Estimated reading time: 5 min 54 sec.
An asset depletion loan lets a borrower qualify for a mortgage using savings, investments, and retirement accounts as income, instead of pay stubs or tax returns. The lender divides the borrower’s total qualifying assets by a set number of months — commonly 360, matching a 30-year term — to produce a monthly income figure used in underwriting.
Table of Contents
Who benefits from this program?
Asset depletion is built for borrowers whose wealth doesn’t show up as a paycheck: retirees, investors living off portfolio returns, recent business sellers, and international buyers who hold significant liquid assets but no active W-2 or US employment income. This is one of the most useful programs for the foreign national investor buying US property with capital accumulated abroad.
How the calculation works
Lenders typically count 100% of cash, checking and savings balances, and a discounted percentage of stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts (often 70% to 80%, since those assets carry market risk and, for retirement funds, early withdrawal penalties). The total is divided by a fixed term, usually 60, 84, 120, or 360 months depending on the lender, to arrive at a monthly income used the same way W-2 income would be used in a conventional file.
For example, a borrower with $1,800,000 in eligible liquid assets, divided over 360 months, produces $5,000 a month in qualifying income — enough to support a meaningful mortgage payment even with zero traditional income documented.
Eligible accounts
- Checking and savings accounts
- Brokerage and investment accounts
- Retirement accounts (IRA, 401k), usually with an early-withdrawal discount applied
- CDs and money market accounts
Assets need to be sourced and seasoned, generally meaning they’ve been in the borrower’s accounts for 60 to 90 days, to satisfy anti-money-laundering documentation standards.
Requirements borrowers should expect
Down payments on asset depletion loans commonly start around 20% to 25%, credit score minimums are usually in the mid-600s, and the borrower still needs to show the down payment and closing costs as funds separate from the assets being used for income qualification, or a large enough total balance to cover both.
Asset depletion for foreign national buyers
Combined with a foreign national loan program, asset depletion is one of the clearest paths for an international investor with strong savings but no US tax return to qualify for financing on a US property, without needing to establish US employment first.
If you have savings or investments but no traditional US income, an asset depletion loan may be your most direct path to financing. Visit Asset Depletion Loans or contact QKapital to get started.
