Purchase Loans
Jumbo
Higher-priced home? Jumbo covers what conventional caps out at.
Jumbo loans finance homes above the conforming loan limits set by the FHFA. In Washington's most competitive markets — Seattle, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Sammamish, Bainbridge — a huge share of purchases require jumbo financing. The good news: jumbo isn't as scary, slow, or expensive as it used to be.
Key Features
- • Loan amounts above conforming limits ($806,500 baseline / $1,209,750 high-cost in WA for 2025)
- • Competitive rates for strong borrowers — often comparable to conventional
- • Fixed and adjustable-rate options (10/6 and 7/6 ARMs are popular)
- • Down payments from 5% to 20%+
- • Available for primary, second home, and investment
- • Bank-statement and asset-depletion options for self-employed
How jumbo works
Jumbo loans don't conform to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac limits, so they're held on the lender's books (portfolio loans) or sold to private investors. That means each investor has its own guidelines — credit, reserves, DTI, LTV, documentation — and pricing varies more than conventional. This is exactly where being a broker pays off: I shop your file across 15+ jumbo investors to find the best combination of rate, terms, and flexibility.
Jumbo in Washington
King and Snohomish counties dominate WA jumbo volume — Seattle proper, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah, Mercer Island, and Edmonds all see median prices that bump well into jumbo territory. Bainbridge Island, Whidbey, the San Juans, and Lake Chelan dominate second-home jumbo. For tech buyers with RSU income, I work with lenders that count vesting RSUs properly — a critical detail most retail lenders miss.
Pros
- • Buy the home you actually want in WA's competitive markets
- • Rates often competitive with conventional
- • Flexible doc options for self-employed and equity comp
- • 10% and even 5% down available
Cons
- • Tighter credit requirements (680+ typical)
- • Reserve requirements (6–12 months PITI)
- • More documentation than conventional
- • Pricing varies widely lender to lender — shopping matters
Best for: Buyers in Seattle, the Eastside, Bainbridge, and other higher-priced WA markets who need financing above conforming limits — including tech professionals with RSU income and self-employed borrowers.
Common Questions
Related Loan Types
Popular WA markets for Jumbo
Jumbo financing is standard in Seattle, the Eastside, and high-end pockets of Snohomish County.