how much down

[Anonymous]

Curious how much down is required if scores are good enough and everything else checks out? One bank told me I could do either 3.5% or to save on the pmi stuff I could put 5% down. I always assumed 20% was the standard but Im not a mortgage expert. 

Ive always heard fha is less down than conventional but not completely sure. 

[StartingOver10]

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@purebulldogs500 wrote:

Curious how much down is required if scores are good enough and everything else checks out? One bank told me I could do either 3.5% or to save on the pmi stuff I could put 5% down. I always assumed 20% was the standard but Im not a mortgage expert. 

Ive always heard fha is less down than conventional but not completely sure. 

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3.5% for FHA minimum is right; and, 5% for conventional is also right.

[sports1965]

20% down to avoid PM I if I am not mistaken if it's  conventional loan.

[Anonymous]

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@sports1965 wrote:

20% down to avoid PM I if I am not mistaken if it's  conventional loan.

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what is PM?

[DanTheMan77]

PMI  = Private Mortgage Insurance

Typically if your down payment is less than 20 percent of the value of the home, lenders will require you to carry mortgage insurance. Usually you pay those mortgage insurance premiums until your loan-to-value ratio hits 80 percent.

[StartingOver10]

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@DanTheMan77 wrote:

PMI  = Private Mortgage Insurance

Typically if your down payment is less than 20 percent of the value of the home, lenders will require you to carry mortgage insurance. Usually you pay those mortgage insurance premiums until your loan-to-value ratio hits 80 percent.

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There is a Freddie Mac loan with 10% down and no PMI.

There are also combo loans with 80%-10%-10% with no PMI.  I don't know if there is an 80%-15%-5% loan anymore - but it is worth checking out.

[tooleman694]

You can also do LPMI, and pay an up front fee like with FHA but no monthly fees.

[bettercreditguy1]

We had our loan sent to underwriting yesterday. Our loan company requires 20 percent or more down to avoid PMI. We are going Conventional.

[Anonymous]

Going to try to get to 20% down but its nice that there are options available if I don't have that much.

[topa]

Think what the bank meant is if you go FHA, you put as low as 3.5% but you will be locked with pmi for the life of the loan. You can get a conventional loan with as low as 5% down and your pmi goes away once you get to 20% loan to value.