An ordinary house here needs a jumbo loan.
You are not buying a mansion. You are buying four bedrooms, a garage, and a decent school. In McLean or Bethesda, that house clears seven figures.
Takes about 2 minutes. No credit check to start.
- Your loan sits above the county limit
- Most of your pay is bonus or stock
- You work for yourself
- Your money is invested, not paid to you
- You do not want to put 20% down
A jumbo loan is judged by rules no government agency wrote. Every lender writes its own.
Licensed mortgage broker · NMLS 179997
Office in Vienna, Virginia
We speak 8 languages
Nobody backs this loan. So the lender is careful.
A jumbo loan is a mortgage above your county’s conforming loan limit.
It falls outside what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will buy, so lenders set their own rules.
Credit score, down payment, reserves, assets, and debt-to-income ratio are reviewed more strictly.
Understanding the jumbo vs. conforming loan distinction, and more broadly a jumbo versus conforming loan comparison, starts here: conforming loans follow agency rules; jumbo loans follow whatever the individual lender decides.
Jumbo rules can vary significantly from one lender to another. The 2026 baseline conforming loan limit is $832,750. In Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland suburbs, the limit rises to $1,249,125. Loans between these limits may qualify as high balance loans and can still receive agency-backed pricing. Above the high-cost conforming loan limit, you move into a true jumbo loan Virginia or jumbo mortgage Virginia file, and the same logic applies to a jumbo loan Maryland purchase in the DC suburbs.
Which one of these is you?
Almost every jumbo loan buyer who calls is in one of these six spots.
You are barely over the line
Your loan sits just over the conforming loan limit. Nobody told you a high balance loan sits in between. A slightly bigger down payment can move you into the cheaper band.
Most of your pay is bonus or stock
Base salary alone will not carry the purchase. Some lenders average two years of bonus. Some cut stock hard. A strong credit score helps either way.
You work for yourself
Two years of strong returns is the easy path. Where write-offs hide your income, a bank statement program still carries a jumbo loan. Expect a larger down payment.
Your money is invested, not paid out
Your money remains actively invested rather than paid out directly to you. You hold substantial real wealth alongside modest documented income. Asset depletion successfully turns an investment portfolio into qualifying income, but it is important to remember that asset depletion formulas differ sharply between different lenders across the financial market.
You are moving for a job that has not started
When you are moving for a job that has not started yet, proper timing is completely vital for your mortgage approval success. Make sure to bring your signed employment contract and official offer details forward early in the process, because these specific files tend to fail far more frequently on scheduling than on income verification.
You do not want to put twenty percent down
Ten percent works at a 760 credit score, close to what a 90 loan to value jumbo mortgage typically requires. A 95 ltv jumbo loan exists at a smaller number of lenders for the strongest files. A second loan behind a high-balance first sometimes beats one large jumbo loan. A bigger down payment still prices best.
Ten percent down is possible. Twenty opens more doors.
Here is what a jumbo loan lender wants to see before it will commit.
The down payment
The down payment ranges from 10% to 20% for your purchase. A much bigger down payment significantly widens the list of available lenders and improves your interest rate at the exact same time. Planning this crucial financial step carefully ensures you secure the most competitive mortgage terms possible.
The credit score
The credit score typically starts from 700 to qualify properly. Pricing steps up favorably at 740 and again at 780 for better terms. Investing in a small credit score repair first can easily pay for itself many times over by reducing your overall long-term borrowing costs significantly.
Money left over
Having sufficient money left over means maintaining six to twelve months of full payments in reserves after closing. Please remember that retirement accounts usually count only at a discounted value. Keeping proper liquid cash reserves ensures financial stability and provides complete peace of mind throughout your entire homeownership journey.
Your ratio
Your ratio should ideally stay under 43% in most standard cases. A higher debt-to-income ratio only works at a select few specialized lenders where your financial reserves are exceptionally strong. Managing your existing debts properly guarantees a much smoother mortgage underwriting process and faster final approval.
