A Small Down Payment. A Big County.
FHA financing above the standard limit, for buyers in the counties where housing costs run well past the national number. Credit eligibility starts at a 500 score with at least one program.*
Quick answer
Saxton Mortgage does. At least one FHA program we offer includes high balance loans and starts at a 500 credit score.
The FHA rules you know, with more room.
Same flexible credit approach, applied to the limit your county actually publishes.
- Small down payment on an eligible purchase
- Credit eligibility starts at a 500 score, the same as standard FHA
- High-cost county ceiling set at 150 percent of the national conforming limit
- Special exception areas such as Alaska and Hawaii carry higher ceilings
- Three- and four-unit buyers keep three months of reserves*
- Mortgage insurance applies, the same as standard FHA
Loan amounts above the standard FHA limit*
Limits reset every calendar year
Four-unit homes carry the largest limit
One FHA-insured home at a time
Credit eligibility starts at a 500 score, the same as standard FHA
A non occupying co borrower can be added on a purchase*
What is the Saxton FHA High Balance Loan?
Government insured financing sized for high cost counties
The Saxton FHA High Balance Loan is standard FHA financing applied above the national limit. FHA publishes a separate limit for each county, and in the expensive ones that number is far higher than the national floor. This is the loan that uses it.
Two numbers decide how far this can go: the limit FHA publishes for your county, and what the property appraises for. In high cost counties the county figure runs far above the national floor, which is the whole reason this version of the loan exists.
Nothing else about FHA changes. The credit approach stays flexible, the down payment stays small, and mortgage insurance still applies. What changes is the ceiling, which is set by where you are buying rather than by a single national figure.*
Why choose the Saxton FHA High Balance Loan?
Built for buyers in the counties where an ordinary house costs more than the national limit allows.
Expensive Counties
FHA publishes a limit for every county. In the costly ones it is far above the national floor, and that is the number this loan uses.
Credit Flexibility
The flexible credit approach that makes FHA worth using does not tighten because the balance is larger.
A Small Down Payment
FHA is built around a small down payment, and that holds at the higher limit as well.
Cash On Hand Gifts Fail
FHA lets relatives, an employer or labor union, a charity, a public homeownership program, or a friend with a clear, documented interest in you give gift funds. Cash on hand does not count, and bank records must trace each transfer.
Family Can Help
A parent or family member can be added as a non occupying co borrower on a purchase.*
Limits Rise With Units
FHA publishes a separate loan limit for one-, two-, three- and four-unit homes in every area. Buying three or four units also means holding three months of PITI reserves at one program, even with automated approval*.
Hear From Homeowners Like You
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers about FHA financing above the standard limit.
Saxton Mortgage does. At least one FHA program we offer includes high balance loans and starts at a 500 credit score.
An FHA high-balance loan is an FHA loan whose amount runs above the low-cost floor in a county where FHA sets a higher limit. That floor is 65 percent of the national conforming limit, and the high-cost ceiling is 150 percent. Credit, occupancy and documentation follow the same FHA rules as any other FHA purchase.
FHA sets its loan limits by metropolitan area and county from median house prices, and it publishes updated limits for each calendar year. Every area lands at or between the low-cost floor and the high-cost ceiling. Give us the address and unit count, and we pull the current limit.
No, an FHA high-balance purchase uses the same minimum required investment rule as any FHA purchase, measured against the lesser of the price or the property value. Seller credits cannot be used for that investment.
Yes, FHA collects a one-time upfront mortgage insurance premium and an annual premium on high-balance loans just as on smaller FHA loans. The upfront premium can be financed, and the county limit is measured on the base loan amount before that premium is added. Learn more about FHA loan.
Yes, a family member who keeps their own home elsewhere may sign as co-borrower on an FHA high-balance loan, and at one program that keeps standard financing open for a one-family property*. Someone outside the family, or a parent who is also selling you the home, triggers a much larger down payment there. The co-borrower must hold U.S. citizenship or live principally in the U.S.
Yes, FHA high-balance cash-out is available, though one program asks that a borrower both owned the home and lived in it as a principal residence during the 12 months that precede case number assignment*. FHA will not let you add an outside co-borrower just to qualify for cash-out, and cash-out is unavailable in Texas at one program*.
Yes, FHA high-balance financing covers duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes you occupy, and every unit count carries its own higher limit. At one program, three- and four-unit purchases must hold three months of PITI in reserve, and gift funds cannot be counted toward it*.
No. This is the FHA-insured version, so it follows FHA rules on credit, mortgage insurance and occupancy, and FHA county limits are published separately from the conventional ones. For how high balance county limits work in general, and for the conventional version of this loan, see our High-Balance Loans page. This page covers the FHA version only.
Find out what you qualify for
Send us the county name and the unit count, and our loan officer checks this year’s FHA ceiling for that address before you pre-qualify.
Get Pre-Qualified- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA and housing resources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA mortgage insurance premiums
*Loan amounts, rates, terms, and down payment requirements are subject to credit approval, income and asset verification, and program eligibility. FHA financing is governed by the loan limit FHA publishes for each county, which changes annually. Requirements vary by occupancy, credit profile and documentation type. Cash out refinancing is not available in every state. Not all applicants will qualify. Saxton Mortgage, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender.