The Quick Read: You qualify by documenting 12 or 24 consecutive months of bank deposits, then showing credit, reserves, leverage and a property that fit the limits for your loan size. Those limits tighten as the balance climbs, and every figure below is available through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting. Lendmire is a broker, so the decision belongs to the lender that reviews your file.
- Deposits become income after an expense ratio, so write-offs on your traditional personal-income documentation matter less.
- Credit floors run 660 on the portfolio program, 680 on the bank program and 700 above the super-jumbo line.
- On a primary-residence purchase, the best leverage steps down from 90% at $1,000,000 or less to 75% at $3,000,000 to $4,000,000, then to 65% at $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 on review.
- Every loan above $4,000,000 is reviewed case by case before submission.
Most borrowers who need this loan are founders, physicians, attorneys, entertainers and investors. Their traditional personal-income documentation understates what actually moves through their accounts. Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; borrowers should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Key Terms Defined
Jumbo loan: a mortgage larger than the conforming limit, which was set at a baseline of $832,750 for one-unit properties in the latest announcement, per Orrick. Loan amount decides jumbo status, not price.
Super jumbo: a lender tier, not a legal category. Each program draws its own line. In the programs Lendmire places files with, stricter overlays begin above $3,500,000 on a primary residence and above $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property.
Non-QM: a mortgage that doesn’t follow the standard qualified-mortgage documentation box. Bank statement loans sit here.
Bank statement loan: a loan that measures income from deposit history instead of traditional personal-income documentation.
Expense ratio: the share of business deposits treated as the cost of running the business, removed before income is counted.
Portfolio program: a non-QM wholesale program that carries files up to $6,000,000. Bank program: a bank portfolio program that carries twelve-month-statement files up to $30,000,000 on its own size ladder. Its ladder begins above $4,000,000 and overlaps the portfolio program to $6,000,000.
Who Is This Loan Built For?
It fits self-employed borrowers, 1099 earners, commission earners and business owners whose deposits tell a bigger story than their returns. A North Carolina example might be a Charlotte surgeon with a practice stake, a Raleigh founder who reinvests profit, or an Asheville or Wilmington buyer purchasing a second home. Self-employment history matters, and most programs want a steady record, so a business that is only months old is a hard file.
Business statements require at least 25% ownership of the business. W-2 earners with large variable bonuses can sometimes blend income paths, depending on the program.
How Does Underwriting Turn Deposits Into Income?
Underwriters add up eligible deposits, subtract an expense ratio where required, and divide by the number of statement months. The result is monthly qualifying income. Here is how it runs, step by step.
1. Choose the statements. You submit 12 or 24 consecutive months of personal or business statements. The bank program uses 12. Transaction histories never substitute for statements.
2. Remove ineligible deposits. Transfers between your own accounts, loan proceeds and gifts come out.
3. Apply the expense ratio. On business accounts, the ratio is fixed at 20% for a service business with no employees, 40% for one to five employees, and 50% for six or more employees or any product business. An accountant-provided ratio can replace the fixed figure. A profit-and-loss method is capped at 80%.
4. Count personal deposits at full value. Transfers from your own business into your personal account count at 100%.
5. Divide by the months. Twelve or twenty-four, depending on your choice.
6. Test debt-to-income. Total debts against the qualifying income must come in at 50% or below.
Run the numbers on a business with three employees. The 40% ratio means every $1 of average monthly eligible deposits becomes 60 cents of qualifying income. A borrower with a similar income deposited into a personal account by their own business could see the full amount count. That is why the choice of account matters, and why a broker comparing programs earns their keep here.
Lendmire’s piece Does Undistributed K-1 Income Qualify on a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan? covers the pass-through income question in depth.
Which Deposits Count?
