Asset Based Mortgage · NJ · CT · FL · NMLS #1630225
Asset Based Mortgage — Qualify On What You Hold, Not What You Earn
If your money sits in a brokerage account, a 401(k) or savings rather than arriving as a paycheck, there are two ways a lender can approve you on it. Your assets can cover the loan balance outright, which means no income calculation and no debt-to-income ratio at all — or they can be converted into a qualifying income figure, which opens up investment property and a wider product menu. Working out which route your file fits is the first real decision, and it is the one this page is built to help you make.
Last updated July 2026 · reviewed by a licensed mortgage broker
Credit Score
A Purchase
Loan Amount
To Document
Understanding the Program
What Is an Asset Based Mortgage, Really?
An asset based mortgage, sometimes called an asset depletion loan, is a Non-QM program that lets you qualify using savings, investments, and retirement accounts instead of documented employment income. Rather than asking what you earn, the lender asks what you hold. There are two ways that works, and which one your file takes decides most of what follows. On the coverage route, your liquid assets have to cover the loan balance outright — there is no income calculation and no debt-to-income ratio at all. On the income route, your qualifying assets are divided by 60 months and the result becomes your monthly income for underwriting purposes. Six hundred thousand dollars in the bank is ten thousand a month. Neither route asks for a paycheck or a tax return.
This program was built for people whose financial life doesn’t fit neatly into a W-2. Retirees living off a portfolio, business owners whose tax returns are loaded with legitimate write-offs, and high net worth buyers between income sources all run into the same wall with conventional underwriting: the math only looks at one document, and it’s the wrong one. An asset based mortgage reads your balance sheet instead.
Requirements
Asset Based Mortgage Requirements for 2026
These are the best terms available across the programs we place, with the route each one comes from named beside it. Read it with one caveat, because it is the honest one: not every line combines on a single loan. The four million dollar ceiling and the absence of a debt-to-income test are the coverage route, which is owner-occupied and second homes only. Investment property is the income route, which stops at two million.
| Requirement | Best Available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Credit Score | 600 | The same floor on both routes, and lower than most jumbo lending asks for. |
| Max LTV — Purchase | 80% | Both routes, so plan on 20% down as the starting point. |
| Max LTV — Refinance | 80% cash-out / 85% rate-and-term | Rate-and-term to 85%, cash-out to 80%, on both routes. |
| Maximum Loan Amount | $4,000,000 | On the coverage route. The income route stops at $2,000,000. |
| Minimum Loan Amount | $125,000 | Worth knowing before you assume this is only for large balances. |
| Employment | Not Verified | The coverage route asks nothing about a job at all. The income route builds its qualifying figure out of the assets, so it does not need a paycheck either. |
| Debt-to-Income Ratio | None, or up to 50% | No ratio is calculated at all on the coverage route. The income route runs one, capped at 50%. |
| Qualifying Income | Assets ÷ 60 | On the income route, your qualifying assets are divided by 60 months. A conventional depletion loan divides by the full loan term instead, which is why the same accounts produce a far larger number here. |
| Asset Documentation | 2 Months of Statements | Covering the account you are qualifying on. No W-2s, pay stubs, or tax returns at any point. |
| Reserves | None ≤ 75% LTV | True on both routes. Above 75%, the income route asks for three months. |
| Occupancy | Primary, 2nd Home, Investment | Investment property is possible, but only on the income route. The coverage route is primary residences and second homes. |
A Specific Program Option
The Coverage Route: When Assets Cover the Loan Balance Outright
The income route divides your qualifying assets by 60 months and runs a debt-to-income ratio against the result, the way a lender would with a pay stub. The coverage route does none of that: if your liquid assets are enough to cover the full loan balance, that alone satisfies the lender’s ability-to-repay requirement — no income calculation, no ratio, and no employment verification of any kind. It is built for borrowers who are cash heavy and income light, and it is where the four million dollar ceiling comes from.
| Requirement | Coverage Route | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Max LTV — Purchase | 80% | Highest available loan-to-value on a purchase under this program. |
| Max LTV — Refinance | 80% cash-out / 85% rate-and-term | Rate-and-term to 85%, cash-out to 80%. |
| Minimum Credit Score | 600 | A lower floor than most standard asset depletion programs. |
| Maximum Loan Amount | Up to $4M | Sized for high net worth and high-balance purchases. |
| Employment | Not Required | No employment or income verification of any kind. |
| Documentation | 2 Months’ Statements | Covering the single qualifying asset account. |
| Property Type | Owner-Occupied, 2nd Home | Investment properties are not eligible on this route, but they are on the income route. |
| Reserves | Not Required ≤ 75% LTV | Reserves may still apply above 75% LTV. |
What Actually Decides Your Asset Based Mortgage
Borrowers often assume the total dollar amount in their accounts is all that matters. In reality, which of the two routes your file takes, what kind of accounts the money sits in, and how well those accounts are documented all move the number on your application.
