Do I need a jumbo loan, and what changes if I do?

Start with the one that sounds like you

• My loan is just over the conforming limit. Do I really need a jumbo?
• I would rather keep my portfolio. Can I get a jumbo mortgage without selling all my investments?
• Part of my pay is stock and bonus. Can I refinance if my income includes RSUs and bonuses?
• My RSUs vest every year. Does my RSU income count for a mortgage?
• I have investments but little salary right now. Can I get a mortgage with no job but substantial savings?
• I own a business and my returns look low. Can I buy or refinance on bank statements?
• My down payment is in my current house. Can I use a HELOC for a down payment?
• I am buying before my current home sells. How do I use that equity?
• I bought a house with cash. Can I get a mortgage now?

Buying and need a letter? Get pre-approved, and text me the county and the price so the limit and the structure are settled first. The online letter uses a soft credit check and does not by itself confirm that a jumbo program will accept the file.

My loan is just over the conforming limit. Do I really need a jumbo?

Not always. FHFA's rule is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are restricted by law to buying mortgages with origination balances below the conforming loan limit, and "Loans above this amount are known as jumbo loans" (FHFA, conforming loan limits). The limit is set by county and by the number of units, it changes each year, and it applies to the loan amount rather than the price of the home. So the first check is which limit your property falls under, and the second is whether the down payment brings the loan under it.

"Over the limit" has two meanings. A loan above the national baseline but within a high-cost county's higher limit is what Fannie Mae calls a high-balance loan, whose requirements "apply to mortgage loans with original loan amounts meeting the high-cost area loan limits established by the Federal Housing Finance Agency," with limits "established for each county" and every such loan underwritten through Fannie Mae's automated system (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B5-1-01). Only a loan above your county's own limit forces a jumbo. This site prints no limit figure; the county values are in FHFA's table, and I look yours up when you text the county.

What changes in the review?

The rulebook. The CFPB explains that each year Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHFA "set a maximum amount for loans that they will buy from lenders," that "Larger loans are called jumbo mortgages," and that the cost of a jumbo "may be higher than the cost of obtaining a conforming mortgage" (CFPB, what is a jumbo loan?). Because the loan is not sold to the agencies, the program behind it writes its own rules for income history, reserves after closing, which assets count and how the property is reviewed. Some are stricter than the agency rule and some are more flexible in places; I never copy an agency calculation into a jumbo file.

Reserves are where the difference shows most. Fannie Mae defines them as "those liquid or near liquid assets that are available to a borrower after the mortgage closes," subtracts the funds to close before counting them, and accepts vested stocks, bonds, mutual funds and retirement accounts without liquidation, while excluding non-vested stock and stock in an unlisted corporation (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.1-01). A jumbo program sets its own month count and its own list, which I state nowhere on this site because each differs. The jumbo-without-selling answer covers funds to close and reserves in full.

Can I get a jumbo loan using bank statements instead of tax returns?

Yes. I offer jumbo loans qualified on bank statements instead of tax returns. Approval depends on the loan size, the state and the property; West Capital Lending offers them, and I arrange the loan and put the financing together. I qualify you on either your personal or your business bank account, whichever shows the larger average monthly deposits over the past 12 months. Business-account deposits get an expense factor. The lender still verifies that you can repay. The size, state and property limits are confirmed on your file. On a larger loan, the reserve and property rules carry more weight than the income document. The bank statement loan page covers the same 12-month method at any loan size, and the profit-and-loss answer covers the other documentation route I offer.

Can I use a first and a second mortgage instead of one jumbo loan?

That can be worth comparing, when both lenders accept the combined structure. Fannie Mae buys first-lien loans "where the secured property is subject to subordinate financing," provided the subordinate lien is "evidenced by a promissory note; reflected in a recorded mortgage, deed of trust, or other security instrument; and clearly subordinate," with regular payments that at least cover the interest, no balloon within a stated period, interest at a market rate, and the HELOC's payment counted among your monthly obligations when it requires one (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-1.2-04). The first mortgage stays conforming and the second carries the rest.

What I weigh against a single jumbo loan: the qualification rules of both loans, the combined borrowing against the home, the costs of two loans rather than one, and how each structure refinances later. Whether a particular second loan or line can close alongside a particular first mortgage is confirmed with both lenders before you write the offer, and an after-closing line of credit does not establish that a purchase second is available for your file.

Should I use a broker or a bank for a jumbo loan?

I offer jumbo loans and review how available programs treat your income, reserves and property before you choose a route. I put the financing together after reviewing your file, and if your bank’s own offer makes more sense, I’ll tell you.

What I check for the loan amount: how each program counts your income, including stock, bonus or self-employed income; the reserves it wants after closing and which assets it counts; how it documents those assets; whether it accepts the property, including a condo project; the structure, one jumbo or a first plus a second; and which conditions are still outstanding. The CFPB says to compare the details of your Loan Estimates and to focus on the fees that vary by lender. Should I use a mortgage broker, a bank or a direct lender? explains the roles, and what I review to put your financing together covers income, property, credit and equity, costs and timing.

Jumbo loans in San Clemente

FHFA sets the conforming loan limit by county and by unit count, so a San Clemente purchase is measured against Orange County’s value, and the test is the loan amount rather than the price. This site prints no limit figure; text me the price and the down payment and I look the limit up before we talk structure.

What a jumbo program reads differently here. The Mello-Roos special tax in Talega and Marblehead and the association dues sit in the housing payment the program measures your income against. A condominium near the pier gets a project review under the program’s own rules, and much of the housing there is condominiums and apartments by the city’s Pier Bowl Specific Plan. On a bluff or coastal lot the valuation and the insurance come first: the rail line below the bluffs has closed more than once since 2021 because of slope failures, and a local insurance broker’s guide says landslide damage is excluded from standard homeowners policies. The San Clemente page covers the rest of the local file.

What I review before you shop

Which limit your county and unit count carry, and how far over it the loan you want sits. Whether more down, a jumbo, or a first plus a second fits your cash and your plans. Which income rule a jumbo program would apply to your file: W-2, self-employed, stock and bonus, or assets. What remains after closing under each structure. Then I tell you which programs I can place, before you write an offer.

None of that is an approval. A lender decides each file on its own documents, and I do not promise that any program will accept a given file. What you get from me is the number the rulebook produces, not a guess, and requirements vary by program and lender.

What should I have ready?

• The county and the number of units, and whether the home is a condo.
• The price, the loan amount you want and the down payment you planned.
• Where the down payment comes from, and what would be left after closing.
• How your income is documented: pay stubs and W-2s, returns, bank statements, award agreements, or asset statements.
• Whether you are buying or refinancing, and whether you will live in the home.
• Your monthly debts, because every structure is qualified against them.

Send documents through the secure process I give you when we talk, not by ordinary text. A conversation does not pull your credit.

Questions people ask next

Text or call Zach about a jumbo loan