Lenders count cash that is earned and traceable. They exclude cash that only moves around.
| Deposit type | Typical treatment |
|---|---|
| Customer or client payments | Counts |
| Business-to-personal transfers | Counts at 100% |
| Transfers between your own accounts | Excluded |
| Loan proceeds | Excluded |
| Gifts | Excluded |
| Large unexplained one-offs | Excluded until sourced |
Clean statements move smoothly through review. Commingled personal and business funds, thin account history and unexplained deposits are the usual reasons files stall.
What Changes at Super Jumbo Size?
Leverage steps down as the balance rises, though it can step up again where the bank program takes over, and a stricter overlay package applies. The ladder below shows primary-residence purchase ceilings through select wholesale programs, subject to full underwriting. The credit column shows the score each band’s top leverage needs. It is not a program floor.
| Loan band | Purchase leverage | Credit for this leverage | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1M–$1.5M | 85% | 700+ | Portfolio |
| $2M–$2.5M | 80% | 720+ | Portfolio |
| $3M–$3.5M | 75% | 720+ | Portfolio |
| $3.5M–$4M | 75% | 760+ | Portfolio, super-jumbo overlays |
| $4M–$5M | 65%, on review | 680+ | Bank |
| $5M–$6M | 60%, on review | 680+ | Bank |
A lower score takes a lower leverage cell inside the same band. The 680+ in the bank rows is the score that band’s top leverage needs on the bank program, whose own floor is 680. The 700 floor above the super-jumbo line applies to the overlay package below, so confirm which floor governs your file at review. Second homes and investment properties run on their own ladders. On a $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 purchase, for example, the second-home ceiling is 65% at 760+ credit. The investment-property ceiling is 60% on the bank program at 680+ credit. Read each figure from the occupancy’s own ladder, never by subtracting from the primary number.
Above $3,500,000 on a primary residence, and above $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property, these overlays apply:
- A 700 credit floor and a 0x30x24 housing history.
- 48 months of seasoning after any credit event.
- U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.
- No non-occupant co-borrowers.
- No rural property, and ten acres maximum. Lendmire’s article Can a Twenty-Acre Property Qualify for a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan? covers that limit.
- Cash-out proceeds cannot satisfy reserves.
Anything above $4,000,000 goes through case-by-case review before submission. Bank program ceilings continue past $6,000,000 on a ladder that reaches 60% to $10,000,000 and 55% to $30,000,000, always on review.
Credit, Debt Ratios and Reserves
The credit floor is 660 on the portfolio program, 680 on the bank program and 700 above the super-jumbo line. Debt-to-income can reach 50%.
Reserves scale with the loan: 3 months up to $500,000, 6 months up to $1,500,000 and 9 months above that. Each additional financed property adds 2 months, to a 12-month maximum. First-time investors need 12 months. Reserves are counted in months of the housing obligation, and borrowers should confirm which accounts count.
On cash-out files, proceeds are unlimited at or below 60% leverage. Above 60%, the portfolio program caps cash in hand at $1,500,000. Primary-residence cash-out ceilings run as high as 80% in the lower bands and step down with size. Terms depend on the lender’s guidelines, the property type, the leverage, and a full review of the credit profile.
Interest-only structures exist. The portfolio program allows them up to 85% on purchase and rate-term files with a 700 credit floor. The bank program stops at 60%. That is the ceiling of the interest-only structure, and it never lifts a cash-out ceiling.
Does Occupancy Change the Rules?
Yes, and it is the biggest fork in the road. A primary residence or second home is a consumer loan. A pure rental is usually a business-purpose loan.
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, and federal rules exempt business-purpose credit from the consumer ability-to-repay requirements. On consumer files, lenders must make a reasonable determination of repayment ability using reliable third-party records, as the CFPB’s compliance guide lays out. That is why a bank statement file still involves full verification: the income is documented through statements, not skipped.
Property type matters too. Warrantable condos go to 85% leverage and non-warrantable to 80%. Condotels run 75% on purchase and 65% on cash-out, and 50% on the bank program. Two-to-four-unit homes go to 85%, second homes must be one unit, and rural property tops out at 80% on ten acres or less and never above $3,000,000. The exact numbers vary by lender and program and follow a full review of property, leverage, and credit.
