If you are buying in Mirabel on an asset-based loan, your balance sheet is rarely the problem. The appraisal is. Far north Scottsdale custom homes transact infrequently, the directly comparable sales get thin, and on a super jumbo file a short value is a real risk to the deal rather than a paperwork inconvenience.
Here is how asset depletion actually works, and what Mirabel specifically does to the file.
How asset depletion is calculated
The lender totals your eligible liquid assets, applies discounts, divides by a program-defined number of months, and qualifies you on the resulting monthly figure as if it were salary.
| Asset | Typical treatment |
|---|---|
| Checking, savings, money market | Full value |
| Taxable brokerage | Commonly discounted for price movement |
| Retirement accounts | Discounted further; some programs require withdrawal age |
| Assets pledged as collateral | Generally excluded entirely |
| Business entity accounts | Not automatically yours; document access and ownership |
| Real estate equity | Not liquid. Does not count |
The divisor decides everything. Programs differ substantially in how many months they spread your assets across, and that single number moves your qualifying income more than any other variable. The same balance sheet produces materially different approvals at different investors, which is the strongest argument for a broker rather than one bank's shelf.
Seasoning and documentation matter. Funds generally need to be in your accounts and documented. Proceeds from a sale that has not closed are not assets you can use yet.
Asset depletion still runs a ratio. It produces an income number and then tests your obligations against it. No-ratio skips the calculation entirely. If your obligation stack is heavy relative to your assets, no-ratio is often the better instrument.
What Mirabel adds
Mirabel is a private, gated golf community in far north Scottsdale at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet, built around a Tom Fazio course that opened in 2001, playing 7,147 yards to a par of 71.
The appraisal is the live risk. Custom homes on large desert parcels that sell infrequently produce few directly comparable sales. An appraiser reaches further in distance and further back in time, adjustments grow, and the resulting number is more contestable. On a super jumbo loan with a closing date attached, that is the item most likely to cost you weeks.
What to do about it, concretely:
- Order the appraisal early, not at the last condition.
- Decide in advance what you do with a short value: bring cash, renegotiate, or walk. Knowing beforehand turns an emergency into a decision.
- Give the appraiser context. Recent comparable sales inside the community, and anything specific about the property, help more than people assume.
Elevation and location bring property questions. Far north Scottsdale involves well water and septic systems on some parcels, each carrying their own inspections and documentation on certain programs. Ask about the specific parcel early.
The club obligation still applies. Mandatory dues and minimums are counted against whatever qualifying figure your structure produces. An initiation deposit is cash out of your accounts and generally does not count toward reserves.
On an asset depletion file that second point is sharper than anywhere else, because your qualifying income is calculated from your liquid balance. Money moved into an initiation deposit reduces the very number the calculation runs on, and simultaneously fails to count as reserves. It hits you twice. Decide the club and the loan together rather than sequentially. Full mechanics in How a Scottsdale Golf Club Membership Affects Your Mortgage Approval, and the wider stack in HOA Dues, Club Dues and Assessments.
Super jumbo narrows the field. Above certain loan amounts fewer investors participate, guidelines diverge, and reserve requirements rise. Layer asset depletion on top, which is already non-agency, and placement becomes the entire exercise. See Jumbo Loans in Scottsdale.
If asset depletion does not clear it
No-ratio. No debt-to-income test at all. Credit, assets, reserves and the property carry the file. Frequently cleaner when the obligation stack is heavy, because the dues stop mattering to a calculation nobody is running.
A combined structure, pairing documented distribution or investment income with a depletion calculation where the program allows it.
A larger down payment, modeled carefully. Spending assets to reduce the loan also reduces the assets your qualifying income derives from, which on a depletion file can be self-defeating. Run it rather than assuming.
If you have documented recurring income that supports a full documentation jumbo, take it. It is nearly always cheapest. Asset depletion, no-ratio and other non-QM structures price differently than agency financing because the risk profile differs.
Before you write in Mirabel
- Total your eligible assets the way a lender will: after discounts, excluding pledged assets and real estate equity.
- Model the initiation deposit against the depletion calculation before committing to either.
- Get the club's current membership plan and every association's dues, budget, reserve study and any approved assessment.
- Order the appraisal early and plan for thin comps.
- Ask about well and septic on the parcel.
- Document seasoning and sources. Every large deposit gets traced.
- Get fully underwritten, not pre-qualified. A pre-qualification is a calculator that usually cannot run a depletion analysis at all.
Why bring this file to us
- Broker model, and here it is the job. Depletion divisors and eligible-asset rules vary enormously between investors, and at super jumbo the field is narrow.
- We model the deposit against the calculation before you write the check, because the order of those two decisions changes the outcome.
- We run depletion and no-ratio side by side and use whichever carries the property.
- We take the appraisal seriously from day one in a submarket where comps are thin.
- You talk to the principal. Ricky Khamis is President of EPiQ Lending, NMLS #173141, lending in Arizona since 1999 and a 2025 Presidents Club Winner at CMG Home Loans. Direct line: (480) 999-9842.
EPiQ Lending is NMLS #1936984, at 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite A-101 in Scottsdale. Verify all of it before you trust any of it: Ricky's EPiQ Lending profile, the Scottsdale branch, and the license itself at NMLS Consumer Access. Hold every lender to that standard, including us.
Send me your asset statements and the club's membership plan before you write in Mirabel, and I will model both together.
Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information, not a commitment to lend or an offer to extend credit. Asset depletion calculations, eligible assets, discount factors and divisors vary by investor and change over time. Club membership structures and association obligations vary by community; confirm current terms with the club and the association. Rates, terms, and program guidelines change and depend on credit approval, property appraisal, and other qualifying factors. Not all applicants will qualify. Non-QM and no-ratio financing carries different pricing and terms than agency financing. Consult your tax advisor before liquidating or pledging assets.
