For buyers with savings and investments but little or no traditional income.
An asset depletion mortgage may help qualified Los Angeles borrowers use eligible assets as part of their qualifying income. This can be useful for retirees, self-employed borrowers, or high-net-worth applicants whose financial strength is not fully reflected by a traditional paycheck.
If your business income tells the story better than your balance sheet does, compare this with Self-employed mortgage options in California or Bank statement loans in Los Angeles — some files qualify on a blend of the two.
Your assets get divided across a set number of months. The result is treated as monthly income.
Four steps. That’s the entire calculation.
Instead of relying only on wages or tax-return income, a lender may review eligible liquid or investment assets and apply the loan program’s calculation method. The amount that can be used depends on the asset type, account history, borrower profile, property, loan amount, and program guidelines.
Roughly speaking: every $1,000,000 left after closing creates about $2,778 a month of qualifying income.
$500k in savings and $1.5M in a brokerage account. Buys a $1.2M home with $300k down plus $20k in closing costs, leaving $180k in savings. Savings counts at 100%, the brokerage at 80%.
$900k left in a brokerage account after the down payment, counted at 80%. That alone isn’t enough — so the $4,500 a month from two rental properties gets added on top.
A bigger down payment lowers your monthly payment — but it also removes assets, which lowers your qualifying income. There’s usually a sweet spot in the middle, and it’s worth finding before you write an offer.
See what a payment looks like at different down payments with the Payment Calculator.
Liquid assets count. Things you’d have to sell a house or a business to access do not.
| Asset | Counts? | Typically Counted At | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checking & savings | Yes | 100% | The simplest asset there is. |
| Money market & CDs | Yes | 100% | Treated like cash. |
| Stocks, bonds, mutual funds | Yes | 70–80% | Discounted because the value moves. |
| Retirement accounts | Yes | 70% | Rules tighten if you’re under 59½. Some lenders want proof you can access it. |
| Trust assets | Usually | Varies | You need to be able to access the funds. The trust documents get reviewed. |
| Home equity | No | — | Not liquid. A HELOC is the tool for equity. |
| Business value | No | — | Business bank accounts may count if you own the business outright. |
| Cars, art, collectibles | No | — | Not liquid and hard to value. |
| Restricted or unvested stock | No | — | You can’t access it yet, so it can’t be counted. |
Liquid asset — money you could turn into cash within a few days without selling property or a business.
Every lender publishes its own discount percentages, and they aren’t identical. Two lenders can look at the same $2 million portfolio and produce different qualifying incomes. That’s worth shopping.
Common documentation may include recent account statements, retirement-account statements, investment statements, identification, and information about other income and debts. Assets generally must be properly documented and may need to meet eligibility, seasoning, and reserve requirements.
Asset depletion does not guarantee loan approval, and not every account or dollar balance will qualify. Credit history, down payment, debt-to-income considerations, occupancy, property type, and loan-to-value are also evaluated. A lender review can help determine which assets may be usable before you apply or make an offer.
Loan size and occupancy shape the answer as well. Purchases above the conforming limit fall under Jumbo loans in Los Angeles, and if the property is a rental rather than a home you plan to occupy, DSCR loans in Los Angeles can qualify on the property’s own rent instead.
Debt-to-Income (DTI) — the percentage of your monthly income that goes toward monthly debt payments. Your asset depletion income is the number that goes on top of that fraction.
Reserves — the money you still have left after closing, counted in months of mortgage payments. On an asset depletion loan this rarely comes up as a problem, because having assets is the entire premise of the program.
If you are buying or refinancing in Los Angeles and your assets are stronger than your documented monthly income, request a review of your scenario. LiveLendLA can help you understand the documentation and loan-program factors that may affect qualification.
Not sure how your situation gets read? The Income Cheat Sheet shows how lenders calculate every type of income, or send your numbers over for a free income analysis.
The ones that come up most — and the rest below them.
An asset depletion mortgage is a loan qualification approach in which a lender may convert eligible assets into a calculated monthly income amount. The calculation and eligible assets vary by loan program and borrower situation.
Retirees, high-net-worth borrowers, and applicants with substantial eligible assets but limited traditional income may benefit. Approval still depends on credit, debts, property, down payment, documentation, and program requirements.
Depending on the program, eligible assets may include certain bank, investment, or retirement accounts. Lenders review account ownership, statements, restrictions, required reserves, and other guidelines before determining usable value.
Borrowers may need recent bank, investment, or retirement-account statements, identification, information about debts and income, and property or purchase documents. The exact checklist depends on the loan program and application.
Yes. That’s the entire point of this program. Your liquid assets become a monthly income figure, and you qualify without employment, W-2s, or tax returns.
Add up eligible assets, subtract your down payment and closing costs, discount investment and retirement accounts, then divide by 360 months. The result is your qualifying monthly income.
No. Nothing is withdrawn, sold, liquidated, or pledged. Dividing by 360 is just a formula used to produce a number. Your accounts stay exactly where they are.
No. Asset depletion uses liquid assets only. Equity, rental property value, business value, cars, and collectibles are excluded. If you want to use equity, look at a HELOC instead.
There’s no fixed minimum. What matters is whether the assets left after closing produce enough income to cover the payment. Rough guide: about $1,000,000 remaining creates roughly $2,778 a month.
Yes. Asset depletion income stacks on top of Social Security, a pension, rental income, or part-time work. Many files use a mix.
Most programs start around 680 to 700. Higher scores open more lenders and better pricing.
Typically 20–30%. Remember the trade-off: a larger down payment reduces the payment, but it also reduces the assets generating your income.
Same idea, different name. Lenders use “asset depletion,” “asset utilization,” and “asset dissipation” interchangeably, with small differences in the division period.
Yes, and it’s common in Los Angeles. Anything above $1,249,125 is a jumbo loan, and asset depletion programs reach well past that.
Yes. Purchases, rate-and-term refinances, and cash-out refinances all work, on primary homes and second homes.
Send your approximate liquid asset total and target home price. You’ll get your qualifying income back — no application, no credit pull.