The Quick Read: Yes, through select asset-based programs, a lender can qualify a refinance on your savings and investments instead of a paycheck, subject to underwriting, credit review, and the property. The loan can be covered by assets outright, or your assets can be converted into a monthly income figure. Which path fits depends on how large your balances are compared to the loan.
- Asset qualifier path: eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan, and no employment or income is documented.
- Asset depletion path: usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying income that runs through the debt-to-income test.
- Leverage: up to 75% loan-to-value on a refinance on the qualifier path; up to 80% on a rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out refinance of a principal residence or second home on the depletion path.
- Paper trail: your assets are fully documented. Only the income documentation goes away.
- Borrowers: you are qualified on one path at a time, never a blend of the two.
A stopped paycheck feels like a closed door. Retirees, people who sold a business, and households living off a portfolio hit it often. They have large balances and no recent pay stubs. Across the wholesale network Lendmire works with, that profile is exactly who these programs are built for.
This is a consumer mortgage on a North Carolina home you live in or use as a second home, and the program figures below do not change by state. Lendmire is a broker. It arranges these loans through select lenders in its network, and every figure here is subject to underwriting.
Which Path Fits You: Assets Cover the Loan, or Assets Become Income?
Ask one question first: do your eligible assets add up to the whole loan? If yes, the qualifier path is cleaner. If not, the depletion path may work, because it only needs your assets to generate enough monthly income to carry the payment.
The asset qualifier path treats your balances as the repayment source. After credit percentages, your eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented. The lender still reviews your credit and the property. Through select programs, loans run up to $4,000,000.
The asset depletion path works differently. The lender applies haircuts to each asset type and adds up the usable total. It divides that total by 60 months. The result is a qualifying monthly income, and that income must carry the full housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test. Loan amounts on this path run from $125,000 to $3,500,000.
The path matters because the numbers differ. Retirement accounts count for more on the qualifier path (90% under age 59½, 100% after) than on the depletion path (70% at any age). Leverage also differs, which is why a loan that fits one path can miss the other.
Key Terms Defined
Asset qualifier: a path where eligible assets cover the whole loan and no income is documented.
Asset depletion: a path that converts usable assets into monthly income by dividing them over 60 months.
Haircut: the share of an asset’s balance a lender does not count, because the value can move or the money is harder to reach.
Seasoning: how long funds have sat in your accounts before you apply.
Debt-to-income (DTI): your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, compared to your monthly income.
Rate-and-term refinance: a refinance that changes the loan’s terms without taking cash out.
Cash-out refinance: a refinance for more than you owe, with the difference paid to you.
What Counts as an Asset, and How Much of It?
Lenders do not count every balance at face value. The credit percentage depends on the path.
| Asset | Qualifier path | Depletion path |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts | 100% | Securities 80% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 100% |
| Savings and money market | 100% | Cash accounts 100% |
| 401(k) and IRA | 90% under 59½, 100% at 59½+ | 70% at any age |
| Private stock | Not listed | 75% |
| Real-estate equity | Not listed | 60% |
Subject to underwriting, accounts on the qualifier path combine. On the depletion path, several things are not eligible 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, and borrowed or pledged funds are not published as eligible on either path. The documented route is converting them to a seasoned cash balance in a regulated account. The lender reviews the source of that cash. Do not count on them at any percentage.
Worked Examples
These shapes show how the math runs. The lender’s own calculation governs, and your result depends on underwriting.
Qualifier path. Say you are refinancing an $800,000 loan. You hold $330,000 in brokerage accounts (100% counts, so $330,000). You hold $300,000 in a 401(k) and are under 59½ (90% counts, so $270,000). You hold $200,000 in savings (100%, so $200,000). Usable assets total $800,000, which equals the loan. On this path, that is reviewed on assets alone, subject to credit and property review.
Depletion path. Consider a retiree with $1,500,000 in securities (80% counts, so $1,200,000) and $300,000 in cash (100%, so $300,000). Usable assets are $1,500,000. Divide by 60 months and you get $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That figure then has to carry the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test.
Notice the difference. The first borrower needed assets equal to the loan. The second needed income-equivalent strength. Same wealth, different tests.
What Changes When Your Income Stops?
For these programs, a stopped paycheck is not the obstacle. The lender is not looking for a paycheck. It is looking at your assets, your credit, and the property.
What matters is whether your assets are verifiable and old enough. On the qualifier path, funds need 60 days of seasoning, with two months of statements for each qualifying account. On the depletion 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, which helps if your cash arrived recently.
So timing is about your accounts, not your employment calendar. If money just landed from a home sale or a transfer, expect the lender to ask where it came from. Moving funds between accounts right before applying is the most common way to create avoidable questions.
Why This Is Allowed: Income Is Not the Only Proof
Mortgage rules for loans on a home you live in ask lenders to judge whether you can repay. That judgment can rest on income or assets. The CFPB’s ability-to-repay compliance guide lists eight factors a lender weighs, and the first is current or reasonably expected income or assets, excluding the value of the home securing the loan.
Two practical points follow. First, assets are a legitimate basis, but they must be verified. Second, the value of the dwelling itself does not count as an asset for this purpose. Your home equity does not make you eligible on its own, though on the depletion path, equity in other real estate can count at 60%.
Rate-and-Term or Cash-Out When You Have No Paycheck?
