The Quick Read: Yes, through select asset-based programs, a borrower can be reviewed against savings and investments instead of an Indiana paycheck, subject to underwriting. Assets are documented with account statements, and there are no traditional personal-income documentation, pay stubs or employment verification. Which path fits depends on how large your balances are compared with the loan.
- Assets cover the loan: On the asset qualifier path, your eligible assets must equal or exceed the entire loan amount. No employment or income is documented.
- Assets become income: On the asset depletion path, usable assets divided by 60 months become qualifying monthly income. That income then runs through the debt-to-income test.
- Leverage: The qualifier path goes up to 80% on a purchase. The depletion path goes up to 80% on a principal residence or second home purchase and up to 65% on an investment property purchase.
- Credit still counts: The qualifier path has a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix.
- Seasoning matters: Funds need to sit in the account long enough to look like yours. Plan this before you make an offer.
Everything above is subject to underwriting and lender guidelines. It is not a commitment to lend.
Why Does a Missing Local Paycheck Usually Block a Mortgage?
A standard mortgage lender wants to see income, and that usually means a W-2 job with a pay history. If you just moved, your new employer has no history with you. Your old pay stubs belong to another state and sometimes another career.
Nothing in that logic is specific to Indiana. A lender doesn’t care where your income was earned. It cares whether you can repay the loan and whether it can prove it.
Asset-based programs answer that question differently. They look at what you already hold. A person with a large portfolio and no paycheck can repay a loan, and the file can show that with statements. That is why retirees, people who just sold a business, and households living on a portfolio often use these programs. Early-retired professionals and people who received an inheritance or settlement use them too.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage programs are placed through select lenders in its wholesale network. Lendmire is the broker, not the lender. The lender reviews and underwrites every file on its own.
Key Terms Defined
Non-QM loan: A mortgage that falls outside the standard qualified-mortgage box. It uses its own way of proving that you can repay.
Asset qualifier path: The path where your eligible assets, after credit percentages, cover the entire loan. No employment or income is documented.
Asset depletion path: The path where eligible assets, after haircuts, are divided by 60 months to create a monthly qualifying income.
Haircut: The share of an asset’s balance the lender will not count. A balance counted at 80% has a 20% haircut.
Seasoning: The time funds have sat in your account. Seasoned funds look like yours rather than a fresh, unexplained deposit.
Debt-to-income ratio: Your monthly debts, including the new housing payment, compared with your monthly qualifying income.
Principal residence and second home: A principal residence is where you live most of the year. A second home is a property you occupy for part of the year, and it is a consumer loan like a primary home.
Which Path Fits Your Situation?
You are qualified on one path at a time. The figures below do not blend. The program figures also do not change by state, so an Indiana buyer sees the same ones as anyone else, subject to underwriting.
| Factor | Asset Qualifier | Asset Depletion |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Assets cover the whole loan | Assets ÷ 60 = monthly income |
| Max purchase leverage | 80% | 80% home, 65% investment |
| Refinance leverage | 75% | 80% rate-and-term, 60% cash-out |
| Loan amounts | Up to $4,000,000 | $125,000 to $3,500,000 |
| Credit | 600 minimum | Lender’s matrix |
| Income documented | None | Derived from assets |
| Seasoning | 60 days, 2 statements | Statements 120 days old plus one within 45 days |
On the depletion path, an investment property gets 65% on a purchase and 60% on a cash-out refinance. A principal residence or second home gets 80% on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance and 60% on a cash-out. Cash-out proceeds never count as qualifying assets on that path. The qualifier path does not publish a cash-out figure, so that is the lender’s call.
The qualifier path is the cleaner fit if your balances are very large compared with the loan. The depletion path suits you better when your assets are big but not big enough to cover the loan outright. It also helps when you want the lender to see a monthly income figure.
Which Assets Count, and How Much?
Across our wholesale network, the two paths treat the same account differently. Name the path before you quote a percentage.
| Asset | Qualifier Path | Depletion Path |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage accounts | 100% | Securities at 80% |
| Cash, savings, money market | 100% | Cash accounts at 100% |
| Certificates of deposit | 100% | 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% |
Accounts combine on the qualifier path. Several things don’t count on the depletion path: 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 pledged or borrowed funds are not published as eligible on either path. Many people hold wealth that way. The documented route is converting them to cash in a regulated account. The lender then reviews the source of that cash.
