A home of $4M or more in Beverly Hills or Bel-Air is financed with a jumbo loan. Los Angeles County's 2026 conforming loan limit is $1,249,125 for a one-unit property, so the mortgage on any qualifying purchase here is far too large to be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and is made under each lender's own jumbo terms. Buyers at this level usually have a second option — paying cash — and the right financing turns on how much capital goes into the house and where the rest stays working. This page works through the local numbers and where The Family Office Mortgage, a privately offered program that pairs the jumbo with a structured financial product, fits among them.
Why nearly every purchase here is a jumbo loan
The Federal Housing Finance Agency sets each year the largest loan Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may buy. For 2026 the national baseline is $832,750 and the high-cost ceiling — 150% of baseline, available where 115% of the local median home value exceeds it — is $1,249,125. FHFA's county-by-county list places Los Angeles County at that ceiling.
A conforming loan is not a realistic option at these prices. Take the $9,000,000 price this page uses as its representative example and presets in the calculator: with 20% down, the loan is $7,200,000, more than five times the county limit. Loans of this size are generally kept by the lender rather than sold, which means the terms are the lender's own — the down payment expected, the reserves required after closing, the rate structure, and whether an interest-only period is available. How interest-only jumbo mortgages work walks through the mechanics, including the point that the lender qualifies you against the later, larger payment, not the interest-only one.
How buyers here actually finance
Three routes come up most often.
Cash. Many households at this level can wire the price. Cash brings certainty and no monthly payment; it also concentrates capital in a single asset and, where appreciated securities must be sold to raise the money, produces a capital gains tax bill that never appears on the closing statement. Paying cash versus financing lays out both columns. Some cash buyers then recover liquidity through delayed financing, in which a jumbo lender takes a loan on the home after closing on terms that lender sets.
A conventional jumbo. Twenty percent down, full documentation, and the lender's reserve and asset requirements. Interest-only structures are common at this size because they hold the early payment down and leave capital free; the trade is a pronounced step-up once amortization begins. The related route is borrowing against a portfolio instead of the house, which buy, borrow, die and where the home fits describes — the rates are typically variable, and a fall in the account's value can bring a maintenance call.
A structured program. The third route coordinates the jumbo with a structured financial product so that the later payment has a designed source from the first day. That is the route described in the final section.
Across all three, underwriting at this size weighs the down payment, documented income, credit history and the liquid assets remaining after closing; lenders differ on how they count each.
The local costs that change the math
Two local taxes shape the economics of a $9,000,000 purchase here more than the choice of loan does.
Property taxes under Proposition 13
California's property tax framework dates to Proposition 13. The general tax rate is limited to 1% of assessed value plus voter-approved additions, and annual increases in assessed value are capped at the lower of inflation or 2%. A change of ownership resets the base: the sale price becomes the new assessed value. On a $9,000,000 purchase that comes to roughly $90,000 a year before voter-approved additions. The 2% cap is what makes a long hold affordable — over decades, the taxable value falls further and further behind market value. The California State Board of Equalization's overview of the system is the reference worth bookmarking; your CPA applies it to your own case.
The transfer tax turns on a city line
Beverly Hills and Bel-Air sit side by side, but they are not in the same city, and the difference is worth real money at closing. Bel-Air is a neighborhood inside the City of Los Angeles; Beverly Hills is a separate, incorporated city. The City of Los Angeles charges its own real property transfer tax — $2.25 per $500 of value, a 0.45% base rate — and on top of that, Measure ULA adds a second tax on higher-value sales. For transactions closing after June 30, 2026, the Measure ULA thresholds, which adjust annually with the chained consumer price index, stand at $5,400,000 and $10,900,000: a sale above $5,400,000 and below $10,900,000 pays 4% of the full gross value, and a sale of $10,900,000 or more pays 5.5%. The county documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 applies across Los Angeles County, Beverly Hills included.
On a $9,000,000 sale, the two sides of the boundary look like this:
| Bel-Air (City of Los Angeles) | Beverly Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Documentary transfer tax, $0.55 per $500 | incorporated in the city rate | $9,900 |
| City transfer tax, 0.45% base | $40,500 | no city transfer tax |
| Measure ULA, 4% | $360,000 | does not apply |
| Total transfer tax | $400,500 | $9,900 |
The Measure ULA tax is computed on gross value, including any loan the buyer assumes, and at $10,900,000 or more the rate rises to 5.5% — $660,000 on a $12,000,000 sale. Which side of the closing statement the tax lands on is negotiated in the purchase agreement; the Los Angeles Office of Finance publishes the current thresholds and updates them every year.
Where the program fits
The Family Office Mortgage is a privately offered program for households buying a home of $4M or more, with assets of $5M or more not counting the home and income of $500,000 or more. The program page describes the structure; the eligibility page states the published criteria. In this market it suits a particular buyer: one whose capital could cover far more than 20% down, who intends to hold the home well past fifteen years, and who wants the later mortgage payment planned at purchase rather than left to future income.
On a $9,000,000 home the program commits about half the price at closing: $1,800,000 as the down payment and up to $2,700,000 as the contribution to the financial instrument, a total of $4,500,000. The remaining $7,200,000 is a mortgage from a third-party lender — the program is not a lender, a bank or a government program. The loan is interest-only for the first fifteen years; at an assumed 6.5%, the rate this site uses for illustration and never presents as an offer, that is $39,000 a month. From year 16 the scheduled payment is principal and interest for the remaining fifteen years, $62,720 a month at the same assumed rate, and the instrument's projected payout is sized to the payment.
It is not for every buyer. A household that expects to sell within a few years, wants the fewest possible moving parts, or would find $4,500,000 at closing a strain is better served by the conventional jumbo or by cash — both are sound structures here. The program adds the issuer's underwriting of the instrument, bank financing, an annual review of the plan, and a proposal your CPA and attorney see before anything is signed. The comparison shows the full path against a conventional loan, and what a Family Office Mortgage is explains the structure in plain terms.
