Buy a New Home with a Lower Down Payment
You hear it said often: If you want to buy a house, you must have 20% down. But it’s not exactly true.† In today’s market, many banks will actually accept less than 20% for a Down Payment on a new home. In fact, according to the 2014 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (source link), the median down payment made by first-time homebuyers, purchasing their Primary Residence, was just 6%. While a 20% down payment is a great goal, and often allows you to get better Mortgage terms, it isn’t a mandatory—and it’s certainly not an easy goal to obtain.
Why do we constantly hear that magic number—20%? Well, without 20% you do need to factor in additional costs for Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) or government insurance, which are usually financed by the Federal Housing Association.