Know your loan options: What is a jumbo mortgage?

Have a growing family? Ready to move into your dream digs? Sounds like upgrading your home might be on your agenda. If you're looking at an upscale property or simply one in an area of the country where the cost of living is high, chances are you might be considering a jumbo mortgage.

A jumbo loan isn’t your typical home loan, in terms of how much you can borrow or what's required to qualify. With a jumbo mortgage, you’re borrowing more money for a home than you typically would with a conventional home loan. It could be a good fit if you’re looking to upgrade your digs or you live in an expensive area of the U.S., and you know what to expect.

Here’s what you need to know about how these loans work and why you might consider one for your home purchase.

The simple answer is that a jumbo loan is a home loan that exceeds $510,400 in most states. In other areas, such as Hawaii and Alaska, the limit is $765,600 in 2020 to account for the above-average home prices in those markets.

A jumbo loan isn’t the only home-buying option — you may also be considering a conventional mortgage and thinking about mortgage rates. The question is, how do you decide which mortgage is right for you ?

Jumbo loans are issued when the amount you’re borrowing exceeds the borrowing limits set for conforming loans.

You might be asking yourself: What does that mean?

To understand jumbo mortgages and how they work, it helps to take a step back and have a little background on conforming loans. A conforming loan means a home mortgage that conforms or follows certain borrowing guidelines established by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In other words, it's what you might think of when you think of a conventional or traditional home loan.

Jumbo loans are by nature a little riskier than conventional loans for banks. When you're borrowing more than $500,000, there's more at stake for the bank in terms of making sure that you're able to pay that money back. As a result, not everyone will qualify for a jumbo home loan.

You shouldn’t be intimidated by a lender’s list of qualifications. If you're considering a jumbo mortgage, odds are that you're in a position to afford it, if you have a solid income, have your debt under control, and are focused on saving and investing to build wealth for the long term.

You will need decent cash reserves to afford a jumbo mortgage. In addition to your down payment, there are also your closing costs to consider, which typically will account for 2% to 5% of the home's purchase price. As you map out your home-buying budget, you'll want to factor in those expenses.

Remember, the more you put down, the less you'll have to pay back and the more money you could save in interest over the life of the loan. A bigger down payment can also help you sidestep paying private mortgage insurance, which can increase your monthly payment.

It's helpful to run the numbers through a mortgage calculator , so you have an idea of what your monthly payments will work out to and what you'll pay in interest. This can also help you estimate what you'll need to pay at closing.

The short answer is, it depends. Every bank and lender is different when it comes to how much they're willing to let you borrow for a jumbo loan.

Any time you're getting a home loan, you want to get the best rate possible. So you’re probably wondering whether jumbo mortgage rates are higher or lower compared to conventional loans.

Jumbo mortgage rates really aren't that different from conforming loan rates — both follow the 10-year Treasury as a benchmark for setting rates. That means you can take advantage of the current historically low rate environment on a jumbo mortgage just like you can with any other home loan.

It may even be possible to land a rate that's lower than a conventional mortgage’s, depending on the lender and how qualified you are for a loan.

Both fixed-rate and adjustable rate jumbo mortgages are available, and it's important to decide upfront which one you'd prefer. A fixed-rate can offer some certainty about how much you'll pay in interest total and your monthly payment. Adjustable rates, on the other hand, could save you money if rates stay low. But the total cost to you is unclear because rates could rise, causing your payments to increase.

Simply put, the best reason to consider a jumbo mortgage is that it can help you buy a more expensive home when other mortgage loans fall short.

If you stick with a conforming loan, you might have to resort to piggy-backing multiple mortgages to make a home purchase. Or you may have to dig deeper into your liquid savings or investments to make up the difference between the purchase price and the loan limit.

Jumbo mortgages eliminate those obstacles, giving you more flexibility in home-buying. The amount of cash you'll need to bring to the closing table might be more than what you'd typically need on a traditional loan, but it may not be a stretch if you've saved faithfully.