Above the conforming limit
Jumbo Loans
Above the conforming limit the rules stop being uniform and every lender writes its own. That's exactly where shopping pays.
A jumbo loan is any loan above the conforming limit for the county it's in. Above that line the agencies stop buying, lenders hold the loans themselves, and the uniform rulebook disappears.
That's the important part: every jumbo lender writes its own guidelines.
Why that matters to you
With a conforming loan, most lenders are working from the same rules, so the differences between them are mostly price.
With jumbo, the differences are structural. One lender wants 20% down; another writes the same borrower at 10%. One caps at $2 million; another goes to $5 million. One needs twelve months of reserves; another needs six. One won't touch a bank statement jumbo; another specialises in them.
A bank offers you its single set of guidelines. If you don't fit, you hear no — and nobody tells you the lender across town would have said yes. This is the single best argument for using a broker, and it gets stronger as the loan gets bigger.
Know your limit first
The 2026 one-unit conforming baseline is $832,750. High-cost counties rise to $1,249,125.
Orange County is at the ceiling. A $1.2 million loan here is conforming, not jumbo, and prices accordingly. Plenty of local buyers are quoted jumbo terms on a loan that isn't jumbo at all.
Check the limit for your county before you accept a jumbo quote. If you're near the line, a slightly larger down payment that drops you under it can be worth more than any rate shopping.
Jumbo for self-employed borrowers
This is where it gets interesting, and where banks say no most often.
Bank statement jumbo qualifies on deposits rather than returns, at jumbo loan sizes. Asset depletion jumbo uses your liquid assets with no income calculation at all. Both exist. Both price above a full-documentation jumbo. Both close.
What a strong jumbo file looks like
- Credit 700+, with better pricing at 740 and 780
- 10% to 20% down, depending on the lender and the loan size
- Six to twelve months of reserves after closing
- A clean, well-documented file — jumbo underwriters read everything
Interest-only
Interest-only is far more available in jumbo than in conforming, and for the right borrower with variable income it's a legitimate cash-flow tool rather than a gimmick.
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Questions people ask
What makes a loan jumbo?
Anything above the conforming limit for that county. The 2026 one-unit baseline is $832,750 and high-cost counties go to $1,249,125. In Orange County the ceiling applies, so a $1.2 million loan is still conforming.
Do jumbo loans always cost more?
Not always. Jumbo pricing sometimes beats conforming, particularly for strong borrowers, because these loans are held on balance sheets rather than sold to the agencies.
How much do I need down?
10% is achievable for strong files, 20% is typical, and some programs want more as the loan grows. It depends far more on the lender than on the rules.
Can I get a jumbo loan if I'm self-employed?
Yes. Bank statement jumbo and asset depletion jumbo both exist. They price above a full-documentation jumbo, but they close.
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