A loan is considered jumbo if the amount of the mortgage exceeds loan-servicing limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—currently $726,200 for a single-family home in all states (except Hawaii and Alaska and a few federally designated high-cost markets, where the limit is $1,089,300).

Jumbo mortgages are available for primary residences, second or vacation homes and investment properties, and are also available in a variety of terms, including fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans. A jumbo loan will typically have a higher interest rate, stricter underwriting rules and require a larger down payment than a standard mortgage.

Credit score Lenders may require your FICO score to be higher than 700, and sometimes as high as 720, to qualify for a jumbo loan.

Lenders will also consider your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) to ensure you don’t become over-leveraged, though they may be more flexible if you have plentiful cash reserves. Some lenders have a hard cap of 45% DTI, however.