The published rules
These are programme rules, not Plinth policy. Where a figure is reset each year — conforming limits, FHA county limits, the USDA fee, the VA fee table — the mechanism is described and the number is not, because a stale number on a lending page is worse than no number.
- The threshold
- A jumbo is simply a loan above the conforming limit that the Federal Housing Finance Agency publishes for that county and year. High-cost counties have a higher ceiling, which is why the same loan amount can be conforming in one county and jumbo in the next.
- Who sets the rules
- Not Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The lender or the investor buying the loan does, so guidelines vary between lenders in a way conforming guidelines do not.
- What lenders typically ask for
- Larger cash reserves after closing, a stronger credit profile, fuller documentation of income and assets, and sometimes two appraisals. These are lender conventions rather than a published rulebook, so they differ.
- Mortgage insurance
- Some jumbo programmes allow less than 20% down with mortgage insurance; many do not. It is a per-lender question.
What it will not do
- There is no single jumbo rulebook to read, so shopping means comparing guidelines, not only pricing.
- The gap between a large conforming loan and a small jumbo is often worth closing with a bigger down payment. That is arithmetic you can do before you apply.
What to find out before you go further
- 01The conforming limit for that county this year, and how far above it you are.
- 02How many months of reserves the lender wants after closing.
- 03Whether a piggyback second lien would keep the first loan conforming.