Pasadena jumbo loans and 2026 loan limits.

Pasadena became a city in 1886. The Arroyo Seco, a deep, wooded canyon, runs down its western side, crossed by the Colorado Street Bridge, with the Rose Bowl on the canyon floor. Colorado Boulevard is the main east-west street, passing through Old Pasadena and on past Pasadena City College. Caltech is south of the boulevard. To the north the land rises toward Altadena, which is not part of the city, and the mountains.

Pasadena has a great many houses from the early 1900s. Craftsman bungalows fill whole neighborhoods, and the Gamble House, built in 1908, is open to the public as a museum of the style. There are also large Spanish, Tudor and Mediterranean houses from the 1920s, mid-century houses in the hills west of the Arroyo, and condominiums and lofts around Old Pasadena, the Playhouse district and South Lake Avenue.

Duplexes, bungalow courts and small apartment buildings are scattered through the central city, and each unit count has its own limit.

On an older house, the condition and any historic rules. In the foothills, insurance. In a small building, the rent rules.

A house that is a hundred years old can be in fine shape or can need a new foundation, wiring and plumbing. Lenders rely on the appraiser, who notes visible problems, and some insurers will not write a policy on original knob-and-tube wiring. Have the house inspected thoroughly. If it needs major work, ask Sam about a renovation loan, which can cover the purchase and the repairs together.

Pasadena has a number of landmark districts, where changes to the outside of a house need city review. Some owners of historic houses hold a Mills Act contract with the city, which lowers property tax in exchange for upkeep. The contract passes to the buyer. Ask what the tax will be after the sale, because the lender counts it.

The Eaton fire of January 2025 burned much of Altadena, just north of the city, and homes along Pasadena’s northern edge (CAL FIRE’s 2025 incident list). Foothill addresses are in mapped fire hazard zones, and insurance there needs an early start.

Pasadena voters passed a rent control measure in 2022. If you are buying two to four units, read the city’s rules before relying on a rent figure.

Bungalow Heaven is a landmark district in north-central Pasadena, between Washington Boulevard and Orange Grove Boulevard, from Lake Avenue east to Hill Avenue. McDonald Park is at its center. It was the first neighborhood the city named a landmark district, in 1989.

Nearly all of its houses are Craftsman bungalows built between about 1900 and 1930: one or one-and-a-half stories, with deep front porches, wood siding and river-rock or brick chimneys. Lots are modest and regular. Because the houses are alike in age and size, an appraiser usually finds good matches inside the district. What separates one house from the next is condition: the foundation, the roof, wiring, plumbing and how carefully past work was done. Exterior changes are reviewed by the city, so ask what was approved. Many houses have a detached garage, and some have been turned into accessory units, which should have permits. The neighborhood is level and well south of the foothills, but check the fire map anyway.

Madison Heights is in the southern part of Pasadena, south of California Boulevard and west of Lake Avenue, running down to the South Pasadena line. Madison Avenue, El Molino Avenue and Oakland Avenue are among its long, straight, tree-lined streets.

The houses date mostly from about 1905 to the 1930s and are larger than those of Bungalow Heaven: two-story Craftsman houses, and Colonial, Tudor and Spanish revival homes, on wider and deeper lots. Many have a guest house or a room over the garage. An appraiser has to judge how much original detail, such as woodwork, tile and windows, remains and what has been updated, because both affect value. Systems are the practical question. Ask about foundation bolting, the sewer line, the electrical panel and the roof, since an insurer may ask the same things. Some houses hold Mills Act contracts. A large older house can also cost more to insure for rebuilding than its size suggests, because of its materials. That figure is part of the housing cost a lender counts.

Linda Vista is on the west side of the Arroyo Seco, in the San Rafael Hills, north of the Ventura Freeway. Linda Vista Avenue runs along its eastern side, above the Rose Bowl, and the hillside campus of ArtCenter College of Design stands above the neighborhood. To the south, across the freeway, the San Rafael area continues along the Arroyo toward the city’s southwestern corner.

Homes here are on larger, sloping lots, many screened by oaks. They range from 1920s revival houses to mid-century modern designs and newer custom houses, some with views over the Arroyo to the mountains. For a lender it is hillside property: each lot differs, so an appraisal can take longer, and slopes, retaining walls and drainage draw questions. Check each address on the state’s fire hazard map, and note that roads in and out are few. Start on homeowners insurance before you make an offer. On event days at the Rose Bowl, streets near the stadium are restricted, which is worth knowing though it has nothing to do with the loan. Some houses use private driveways shared by two or three lots; a lender may ask for the recorded agreement.