A jumbo mortgage is what the name implies: big. To rephrase the old cartoon, it’s bigger than the average mortgage loan.
Why would you need a Florida jumbo mortgage loan or a Georgia mortgage loan?
The first answer is, of course, the property that you’re looking at. While we generally urge you to prequalify for a mortgage before you start looking at houses, you may well already know that you’re looking for—and can afford—something that’s more significant than the average standard loan. In other words, you may already know that you’ll be requiring a jumbo loan.
What makes a Florida mortgage jumbo, or a Georgia mortgage jumbo? A loan is considered a jumbo if it exceeds what is known as the “conforming loan limit.” This limit is the amount used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The current conforming loan limit for a single-family home in terms of a Florida mortgage or a Georgia mortgage is $417,000. If you need more, you need a Florida jumbo loan or a Georgia jumbo loan.
As you may have anticipated, jumbo mortgage loans come in three sizes: small, medium, and large. It’s easiest to qualify for the smallest, most difficult to qualify for the largest.
In all three cases, it’s not as easy to qualify for a jumbo loan as it is for a conventional one; but maybe you already figured that out. In particular, a jumbo mortgage loan will require you to have a …
- Lower debt-to-income ratio
- Higher credit score
- Larger down payment
- Higher emergency fund reserves
The reason is simple: more money is at stake, and lenders want to feel that they want to have plenty on their side in case the loan defaults. But none of this means that we can’t help you get your Georgia jumbo mortgage loan or you Florida jumbo mortgage loan! Far from it. First of all, there are certain things you can do. They include increasing your down payment: the more money you can pay upfront, the less you’ll be borrowing, and the more interest you’ll be saving. That’s not rocket science. But it also means that if your down payment can lower you below the conforming loan limit, you’ll have an easier time with the other restrictions.
Let’s take one lender, just as an example: Bank of America. For a Bank of America Florida jumbo loan or Georgia jumbo loan, you’ll need to put 20% down for loans up to one million dollars, 30% down for loans up to five million, and 35% down for loans above five million. Any way you count it, that’s a great deal of cash.
It doesn’t mean that a jumbo mortgage loan is out of reach—far from it! Your own personal financial situation may be such that these numbers aren’t a concern to you: you just want the perfect house. We’re sure that you’ll find it in Florida or Georgia, and we’re here to help you find the perfect Florida jumbo mortgage loan or Georgia jumbo mortgage loan for you. Why not give us a call today and find out how?
