Asset-based mortgages: qualify on what you have saved.

One way an asset-based loan counts your money. The lender takes your eligible savings and investments, sets aside what you need for the down payment, closing costs and reserves, and spreads the rest over a set number of months to arrive at a monthly income. That figure can stand alone or be added to wages, a pension or other income you document.

No. Nothing is pledged and nothing has to be sold. The lender reads your statements; the home is the collateral.

Not always. With an asset qualifier you do not need to show employment. With asset depletion, your assets can be your only income or be added to other income. Either way, the lender confirms you can repay from verified assets.

Bank accounts, brokerage accounts and retirement accounts are the usual ones. Each program counts each kind of account in its own way, and some count part of an account’s value.

Most programs are for the home you live in. Some also allow a second home or a rental property. Ask a loan officer which programs fit your plans.

Each program sets its own. Some programs accept credit scores from 600, with a larger down payment, and some lend from $100,000; most ask for more on both. A loan officer matches your file to a program.

No. It shows how the methods could treat the balances you enter. Underwriting sets the method and the final figures after a full review.

No. In business finance, asset-based lending usually means a loan secured by a company’s own assets, such as its receivables or inventory. An asset-based mortgage is a home loan secured by the home. Your accounts are used to show you can repay it; they are not collateral.

Yes. Fannie Mae’s rules on employment-related assets let some retirement savings be counted as qualifying income, and non-QM programs have their own methods, including asset depletion and the asset qualifier. The calculator on this page shows the Fannie Mae method and our non-QM methods side by side, using the same balances.

Yes. An asset-based loan can buy a home or refinance the one you have, and your accounts are counted the same way.

A bank statement loan counts the deposits into a self-employed borrower’s accounts as income. An asset-based mortgage counts the balances you already hold, whether or not you work. Some borrowers could use either; see bank statements, 1099 forms or assets.

Everything an ordinary mortgage checks: your credit, your record of housing payments, the appraisal, the property and title. Balances are confirmed again shortly before closing.

People whose savings tell a stronger story than their paycheck: retirees and people living on their investments, people between jobs or recently retired, owners who sold a business, and anyone whose income looks small next to what they have saved.

An ordinary home loan, secured by the home, in which your verified savings, investments and retirement accounts show you can repay it, in place of or as well as a paycheck. Programs count the assets in one of three ways: as a monthly income figure (asset depletion), through a test of the assets left after closing with no income figure (an asset qualifier), or added to income you already document. Nothing is pledged, and your accounts stay in your name.

Usually, yes. Lenders use several names for the same idea: your eligible balances are turned into a monthly income figure for the loan. Some lenders also use “asset utilization” for a test with no income figure, which this page calls an asset qualifier. So ask how a program counts your accounts rather than going by its name: which accounts it counts, at what share of their value, and whether it works out a monthly income.

No. The name describes the arithmetic, not a requirement. The lender spreads your eligible balances over a set number of months to arrive at a monthly figure; you keep the accounts, nothing is pledged, and there is no requirement to withdraw the money. Balances are confirmed again shortly before closing.

Retirement accounts can usually count, along with bank and brokerage accounts. Each program treats each kind of account in its own way, and some count only part of its value. You send the plan’s withdrawal terms with your statements, because they show whether, and on what terms, money can be taken out. The loan does not require you to withdraw anything; questions about taxes or penalties on a withdrawal are for your tax adviser or financial planner.

It depends on the program. Money that has only just arrived, for example after a large transfer or the sale of a home or business, may need time in the account before it can be used, and any large or unusual deposit needs a short explanation, such as the closing statement from a sale. If you can, have the accounts settled before the home search begins.

If your pay stubs or tax returns already show your income well, a standard loan may be simpler. An asset-based mortgage is for when they do not tell the whole story: little or no paycheck, uneven income, or income that looks small next to what you have saved. Ask for a standard loan quote as well and compare the two for the same home.

Fidelity Residential is licensed in many states. The full, current list is on NMLS Consumer Access (opens in a new tab), or call us at 732-686-9999.