Rate-and-term is the easier fit. You are changing the loan’s terms, not extracting money. On the depletion path, a principal residence or second home can go up to 80% loan-to-value on a rate-and-term refinance, while a cash-out refinance tops out at 60%. On the qualifier path, refinances run up to 75% loan-to-value. Whether cash-out proceeds are allowed on that path is set by the lender and is not published, so ask before you plan around it.
One rule catches people. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on the depletion path. You cannot borrow money and then count it to qualify for the borrowing.
If the home is a rental and not your residence, the structure changes. On the depletion path, an investment property goes up to 65% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. But a true rental can also run through a different product. The business-purpose exemption in Regulation Z generally takes loans made primarily for business reasons out of the consumer-loan framework. That is why rental financing works on property income instead of your wages. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide covers that route, where the loan is reviewed primarily on property-level rental income covering the payment, subject to lender guidelines. The test turns on the loan’s purpose, not the label on the property.
Credit, Minimums, and What Gets Denied
Credit still matters. The qualifier path’s published floor is a 600 score. The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix of score and loan amount. A first-time investor on the depletion path needs a 700.
Housing history of 0x30x12 is the standard, and one 30-day late in the last twelve months is considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible. After a housing event, the depletion path needs four years of seasoning.
The depletion path adds asset minimums. You need qualified assets of at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. When asset depletion is your only income source, you also need at least $250,000 liquid. If you have some documented income, asset-derived income can supplement it up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio, and the minimum-assets rule is waived.
The usual denial reasons are practical:
- Assets that are too new, or that cannot be traced to a source
- Balances that fall short after haircuts
- Credit below the lender’s matrix
- Debts that push the debt-to-income test too high on the depletion path
- Ineligible asset types counted by mistake
Reserves are simple on the qualifier path: none required at or below 75% loan-to-value, and above that the lender sets them. The depletion path has no published reserve months.
Is This the Right Move? Honest Tradeoffs
Spending your portfolio’s ability to qualify is not free. Think through these before you apply.
If markets fall, the assets that qualified you shrink. A refinance sized to your balances today stays on your books if those balances drop. The loan payment does not adjust. So ask whether you could carry the payment through a bad stretch without selling at a loss.
Retirement accounts deserve extra thought. Counting a 401(k) or IRA does not mean spending it, but a plan that depends on withdrawals changes your cash flow in ways the lender’s formula ignores.
Other routes may fit better in some cases:
| Route | Best for | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Asset qualifier | Assets at least equal the loan | Large balances needed |
| Asset depletion | Strong assets, loan larger than assets | Haircuts and DTI test apply |
| Mixed income | Pension or Social Security plus assets | Needs documented income |
| HELOC | Short-term access to cash | Different product, different rules |
| Selling or downsizing | Reducing the debt directly | Gives up the home |
Agency, FHA, VA, and conventional programs have their own rules for asset-based income, typically with longer depletion periods, and they are not this program. For a related view on pulling cash from a property, Lendmire’s piece Home Equity Lines for Homeowners Deciding When a Cash-Out Refinance Wins walks through that decision.
Pre-Application Checklist
Gather these before you talk to a broker:
1. Two months of statements for every account you plan to count, plus the most recent statement
2. A clear source for any recent large deposit
3. Your current mortgage statement and an estimate of the home’s value
4. A credit review, since your score decides which matrix applies
5. A plain answer to this question: do eligible assets cover the whole loan, or must they become income?
If you are self-employed on paper but cash-rich, a different program may serve you better. Lendmire’s article on self-employed cash-out refinance documentation explains how bank-deposit income works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can retirees refinance on assets alone?
Yes, through select programs, subject to underwriting. Retirement balances can count: 90% under 59½ and 100% after on the qualifier path, 70% at any age on the depletion path. Credit and the property are still reviewed.
Do I need traditional personal-income documentation, W-2s, or pay stubs?
On the qualifier path, no employment or income is documented. On the depletion path, your assets become the qualifying income. Either way, your account statements are fully documented, so this is never a no-documentation loan.
Can I take cash out?
On the depletion path, cash-out refinances of a principal residence or second home go up to 60% loan-to-value. On the qualifier path, cash-out is set by the lender and is not published, so ask early. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets.
Is this available to North Carolina borrowers?
Yes. Lendmire’s consumer mortgage lending is licensed in 16 states, and North Carolina is one of them. Program figures do not change by state, though state-level costs and local values vary and are not program parameters.
What if my income ends after closing?
Qualification is judged at application, using your assets. A later change in income does not alter the loan. What matters afterward is whether you can keep carrying the payment, which is why stress-testing your balances against a market drop is wise.
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.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in North Carolina page presents the program for North Carolina 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.
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References
1. CFPB Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Small Entity Compliance Guide
2. CFPB Regulation Z, Section 1026.3
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 to Qualify for a Mortgage on Liquid Assets Alone · Dividend Income vs Asset Depletion for a Second Home Jumbo Loan · How to Open a HELOC on Assets Alone as a Retiree
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in North Carolina
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Legal disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage that arranges financing through wholesale lender relationships. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or registered financial advisor. The discussion above is general informational content about real estate financing — it is not financial, legal, or tax advice, and readers should consult licensed professionals for guidance on their individual circumstances. Loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not represent a commitment to lend. Loan terms, rates, and qualification standards vary by borrower, property, and state, and are subject to change at any time. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.