Like many people, I'd never heard the term "jumbo loan," until recently.
With all the talk about volatile mortgage rates and the housing market, I now know a "jumbo loan" is a mortgage loan of $417,000 or more. Right now, jumbo loans come with jumbo interest rates because they're considered riskier for investors who back them.
So it dawned on me: A jumbo loan in, say, Atlanta could probably buy you the home of your dreams. In the Seattle area, a jumbo can buy you, uh, less than your wildest dreams.
Years ago, we didn't need a jumbo loan to buy a moderately priced home in our area. A lot has changed. In King County, for example, the median price of single family homes sold last month was $477,345.
What's next for us, the humongous loan? How can the average person keep up?