Bank Statements, Asset Paths or DSCR?
Bank statement loans test you. DSCR loans test the property. Pick based on which one carries the file.
| Path | What it tests | Fits when |
|---|---|---|
| Bank statements | Your deposits | You are the strong part of the deal |
| Asset allowance | Liquid assets | You hold large liquid balances |
| Assets-only | Liquidity vs. loan | Income is irregular, assets are deep |
| DSCR | Property rent | The rental carries the payment |
The asset allowance divides liquid assets by 36, 60 or 84 months, and the divisor depends on your pre-asset debt ratio and loan size. Assets-only needs U.S. liquid assets equal to the loan plus closing costs plus sixty months of any net loss on other residential property. Retirement accounts count at 70%, or 80% at 59.5 and older. Business funds, gifts and cryptocurrency never count.
Each new financed property adds debt against the same income, so large portfolios often outgrow bank statement math. DSCR scales property by property. Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide explains that path. Some DSCR programs below 1.00 coverage exist through select lenders in the network, but leverage and terms adjust.
What Should You Do Before You Apply?
Start months before submission. Keep your deposits in one clear lane, stop moving money between accounts, and avoid opening new credit.
- Separate business and personal funds if they are mixed.
- Write a short explanation for every large deposit.
- Decide between 12 and 24 months. Twelve favors a strong recent year, and twenty-four favors steady income.
- Ask your accountant whether a documented expense ratio beats the fixed ones.
- Gather credit documentation, asset statements and entity paperwork.
- Confirm that any rural or acreage property fits the ten-acre limit.
Declining deposits, thin history and low ownership share are the usual red flags. A borrower with those issues sometimes does better on an asset path or DSCR.
Next Step
If you are financing a high-balance property on business or personal bank statements and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare super jumbo bank statement loan options based on your deposits, the property, credit profile, leverage, and your goals. Lendmire holds consumer mortgage licensing in 16 states, North Carolina among them, and arranges these loans as a broker rather than a lender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an official dollar line for super jumbo?
No. The federal conforming limit defines jumbo, and super jumbo is a lender convention. In the programs Lendmire works with, stricter overlays start above $3,500,000 on a primary residence and above $3,000,000 on a second home or investment property.
Can I use 12 months of statements instead of 24?
Usually yes. The portfolio program accepts 12 or 24 months, and the bank program uses 12. Twelve months can help when recent income is strongest, though underwriters watch for declining trends.
Do business statements require ownership?
Yes, at least 25% ownership of the business. Transfers from your own business into your personal account count at 100%, and business-account deposits take the expense ratio.
What is the minimum credit score?
The floor is 660 on the portfolio program, 680 on the bank program and 700 above the super-jumbo line. Top leverage in each band usually needs a higher score, subject to full underwriting.
Can I borrow above $4,000,000 on a bank statement loan?
Possibly. The bank program carries files to $30,000,000, but each loan above $4,000,000 is reviewed case by case before submission, and leverage is lower. Nothing is a commitment to lend.
About Lendmire
Lendmire, NMLS# 2371349, is a mortgage brokerage with consumer lending licenses in 16 states. Bank statement, P&L-only, 1099-only and asset-based mortgages are arranged through wholesale lending partners for borrowers whose traditional income documentation understates their income, and each application is reviewed individually by the lender. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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References
1. Orrick InfoBytes: FHFA announces conforming loan limit increases
3. CFPB ATR/QM Small Entity Compliance Guide
This article is part of Lendmire’s super jumbo bank statement loan program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: How to Qualify for a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan in Michigan · How a Super Jumbo ARM Bank Statement Loan Works · Can a Trust Hold Title on a Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loan?
Guides: Super Jumbo Bank Statement Loans in North Carolina
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.