Who This Program Serves
Who Tends to Qualify for an Asset Based Mortgage?
Asset based mortgages aren’t limited to one profession or stage of life, but certain financial pictures line up especially well with how the program is built.
How It Works
How an Asset Based Mortgage Moves Through Underwriting
The math behind an asset based mortgage happens almost entirely on the lender’s side. Once you submit two months of statements for each account, the lender totals what counts. On the coverage route that total simply has to clear the loan balance, and the income question is finished there. On the income route the same total is divided by 60 months, and that becomes your monthly qualifying income for debt-to-income purposes, the way a pay stub would on a conventional loan. Settling which route a file goes down early is worth the ten minutes it takes, because it changes the maximum loan amount, whether investment property is on the table at all, and whether a debt-to-income ratio ever gets calculated.
From there, underwriting looks fairly familiar: credit, reserves, the property, and your requested loan-to-value all get reviewed the way they would on any other loan. Reserves matter more here, since lenders want funds set aside beyond what’s already used in the depletion calculation. One detail that surprises people: you don’t lose access to your money. The assets used to qualify stay exactly where they are, fully invested — a principle Fannie Mae’s own guidance on employment-related assets confirms on the agency side.
Both routes cover purchases, rate-and-term refinances, and cash-out on a primary residence or a second home. Investment property is available too, but only on the income route. If you’re weighing rental property financing, compare this against a DSCR loan, which qualifies you on the property’s cash flow instead. Review your loan estimate carefully either way, since rate and fee structures vary between programs.
Choosing Between Them
Which Route Your File Should Take
Almost everyone who lands on this page has already decided they want to qualify on assets. The question that actually matters is which of the two methods to use, and it is usually settled by three things: how much you have relative to what you are borrowing, whether the property is somewhere you will live, and how big the loan is.
Start with the simplest test. If your liquid assets are large enough to cover the entire loan balance, take the coverage route. It is less work, it asks nothing about employment, it runs no debt-to-income ratio, and it reaches four million dollars. Someone with nine hundred thousand in a brokerage account buying a home with an eight hundred thousand dollar mortgage clears it comfortably and never has an income figure calculated at all.
Now take the same borrower and move them to a two million dollar purchase. The nine hundred thousand no longer covers the balance, so the coverage route is out — but the income route is not, and the arithmetic is worth seeing. Your qualifying assets get divided by 60 months. Nine hundred thousand divided by sixty is fifteen thousand dollars a month of qualifying income, and that is the figure a debt-to-income ratio, capped at fifty percent, gets measured against. So an account that fell well short of covering a two million dollar loan outright comfortably supports one.
Sixty is the number worth remembering, because it is not what a conventional lender uses. Fannie Mae’s version of this divides your assets by the full loan term. On a thirty-year mortgage that is 360 months, which turns the same nine hundred thousand into two and a half thousand a month instead of fifteen. Same accounts, same borrower, six times the qualifying income — and it is the single biggest reason a file that a bank turned down goes through here.
Two things decide it outright rather than on the numbers. If you are buying an investment property, it is the income route or nothing — the coverage route is primary residences and second homes only. And if you want an adjustable rate or an interest-only payment, those live on the income route as well.
Self-Employed?
If Money Moves Through Your Accounts Rather Than Sitting In Them
Both routes on this page measure a balance. If you are self-employed and your money arrives and leaves rather than accumulating — healthy deposits, but nothing much parked at the end of the month — neither route is going to reward that, because a balance sheet snapshot is the wrong instrument for it. A bank statement loan qualifies you on twelve or twenty-four months of deposits instead, and for a business with real cash flow it usually prices better than an asset file does.
The reverse is worth saying too. If you sold the business, or you are drawing down a portfolio rather than running money through an account, the deposits will not be there to show and the asset routes on this page are the ones that work. Ten minutes on the phone settles which of the two you are.
How qualifying on deposits works
12 or 24 months of statements instead of tax returns, W-2s, or pay stubs.
Self-employed buyers in New Jersey
The deposit-based route for NJ borrowers, with the NJ tax load built into the numbers.
Self-employed buyers in Connecticut
The deposit-based route for CT borrowers, mill rate and attorney closing included.
Self-employed buyers in Florida
The deposit-based route for FL borrowers, including insurance and condo considerations.
Before You Start
What Happens After You Apply
- You send the application
A few minutes online. No documents at this stage.
- A licensed loan officer calls you
Someone on our team covering your state.
- We ask for documents and pull credit
Only once you have decided to move forward.
- You get an approval to shop with
Typically back within the hour.
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Find out which route your assets fit
A licensed loan officer will look at what you hold, what you are buying and how much you need, and tell you which of the two routes your file goes down — and what that means for your maximum loan amount — usually the same day.
Written and reviewed by Chris Luis, Broker/Owner of Mortgage-World.com, NMLS #1630225. About the author