No job. No tax returns. Just the money.
Asset depletion turns what you own into qualifying income. And the number that decides everything — the divisor — is the one number the industry never mentions. It can swing your loan by eleven times.
An asset depletion loan turns what you own into qualifying income by dividing your eligible assets by a set number of months. That number — the divisor — is the whole loan, and lenders use anything from 60 to 360 months. The same $2,000,000 becomes $33,333 a month or $5,556 a month depending purely on whose desk it lands on. You never actually spend the assets.
Same assets. Eleven times the loan.
Every lender divides your assets by a different number of months. Nobody advertises theirs. It is the single largest variable in the loan, and it is invisible until you apply.
Savings, checking, brokerage. Counted at 100%.
Typically discounted to ~70%.
Pension, Social Security, rental — most lenders will add it.
Aggressive
Common
Conservative
Full term
Identical assets. Identical borrower. $1,736,110 from one lender, $142,762 from another — a 12.2× difference decided entirely by a number on their rate sheet that nobody will tell you until you apply. Our job is to know which desk uses which divisor before you ever fill in a form.
Illustrative only. Assumes retirement funds counted at 70%, a 43% debt-to-income ceiling, $1,200/mo of taxes and insurance, 30-year term at typical non-QM pricing. Eligible asset types, discounts, divisors and ratios vary substantially by lender and by file. Not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
A short divisor can qualify you for too much.
Sixty months makes your assets look like a torrent of income. You may need those assets to last thirty years.
The lender will happily use the shortest divisor they offer, because it approves the biggest loan and the biggest loan pays them the most. That is not the same as the right loan.
Is asset depletion your loan?
Four taps. It costs more than conventional. Sometimes you don't need it.
This is your loan.
No qualifying income, real assets, a solid down payment, and other income to fall back on. That is exactly the case the product exists for. We will shop your file to find the shortest divisor that is genuinely appropriate — and we will show you the conservative number alongside it, so the decision is yours.
Your portfolio becomes an income. On paper.
Asset depletion divides your liquid assets by a number of months and calls the result income. Here is that calculation — and then the question nobody asks about it.
Cash, brokerage, vested RSUs. Retirement accounts often count at 70% if you are under 59½.
Push this to 100% to see what paying cash does.
Shorter period = higher imputed income = bigger loan. It is an underwriting convention, not a fact about your money.
Per year. Not because you earn it — because a lender divided.
You are borrowing at 7.75% to hold assets earning 5%.
This is the question nobody asks an asset-depletion borrower. Your portfolio has to out-earn your mortgage rate, or the loan is quietly destroying money. Here is your portfolio in thirty years, both ways.
We are an asset-depletion brokerage. If the arbitrage is against you, we will tell you to pay cash.
Illustrative only. This model assumes mortgage payments are drawn from the portfolio and that returns compound monthly at a constant rate — real returns are volatile, and sequence-of-returns risk matters enormously in the early years. It ignores the mortgage interest deduction, capital gains tax on liquidation, and the appreciation of the home itself, all of which can move the answer. It is a starting point for a conversation with a financial adviser, not a substitute for one. We are mortgage brokers, not investment advisers. Not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Should you just pay cash?
An asset depletion loan qualifies you by assuming you will spend your portfolio. So here is the question that follows: if you are going to spend it anyway, why borrow at 7.75% to avoid spending it?
The crossover is roughly your mortgage rate plus the drag of tax and insurance. Above it, borrowing wins. Below it, borrowing quietly destroys money — and almost nobody runs this.
You would be borrowing at 7.75% to hold a portfolio earning 5.00%. That is a negative arbitrage of 2.75 points a year, and across thirty years it costs you $1,681,491.
The whole premise of an asset depletion loan is that you could spend the portfolio. If that is true — and the lender is literally underwriting it as true — then spend it on the house, not on interest.
We are an asset-depletion brokerage. This advice earns us nothing. It is still the right advice, and it is the reason you should believe the rest of this page.
From here to the keys — five steps.
No mystery, no call centre, no "we'll get back to you." Every step is exactly what happens inside it.
Four questions. No credit pull, no sign-up, no obligation.
~60 secondsWhat happensOne application goes to dozens of wholesale lenders. They compete for you.
Same dayWhat happensUnderwritten against real documents — not a soft letter any lender prints.
~24 hoursWhat happensListing agents call Adriana. She picks up. That is worth more than a bid.
Your timelineWhat happensConditions cleared, docs signed, funded. And she shows you the conservative divisor next to the aggressive one.
To the dateWhat happensThree people with money. One we told to borrow less.
Real numbers, and the one we told to take a smaller loan.
His bank divided by 120 months. We found a lender who divided by 60. Nothing about him changed.
The 60-month divisor made her look enormously wealthy. Those assets had to last thirty years.
Alone, none of the three qualified him. Together they cleared it comfortably. Most lenders never ask.
ADReal Estate & Mortgage Broker · GRI
Milpitas, California · Serving all 58 counties
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Everything asset-rich buyers actually ask.
What is an asset depletion loan?
A mortgage that converts your liquid assets into qualifying income. The lender divides your eligible assets by a set number of months — the divisor — and treats the result as monthly income. No job required, no tax returns in most programs.
Who is it for?
Retirees, people who have sold a business, high-net-worth individuals with substantial savings but little reportable income, and anyone whose wealth is real but whose income statement is thin. If you have the money and not the paycheck, this is the product.
What is the divisor and why does it matter so much?
The divisor is the number of months the lender spreads your assets over. It is the single most important number in the loan and almost nobody talks about it. $2,000,000 divided by 60 months is $33,333 of monthly income. The same $2,000,000 divided by 360 is $5,556. Same assets. Eleven times the difference in what you can borrow.
Do lenders really use different divisors?
Yes — and this is the whole game. Divisors of 60, 84, 120, and 240 months are all in use, and the full-term 360-month approach exists as well. Two lenders can look at identical assets and arrive at wildly different loan amounts. The only way to know is to have somebody who talks to all of them.
What assets count?
Typically checking, savings, brokerage accounts, and retirement accounts — though retirement funds are usually discounted, often to around 70%, and may only count if you are of an age to access them without penalty. Property equity, business assets, and illiquid holdings generally do not count.
Do I actually have to spend the assets?
No. This is a common misunderstanding. The lender is not requiring you to draw the money down — the division is purely a method of calculating a qualifying income figure. Your assets stay yours and stay invested.
Do I need a job?
No. That is the entire point. Asset depletion exists precisely for people with no employment income — the retired, the recently exited, those living on a portfolio.
Are the rates higher?
Yes. This is a non-QM product and it prices above conventional. If you have documentable income that qualifies you conventionally, take the conventional loan — it will be cheaper, and we will tell you so.
Can I combine it with other income?
Usually yes. Many programs will add asset-depletion income to pension income, Social Security, rental income, or part-time work. Blending is common and often produces a far stronger file than either source alone.
What's the catch?
Two. The rate is higher than conventional. And a short divisor can qualify you for a loan that is larger than you should sensibly carry — 60 months makes your assets look like a torrent of income, but you may need those assets to last thirty years. We will run the long divisor as well and show you both.
Stop estimating. Get the real number.
Four questions, no credit pull. You'll get your payment, your options, and an honest read on the best fit.