Tristan,
There are many different products out there that may service your needs. Also what is your profession as you may be able to qualify for certain lenders special programs. To see what you qualify we would have to take an application and see what your exact debt to income ratio is and if there is a co borrower or if it is a possibility for you. Also there are 97% programs with great rates that are FHA. Once again, tell me if your friend is a loan officer and did a Debt to income qualification. If you need help please call me and i can explain to you.
Jenny Talasazan

You are the ideal first time buyer, assuming you do a "full document loan" and your loan doesn't go over $625,000 I think is the limit for FHA approved loans . You would need to put more down for the "conforming loan" ($417,000) and the jumbos aren't that much higher currently. The interest rates change daily, and you can usually "buy down the rate" . Banks are scared and very careful about the lending rules now (too bad they weren't for the last 10 years.. we wouldn't be in this mess now)

I'm in Toluca Lake California, and I could sell in Del Mar, if you found the property, but I'm sure a good Realtor there could help you

We don't get paid to be a buyers agent...only when we close an escrow.

Sheryl Appleton (818) 422-0612

Tristan, your friend is correct. There is about a 1.6% difference between conforming and jumbo pricing. This is because the conforming loans are now backed by Freddie/Fannie, jumbos are not. Mortgage backed bond investors have no taste for jumbos these days due to the fact they are not backed by Freddie/Fannie. Until confidence is restored to jumbo bonds, we will continue to see a wide pricing disparity.

From an investor perspective, you can understand why they prefer investing in conforming bonds rather than jumbo bonds.

This provides a quick background on the dynamics of Mortgage Backed Securities:
http://docs.Steven-Anthony.com/SAR-HowMortgageRatesAreDeterm…

Best, Steve