High-Balance Loans for Washington Home Buyers, Homeowners

Published:
May 23, 2018
Last updated:
December 3, 2021
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Are you looking to buy a home in a Washington market that will put you over the conventional loan limit threshold? The a high-balance loan may be your only option.

High-Balance Loan Program in Washington

We offer a high-balance mortgage loan program for Washington home buyers and homeowners. This product is well suited for borrowers in the more expensive real estate markets in the state, such as the Seattle metro area. It’s also a good option for borrowers who are purchasing a higher-priced in any market across the state.

Highlights of the program:

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Different from a Jumbo Mortgage

Loan limits can be a confusing subject for home buyers and homeowners. And that’s understandable when you consider the complexities of these limits. They are established by federal housing officials, including the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Here’s an overview of the key differences.

Conforming vs. Jumbo: Conforming loan limits are the maximum size for mortgages that can be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, via the secondary mortgage market. When a home loan exceeds the conforming cap for the county in which the home is located, it’s referred to as a jumbo loan. Jumbo products tend to have tighter requirements for borrowers, because of the larger amount that’s being borrowed.

High-Balance Loans: High-balance conforming loans are similar to jumbo, but they’re a different type of mortgage product. These loans are “conforming” in the sense that they meet the guidelines used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the loan amount is higher than it is for most parts of the country, due to higher home prices.

So a high-balance loan is basically a larger-than-average conforming mortgage loan used to purchase a home within a high-cost area — without having to use a jumbo product.

Higher Home Prices in the Seattle Area

Our high-balance mortgage program is available to eligible borrowers across the state of Washington. But it will probably see the most use within the Seattle metro area, due to the higher home prices in that market.

According to multiple sources, the median home value for Seattle is approaching $800,000. High-balance loans are well suited for borrowers in this higher-priced real estate market.

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Have Questions About Mortgages?

If you are considering taking out a mortgage to finance a home purchase, we’d love to help. Sammamish Mortgage has been serving borrowers in Washington, Idaho, Colorado, and Oregon since 1992. We have plenty of mortgage programs to choose from. Please contact us if you have questions about high-balance loan programs or other mortgage products available in the state.

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