Irvine, CA
Irvine mortgage broker for high-balance and jumbo loans
The right Irvine loan respects Irvine prices — high-balance, jumbo, refinance — structured for Woodbury and every Irvine block from day one.
Is there a mortgage broker serving Irvine, CA?
Yes. Choice Home Mortgage is a family-owned California mortgage broker (NMLS #2629064, CA DRE #01822046), and Irvine is in our service area. Owner Esther Buede handles each Irvine loan herself and compares many lenders for it, so an Irvine buyer is not limited to one bank's programs.
For Irvine, FHFA's 2026 one-unit limit is $1,249,125 (Orange County), which is where a loan stops being conforming and becomes jumbo. Everything from the first call to closing runs by phone and online.
Inside the Irvine mortgage market.
Irvine is Orange County’s dominant master-planned city; single-family homes routinely trade at or above the high-balance ceiling, placing many transactions in jumbo territory, with demand from the tech and biomedical corridor.
Those Irvine realities set the strategy. Because Orange County is high-cost, an Irvine one-unit purchase can reach $1,249,125 and stay conforming on an Irvine file. That means high-balance and jumbo tools come up constantly in Irvine — the first job on any Irvine file is placing it against $1,249,125. Irvine’s price tier is among the priciest in California, the same reality behind Orange County’s high-cost limit. 2026 limits published by FHFA — confirm your exact scenario with us.
2026 loan limits checked against FHFA’s county file; this page was last updated October 26, 2026.
From Woodbury over to Portola Springs, Irvine’s 236,000-plus residents sit within minutes of Tustin and Santa Ana. Irvine isn’t an abstraction to us — we know it down to UC Irvine and the Irvine Spectrum. Buyers come to us from Woodbury, Northwood, Turtle Rock, and Portola Springs, and from every other part of Irvine. Looking for a mortgage broker near you in Irvine? We serve Irvine by phone and online, so Irvine buyers get local-market help without driving anywhere.
What Irvine buyers should know
Homes in the Great Park and the Great Park Neighborhoods are in Mello-Roos district CFD 2013-3. The City of Irvine says the charge can rise up to 2% a year and drops by roughly 65% to 82% once the original bonds are paid off, which typically takes 40 years. Lenders count that special tax in your monthly payment, so we add it before sizing the loan. Source: City of Irvine, CFD 2013-3.
Irvine’s median owner-occupied home value was $1,510,300 in the 2024 American Community Survey. That is above Orange County’s $1,249,125 conforming limit, so at that price a loan stays under the limit only with about 17% or more down; with less down, the loan is usually jumbo. Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2024, via Census Reporter.
Orange County’s down-payment assistance loans are limited to 14 cities plus unincorporated areas, and Irvine is not one of them. Irvine first-time buyers usually look at statewide programs such as CalHFA’s. Source: OC Housing & Community Development.
What working with us looks like.
Irvine market knowledge
Woodbury, Northwood, Turtle Rock, the streets around UC Irvine and the Irvine Spectrum — we read Irvine's price points like locals, because that's how we work it.
High-balance & jumbo ready
Price tags in Irvine sit at the top of the California market, so we build high-balance, jumbo strategies sized to Irvine.
Lenders shopped for you
As a broker we put many lenders in competition for your Irvine file — not one bank's Irvine shelf.
Owner-handled
Your Irvine file is handled by owner Esther Buede herself — in Irvine or Tustin, hers is the name buyers recognize from our reviews.
One owner, handling your whole loan.
Every Irvine file lands on one desk: owner Esther Buede’s (individual NMLS #2003644). She’ll know your Irvine plans — Northwood or anywhere Irvine — and your name from the first call. Choice Home Mortgage has closed loans since 2005. Meet the family behind CHM →
“Esther Buede was a breathe of fresh air to work with from starting to the finish line!”
Matched to your Irvine purchase, not a template.
Demand around UC Irvine and the Irvine Spectrum keeps high-balance activity steady in Irvine. Irvine files most often land on high-balance, jumbo — and past those, every Irvine option gets shopped: non-QM, FHA, conventional, jumbo, and VA. Whenever you’re ready — buying, refinancing, or still weighing options — apply online or call (949) 522-7310.
The programs that come up most for Irvine buyers: high-balance, jumbo.
Irvine first-timers: our guide to real down-payment assistance covers CalHFA and city programs — worth five minutes before you save another year.
Not every Irvine file fits a W-2 box — borrowers who work for themselves can qualify on 1099 income, and Irvine investors can lean on bridge financing. Want every unit count, not just single-family? Orange County’s 2026 loan limits page has the full table.
Close to Irvine, we also help buyers in Tustin, Santa Ana, Orange. Browse our California service areas →
A licensed California mortgage broker for Irvine: Choice Home Mortgage, NMLS #2629064, CA DRE #01822046. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Irvine mortgage questions, answered.
How high can a conforming loan go in Irvine?
A conforming loan on a one-unit Irvine home can go up to $1,249,125 in 2026, which is FHFA's limit for Orange County. Because Orange County is high-cost, its limit sits above the $832,750 national baseline; a loan in that gap is called high-balance and is still conforming.
How do Irvine buyers finance above the conforming limit?
Irvine buyers who need more than $1,249,125 (the 2026 Orange County limit) use a jumbo loan, or put more down so the loan stays under it. A loan between the $832,750 national baseline and $1,249,125 is high-balance conforming in Orange County. We put the loan in front of many lenders and compare what comes back.
Which Irvine neighborhoods do you serve?
We finance homes in every Irvine neighborhood, including Woodbury, Northwood, Turtle Rock and Portola Springs. What changes from one neighborhood to the next is the price and the appraisal, since the appraiser compares recent sales nearby. A Woodbury address and a Portola Springs address get the same lender shopping from us.
Do you actually know the Irvine market?
Yes. A one-unit Irvine home has a $1,249,125 conforming limit for 2026, the FHA limit there is $1,249,125, and every file we take starts from those figures. We are a family-owned California mortgage broker (NMLS #2629064, CA DRE #01822046), and we compare many lenders on every loan.
Do you cover the towns around Irvine?
Yes, the towns around Irvine are covered, including Tustin, Santa Ana and Orange. Each town's conforming limit depends on its county, so we confirm the 2026 limit for the exact address before quoting. Choice Home Mortgage arranges those loans as a licensed California broker, the same way as an Irvine file.
Is a mortgage broker the same as a mortgage advisor?
Not quite, though the titles overlap. Mortgage advisor is an informal title that a bank loan officer, a financial planner or a broker can all use. A mortgage broker is a licensed role: the broker takes your application and shops it with many lenders instead of selling one bank's loans. You can check a California broker's licenses on NMLS Consumer Access and the Department of Real Estate's license lookup. For Irvine buyers the difference shows up in the price range. Many Irvine single-family homes sell at or above Orange County's 2026 high-balance ceiling of $1,249,125, which puts the loan in either high-balance conforming or jumbo, and the two follow different guidelines. A broker can put both kinds of lenders side by side for your file. At Choice Home Mortgage (NMLS #2629064), owner Esther Buede advises you on those options and handles the loan herself.
Let's get you home in Irvine.
No call center — just Esther. We'll find what fits your Irvine purchase and do the Irvine lender legwork.