Downpayment %

[y4m]

We just met with a realtor in the DC area and he told us 10% is pretty standard right now, at least at the pricepoint we're looking at, which would likely be jumbo.

[slug*bug]

I think it really depends on the COL where you're looking to buy. We did 20%, but that's in an MCOL area.

[Susie]

3.5% FHA. MCOL.

[SJ]

We put 20% down on our 1st purchase, but it was a cheap investment property.

Our next purchase will most likely be a larger "forever-ish" home, and I am in no way insisting or even planning on having the full 20%. It will be more an issue of playing with the size of the payments and getting to a place where that is comfortable.

[Deleted]

26.7%

[dawnyp]

Less than 20% and you will have PMI and only qualify for certain types of mortgages. We had enought for 20% down but that basically wiped out our savings and we wouldnt' be able to make the repairs that were needed on the house if we did 20% so we did 18% instead.

[Deleted]

We put down 10%. Took out a second mortgage to avoid PMI- it worked out to be less in the long run for us.

HCOL

Next house we plan on putting down 20%, which is partly why we haven't moved yet.

[Deleted]

Aug 24, 2012 12:18:58 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

26.7%

this

[boiler717]

We did 1% on first home which was post-crash. Our sellers contribute 4% and the requirement was 3% (first time homebuyer loan through credit union with no PMI).

We are doing 15%+PMI buyout on this house.

[Pom]

20% but we are low to med. COL. In higher COL I think a lower dp is more realistic for most buyers.

[melmo1122]

I'm in the DC area and i did 3.5% down with FHA

[kadams767]

We did 20% in MCOL.

[quickstepstar]

It will be 10% -- HCOL comparable to DC

[HoneySpider]

We did 3.5% FHA in LCOL

[Deleted]

When we bought our current house, we did 5%. With the house we're building, it will be 45%.

[catbus]

We did 3.5% on an FHA loan. We bought a "starter home" in Seattle (HCOL) last summer. Looks like we timed our purchase just about perfectly, as prices dipped only a tiny bit more after we closed, and have since increased considerably. Even though we only put 3.5% down, we have an estimated 12ish% equity already.

[jenjen]

We put 5% down on this house and did renovations in cash. We had a 5% down conventional loan and the PMI could be dropped in 12 months with an appraisal. There was no way to live in it w/o putting some $ into it so and we wanted to do the immediate reno in cash. We just refinanced (lowered our rate 1%!) after 12 mo living there and have over 20% equity so we were able to drop PMI.

[rubytue]

1st: 3%. 2nd: 20%. 3rd: 10% w/ prepaid PMI

[ejpint]

3.5% FHA, LCOL on our first home. We'll most likely do 20% when we buy our next home.

[sillygoosegirl]

If you put less than 20% down, you'll likely pay a higher interest rate over the life of the loan, as well as private mortgage insurance. Personally, I'm so glad we chose to wait until we could put 20% down. Not only are there definite financial advantages, we've benefitted from not being tied down too early in life. Not to mention that the house (or more likely condo) we would have bought 6 years ago wouldn't meet our needs now, and we probably wouldn't be able to afford to sell it. There are some really good things about renting.

[Deleted]

Aug 24, 2012 12:20:33 GMT -5 vigurl said:

Aug 24, 2012 12:18:58 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

26.7%

this

Did you put down just enough, so you didn't have a jumbo loan, too? LOL.

[kittycatlove]

First home I purchased on my own, 20%. Our current house which is our forever home 25%, which included the equity from both of our individual places.

[galaxy8227]

We put down 10%, I wish it could have been more but we were getting married 2 months later and a lot of our money was tied up into that. We are almost at 20% equity now and it's only 2 years later so I'm happy with that.

[y4m]

Aug 24, 2012 12:31:59 GMT -5 sillygoosegirl said:

If you put less than 20% down, you'll likely pay a higher interest rate over the life of the loan, as well as private mortgage insurance. Personally, I'm so glad we chose to wait until we could put 20% down. Not only are there definite financial advantages, we've benefitted from not being tied down too early in life. Not to mention that the house (or more likely condo) we would have bought 6 years ago wouldn't meet our needs now, and we probably wouldn't be able to afford to sell it. There are some really good things about renting.

It is nice that this worked out in your unique situation, but it is a pretty safe bet that waiting a year or more to save 20% rather than 10% will mean buying at a time when interest rates are much higher than they are today.

[barefootcontessa]

20 percent in fairly HCOL, not as high as DC though. PMI is a lot and not tax deductible. Also we got a better interest rate with 20 percent down.

[sometimesrunner]

10% on our current house. When we refi'd we put down more money to avoid PMI.

[bluelikejazz]

20% - MCOL

[karinothing]

I would like to put 20% down, but it is unlikely I will get that any time soon. Our current goal is 10% and I find a no PMI loan with the 10% (and a low interest rate). This is in the DC area.

3.5% w/an FHA loan tacks on like $900 more to our payment, which is something I would rather not do.

[sillygoosegirl]

Aug 24, 2012 12:36:12 GMT -5 y4m said:

Aug 24, 2012 12:31:59 GMT -5 sillygoosegirl said:

If you put less than 20% down, you'll likely pay a higher interest rate over the life of the loan, as well as private mortgage insurance. Personally, I'm so glad we chose to wait until we could put 20% down. Not only are there definite financial advantages, we've benefitted from not being tied down too early in life. Not to mention that the house (or more likely condo) we would have bought 6 years ago wouldn't meet our needs now, and we probably wouldn't be able to afford to sell it. There are some really good things about renting.

It is nice that this worked out in your unique situation, but it is a pretty safe bet that waiting a year or more to save 20% rather than 10% will mean buying at a time when interest rates are much higher than they are today.

Maybe. But people have been saying that "rates will go up soon and we'll never see such low rates again" for a decade. If they ever actually do, home prices are going to have to come down a lot in response, which is also good for those waiting to buy and saving up cash.

[theintended]

20% in 2005, 10% in 2009