What Percentage is a Down Payment on a house? | Real View of Real Estate

Do I need 20% down to buy a home? I’m really surprised that I still get this question quite often.

The answer is no, you don’t need 20% down to buy a home. We have some great local lenders with a lot of different loan programs. An FHA loan is a government loan program, which requires three and a half percent down. That one is good if your credit score isn’t really high. I think that one has a 520 minimum credit score. A VA loan is a great option for veterans, that requires no money down. And then there’s a lot of conventional mortgage options as well.

One of the local lenders that we love to work with has a 3% down conventional loan and that one is with no PMI. That one has some income guidelines that you have to meet, but that’s a really great option. If you have less than 20% down typically, you’re going to be charged with PMI, which is private mortgage insurance. It’s a fee that the bank charges you because you have less than 20% down.

But you know, the best place to start is to talk with a local lender. Get them your information and start the pre-approval process to see what loan programs would fit with you. And if you’re not ready to buy, they can certainly tell you what you would need to do to get ready to buy in the future.

Do I need 20% down to buy a house? No! There are plenty of programs that allow buyers to put down much less than 20 percent. Click here to watch our Real View of Real Estate series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi… If you want to schedule a confidential call with Laura, reach out to us on our socials (@laurasrealestategroup) or visit our website, LaurasRealEstateGroup.com to get started.