.
Cash-out leverage runs below purchase leverage. For context, the agency matrix in Fannie Mae’s eligibility documents caps a one-unit primary-residence cash-out at 80%. Our jumbo lanes follow their own caps, described above. Every figure here varies by lender and program — guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.
Non-warrantable condominiums, meaning condos that don’t meet agency project standards, are accepted on two lanes. Second homes get lane-specific leverage. A second home or rental changes the leverage limit, and occupancy decides that number.
Step 5: Credit and Ratios
The ratio ceiling is 50% on the fixed lanes, 45% on the adjustable lanes and 43% on the interest-only lanes. Your ratio compares monthly debts, including the new payment, to your qualifying income.
An asset-based file turns your assets into that income figure. A bigger conversion can lower your ratio. Still, every program sets its own method, and the lender decides on full review.
Where the General Rule Breaks
Full cash-out above the conforming limit. Agency asset-as-income rules don’t apply. A non-agency program is the route.
Non-employment assets. Under the agency definition, inheritance, lottery winnings, sale proceeds from real estate and virtual currency don’t qualify as income assets.
Penalty-bearing accounts. If a withdrawal would trigger a penalty, the lender subtracts it from the usable amount.
Interest-only. Interest-only features keep a loan out of the Qualified Mortgage category. Lenders can still make these loans when they verify repayment ability. They live with portfolio and non-QM lenders. Our interest-only lanes use the tighter ratio ceiling noted above.
Jumbo doesn’t mean non-QM. Plenty of jumbo loans are QM. Non-QM is about documentation and structure, not loan size.
State rules. Some states, Texas among them, have unique cash-out rules. Lendmire’s consumer lending covers 16 states, so state rules can matter for your file.
Seasoning, Ownership and Timing
Agency cash-out rules ask that your existing first mortgage be at least 12 months old, and that a borrower has been on title for at least six months. Jumbo lenders often look at similar history, but each sets its own.
After closing, a refinance on your primary home carries a three-business-day right to cancel under federal rules. Funds generally aren’t disbursed until that window closes. Plan for it if you need the cash for a specific purpose.
What Decides the Outcome
Underwriters weigh the same short list on nearly every file:
| Factor | What the lender asks |
|---|---|
| Asset value | How much do haircuts and vesting leave usable? |
| Reserves | What remains after closing, outside the proceeds? |
| Appraisal | Does value support the leverage requested? |
| Credit | Does the score clear the lane’s floor? |
| Ratio | Does the program’s income test pass? |
| Property | Does type or cash-out size trigger an overlay? |
A weak spot in one row can sometimes be offset by strength in another. The lender decides, and nothing is promised.
Cash-Out vs. Other Options
A home equity loan or HELOC leaves your first mortgage in place. A cash-out refinance replaces it. That means closing costs apply, and your whole balance resets to a new loan. The costs show up in the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure, which you should compare line by line.
If your existing loan is one you like, a second lien may fit better. If you want a single new loan, the cash-out route can make sense. This is a genuine toss-up for many borrowers, and the right call depends on your current loan and what you plan to do with the money.
What a Cash-Out Costs You Beyond Closing
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that using home equity to pay off other debt turns unsecured debt into debt secured by your home. It also draws down wealth you might need later.
A larger balance can raise your monthly payment even if other terms improve. Weigh that against your cash flow before you commit.
Tax treatment can depend on your situation; borrowers should speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction or credit.
Common Reasons Files Get Declined
- Assets counted twice, as income and as reserves.
- Reserves built from the cash-out proceeds themselves.
- Unvested stock options or restricted stock listed as assets.
- Large unexplained deposits with no paper trail.
- A co-owner on a joint account who isn’t on the loan.
- Leverage requested above the lane’s cash-out cap.
Most of these can be fixed before applying. Move funds early, gather the statements, and decide which account does which job.
Pre-Application Checklist
1. Look up your county’s conforming limit.
2. List every account, its owner and its vested balance.
3. Assign each account one job: income, reserves or closing funds.
4. Pull recent statements.
5. Confirm your credit score against the lane’s floor.
6. Estimate your equity against the leverage range.
7. Ask what haircut each account type takes.
Lendmire’s jumbo cash-out refinance program is built around this checklist. For a deeper look at assets-only files, see Lendmire’s piece on qualifying a super jumbo cash-out on assets alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does “assets only” mean no documentation?
No. Every asset the lender relies on needs recent statements, proof of ownership and often a sourcing trail. The lender must verify what it uses, so fewer income documents usually means more asset documents.
Do I have to sell my investments?
Usually not. Many programs count eligible assets without liquidation. Ask each program how it treats the account and whether any haircut applies.
Can my cash-out proceeds count as reserves?
Often not. Some lenders won’t count proceeds, so your cushion may need to come from other accounts. Ask which assets count before you apply.
Can retirement accounts count?
Often yes, but only the vested portion, and penalties or haircuts may reduce the usable amount. Programs differ on how they value each account type.
Does my equity alone qualify me?
No. The lender must look beyond your home’s value to income or assets that show you can repay.
For your own numbers, request a scenario review with Lendmire.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage brokerage serving homeowners and home buyers in 16 states. FHA, VA, conventional and jumbo purchase and refinance loans are arranged through wholesale lending channels; Lendmire brokers the financing and the lender underwrites each application. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
For the program’s current guidelines, see jumbo loan programs.
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References
1. FHFA – 2026 Conforming Loan Limit Values
2. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.4-06
3. Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix
5. CFPB – Cash-Out Refinance Research
This article is part of Lendmire’s Jumbo Loans series — every loan program’s qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the loan options page.
Related reading: How to Qualify for a Jumbo Cash-Out With Two Years of Tax Returns · How to Get a Jumbo Cash-Out After a Quitclaim Deed in Texas · How to Get a Jumbo Cash-Out Refinance on a Texas Homestead
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
- Mortgage Loan Originator · NMLS# 1129696 · Verify on NMLS Consumer Access
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- 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.