Fixed or adjustable
Jumbo loans often offer better pricing with a 5 1 arm jumbo loan or 7 1 arm jumbo loan if you plan to move within that period. An ARM jumbo loan structure in general trades a lower initial rate for less long-term certainty, which is worth pricing against a fixed jumbo loan side by side.
Reserves catch people out. The lender wants your full monthly payment sitting in the bank several times over. That is after you pay the deposit and every closing cost.
A bank has one answer. We have several.
There is no agency rulebook here, so every lender writes its own. Shopping a jumbo loan near me, or a broader search for jumbo loans near me across the DMV, is worth more than shopping any other product we handle.
We check the cheaper band first
Structuring the purchase to sit inside the high balance loan ceiling instead of above it can save a quarter point for the life of the loan.
We find who reads your income right
Bonus, commission, stock, and self-employment are treated differently everywhere. One lender approving what another declined is routine.
We tell you the reserves up front
We make sure to inform you about all necessary reserves right up front before you are under contract, while you can still change the structure.
We price fixed against adjustable
When dealing with a large financial balance, the five-year difference between these options is significant and definitely not just a simple rounding error.
SAI Mortgage, Inc.
Is committed to helping you find the right mortgage product for your needs, whether you’re exploring a home mortgage loan, considering a home mortgage loan in Virginia, or comparing other financing options. We understand that every borrower is different, and we offer a variety of products to meet your individual requirements, ensuring you receive guidance that fits your unique financial goals, whether that means a jumbo purchase here or one of the best mortgage loans available through our broader lender panel on our homepage.
Three steps. That is it.
Most people are pre-approved within two days.
Tell us how you get paid
A short call, in your language if you like. No credit check yet.
We shop it for you
We check many lenders and send you what you qualify for, in writing.
You get the keys
We handle the rest and close on the date you need.
Licensed in Virginia, DC and Maryland.
From our office in Vienna, we serve buyers across the Commonwealth, and your file follows you if you move across state lines. We are not currently licensed for a jumbo loan NYC file, a jumbo loan New York purchase, or a broader jumbo loan NY transaction, though the same conforming versus jumbo logic covered above applies nationwide, including for a super jumbo loan file well above even the high cost ceiling.
Northern Virginia
I-95 Corridor
Hampton Roads
Central & Western Virginia
What people ask us first.
The questions that come up on almost every call.
What is a high balance loan?
A high balance loan sits between the baseline conforming loan limit and the high-cost ceiling in an expensive county. It is still agency-backed, so it usually prices better than a jumbo loan.
Do I need twenty percent down?
No. Ten percent down is common at a 760 credit score or higher, and some lenders go as low as a 95 ltv jumbo loan for the strongest files. Twenty percent simply opens more lenders and better pricing.
How much do I need left in the bank?
Most jumbo lenders want six to twelve months of full mortgage payments in reserves after closing, on top of your down payment and closing costs. Retirement accounts usually count, but often at a discount, such as 70% of the balance.
Is a jumbo rate always higher?
Not always. In some rate environments, a jumbo rate can actually price close to or even below a conforming rate, since jumbo lenders compete hard for high-quality borrowers with strong credit and large reserves. This is one more reason a straight jumbo loan vs. conventional comparison should be run on current numbers rather than assumed.
Can I get one if I am self employed?
Yes. Two years of strong tax returns is the standard path, and a bank statement program can carry a jumbo file for self-employed borrowers whose write-offs reduce taxable income, though expect a somewhat larger down payment requirement in that scenario.
Is a jumbo certificate of deposit the same thing as a jumbo loan?
No. A jumbo certificate of deposit is a bank savings product, typically requiring a large minimum deposit in exchange for a higher interest rate, and it has nothing to do with mortgage financing. A jumbo loan is strictly a home loan above the conforming limit.
Get the structure right before you offer.
On a large purchase, the structure matters more than the rate, and it has to be settled before you are under contract.
Most of our jumbo loan files run through McLean, Vienna, Great Falls, Arlington, Bethesda, and Potomac.
If you searched for a jumbo loan near me and got one quote with no explanation, that is the difference a broker makes.