What Does the Math Look Like?
Here is the qualifier path. Take an $800,000 loan. The borrower holds $330,000 in brokerage accounts, counted at 100%, so $330,000. A $300,000 401(k) under age 59½ counts at 90%, so $270,000. Another $200,000 sits in savings at 100%, so $200,000. The total is $800,000 of usable assets. That matches the loan and is reviewed on assets alone.
Here is the depletion path. Take $1,500,000 in securities at 80%, which counts as $1,200,000. Add $300,000 in cash at 100%, which counts as $300,000. Usable assets come to $1,500,000. Divide by 60 months and you get $25,000 of monthly qualifying income. That income must carry the housing payment and your other debts through the debt-to-income test.
These are illustrations, and the lender’s own calculation governs. Notice what the depletion example needs. Qualified assets must reach at least the lesser of $1,000,000 or 1.25 times the loan balance. They must also include at least $250,000 in liquid funds when depletion is your only income source. If you have documented income, such as a pension or Social Security, the asset income may supplement it up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. When it supplements, the minimum-assets rule is waived.
Can Sale Proceeds From Your Old Home Count?
Yes, once they land in your account. Sale proceeds are assets, not income. That distinction drives how the lender treats them.
Relocators often sell first, then shop. The proceeds arrive as a large deposit, and a large fresh deposit raises questions. The lender wants the statements and the closing paperwork from the sale to trace the money. On the depletion path, sale-of-business, inheritance and legal-settlement funds are excused from the 120-day statement age. That relief applies to those fund types, so ask your broker how the sale of a home is treated before you count on it.
Each dollar counts once. If you use sale proceeds as the down payment, don’t count the same dollars again as qualifying assets. Hold the down payment and closing costs separately in your plan. Then see what is left to qualify on.
If you still owe on the home you are leaving, that debt matters. The old mortgage is a debt on the depletion path’s debt-to-income test until it is paid off at sale.
Primary Home, Second Home or Rental?
This is where relocators get tangled. Your answer changes the path and the leverage.
For a home you will live in, you can use either path. For a second home, the same applies. Both are consumer loans reviewed by the lender for your ability to repay. On the qualifier path, that review rests on the assets.
An investment property is different. Only the depletion path covers it, and the loan is business-purpose. DSCR financing is the usual route for rentals where the property’s rent drives qualification, and that is a separate program. On the depletion path, an investment purchase tops out at 65%.
The loan’s purpose is a legal statement, not a label you pick. Under the federal rules for business-purpose credit, credit to buy a rental that is not owner-occupied is treated as business-purpose. If you expect to occupy the property more than 14 days in the coming year, it can’t be treated that way. A law-firm guide to the business-purpose exemption adds that this occupancy test is a consumer-loan trigger unless the property has more than two units.
Don’t try to call your future home a rental. Say what you will do with the property and let the lender place it on the right path.
Do You Have to Live in Indiana First?
No program rule we place files under asks you to live in Indiana before you apply. What the lender needs is a file it can underwrite. The property is in Indiana, and the program must be one the lender can offer there. Consumer mortgage lending through this program is licensed in 16 states, and Indiana is one of them.
Buying from another state is workable. Expect the usual remote steps: statements, a credit review, a local agent who can show homes for you, and a contract signed digitally. A local agent matters more than any form in this process.
Here is the practical order for a remote purchase.
1. Pull statements for every account you plan to count.
2. Check seasoning. Move money between accounts early, leaving a clean paper trail.
3. Talk to a broker about which path fits your balances and your goal.
4. Get pre-approved, subject to underwriting.
5. Find an Indiana agent and make your offer.
6. Provide updated statements as the lender asks.
The program does not need an Indiana job offer. If you do land one, tell your broker. A documented paycheck can supplement asset income on the depletion path, and sometimes it opens up other programs.
What Does Seasoning Mean for Your Move?
On the qualifier path, expect 60 days of seasoning and 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. That is a longer runway, so start gathering paper earlier if you plan to use it.
The cleanest file keeps funds in the same regulated accounts for a long time. Large recent transfers raise questions. Moving money from a foreign account, cash on hand, or a pledged account will not help you here. Those funds are not eligible on the depletion path.
The practical lesson: don’t pull your relocation money into a new account the week you decide to move. Start early and keep records.
How Do Credit and Leverage Fit In?
Assets don’t replace credit. The qualifier path sets a 600 minimum score. The depletion path follows the lender’s score and loan-amount matrix. A first-time investor on the depletion path needs 700.
Housing history is reviewed too. The standard is 0x30x12, meaning no 30-day lates in the last twelve months. One late may be considered case by case. Multiple bankruptcies are not eligible, and a housing event needs 4 years of seasoning on the depletion path.
On reserves, the qualifier path requires none at or below 75% loan-to-value. Above that, the lender sets them. The depletion path has no published reserve months. Leverage figures are ceilings, not offers. Your actual terms depend on the lender, your credit, the property and your file.
Which Route Fits Which Relocator?
| Your Situation | Likely Fit | Main Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Large balances, no income | Asset qualifier | Needs assets to equal the whole loan |
| Large balances, some income | Asset depletion | Lower leverage on investment property |
| Job offer in Indiana | Standard mortgage | Waiting for pay history |
| Uncertain move | Rent first | Delays the purchase |
| Rental purchase | DSCR route | Separate program, rent-based |
The honest read: a job offer with a pay start date may make a standard mortgage possible, and that is often the lower-cost route. If your wealth is in your portfolio, an asset-based program may fit better.
Renting first is a legitimate option too. Carrying a home with no income can be stressful even when the file works. Think about what you want your portfolio to do after you close. If the loan draws on assets you also need for living costs, the lender’s approval is not the same as a comfortable plan.
What Should You Gather?
Start with statements for every account you plan to count, covering the periods your path requires. Add a government-issued ID and the purchase contract once you have one. If you are selling a home, add the closing documents from the sale.
You also need credit authorization. If you want to use retirement accounts, bring the most recent statements, since the percentage depends on your age. Tax treatment varies; consult a qualified professional.
Expect questions about large deposits. A simple note explaining each one can save you time with the file.
If you plan to hold the home in an entity, that changes the file. Discuss it with your broker early. Eligibility is subject to lender program requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to live in Indiana before I apply?
No program rule asks for that. The lender needs a file it can underwrite, and Indiana is one of the 16 states where this consumer mortgage lending is licensed. Everything stays subject to underwriting.
Will good credit alone be enough?
No. Credit is one piece. On the qualifier path, the minimum score is 600, and the assets must cover the entire loan. The depletion path follows the lender’s matrix and also tests your derived income against your debts.
Do I have to sell my investments to buy?
Not necessarily. Qualifying assets are documented with statements. They are not liquidated. You still need cash for the down payment and closing costs, and funds used for those should not be counted twice.
Is this a loan for a primary home or a rental?
Both are possible, but on different terms. A principal residence or second home can use either path. An investment property can use only the depletion path, at a lower purchase ceiling of 65%.
What if I get an Indiana job later?
Tell your broker. Documented income can supplement asset-derived income on the depletion path, up to a 45% debt-to-income ratio. It may also open other program options.
Where This Leaves an Indiana-Bound Buyer
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. The first question for any relocation buyer is simple: do your balances cover the loan outright, or do they need to become income? Answer that, and the rest of the file follows. Indiana’s market will wait while you season your funds.
Lendmire’s asset-based mortgage in Indiana page presents the program for Indiana borrowers.
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.
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References
1. CFPB, Regulation Z § 1026.3 and commentary
2. Doss Law, Business Purpose Exemption Simplified
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 Retirees Moving to New Mexico Buy a Home on Assets · Can You Relocate to Montana and Buy a Home on Assets Before You Have Local Income? · Can You Buy a Second Home in Tennessee on Assets Instead of Income?
Guides: Asset-Based Mortgage in Indiana
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Disclosure information. Lendmire is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage under NMLS# 2371349. Lendmire is not a depository institution, direct lender, or financial advisor — all loans referenced are placed through wholesale lender partners and are subject to each lender's underwriting standards. This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not a commitment to lend, nor does it constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Loan programs, terms, rates, and qualification standards change without notice and depend on borrower profile, property type, and the state in which the subject property is located. Equal Housing Opportunity provider. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.