Mortgage Down Payment.

Here's a question for those recent home buyers or mortgage brokers out there. What is the current average down payment percentage?

I would like think that 10% will be enough, I just can't imagine having to come up with 20%. Back in New York I was a realtor in Dutchess County but the market in the mid 1990's was very different from today. As a matter of fact, the market in 2004 when I bought my current house was very different!

EWF, I was a agent back in the 60s-70s & we had to pretty much make sure they were qualified before we ever thought about approaching a lender, in reality it saved a lot of time all the way around, didn't waste my time showing houses that people couldn't afford & back then where ever you got your mortgage held it for the entire time. I wouldn't even want to try that game again, no longer are there many honest agents.

Depends on your bank, typically is 10%, I think FHA can be as low as 5% down, but you may have to get PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) until your balance gets low enough like 80% of the appraised value or something like that. I guess it depends on the loan vs. the house worth/appraised value for the PMI.

We just refinanced (from a 30yr @ 6% to a 15yr @ 3.375%) and rolled everything into the loan, we actually got a check back for $148 with no money out of pocket other than the app. fee and some other fee that you had to pay up front. ( Maybe $200).

In 1980 we needed 20% down on a 13% LOAN for 25 year note Refinanced after 7 years with my father, and mother bless their heart. 10% and a place to go in Florida for 25 years and no refinance fees or other nonsense fees the banks came up with. Saved at least 8 years of payments but $371.00 a month was still a struggle at the time. They also threw us a bone from time to time so do not think 10% was that bad.

20% was the normal back in the 80's & 90's. IMO, there wouldn't be as many foreclosures if people had to loose there hard earned 20%.
Now is the best time to refinance with the low rates,just be aware of any extra charges.

I want to put 10% down, if I had to put 20% down that would mean an extra $ 40,000 I would have to save.

We were forced by the bank to put everything we had as a down payment. They knew what we had, and didn't like the house - so magically, the number they gave us for the mortgage was short exactly the amount we had. Imagine that?

On top of all that, everything we had was only 10% ... so we got porked paying PMI for a year. Hell of a system they've got ....

A good comparable appraisal acceptable to a lender is the first important step and a low appraisal makes all other steps moot. I'd like to take advantage of a 15 year @ 2.75% but for me the hassle of the appraisal process just dosen't make it worthwhile.

SMITTY wrote:We were forced by the bank to put everything we had as a down payment. They knew what we had, and didn't like the house - so magically, the number they gave us for the mortgage was short exactly the amount we had. Imagine that?

On top of all that, everything we had was only 10% ... so we got porked paying PMI for a year. Hell of a system they've got ....

Thats crazy in todays world man .Now Im not bragging, we walked into realtors office for closing on our second home. Did an FHA type, may have fallen under Rural Housing, and we actually walked out with a check in our hands and no need for that mortgage insurance. We had to pay for the tests and that was it. Now I worked out great for us but we are not RETARDED with our income. I would recommend that lending practices get back to how they used to be and we would less people going tits up.

The mortgage we took was $112,000 less that what we were approved for. Every time I balked at taking a mortgage that high, they "assured" me that it was "perfectly normal" to pay out over 35% of your income just for housing. No wonder the country is so f***ed ...

Good thing I didn't - I'd be in foreclosure right now.

Hi everyone my wife and i just built a home last year and it was a toss up to take out a mortgage or pay cash. After the bank b-s we decided to pay cash and have no payments. I dont no how the younger people do it today. What are the taxes in most areas? Dont forget the taxes

Smitty, the same was true for us. If I had listened to the mortgage broker we would have been in trouble. For example, we bought the house about a year after the baby was born. The daycare costs were 200 dollars a week.

The banks should be required to factor in daycare costs which is not the case.

EarthWindandFire wrote:
The banks should be required to factor in daycare costs which is not the case.

Not only should the bank or mortgage lender weigh this so should the person applying. We had to think about the same things. Worked out good though. The wifes income was what it would cost in daycare, so she is a stay at home mom now, by CHOICE. It is a blessing to be able to raise your children and not have a daycare/other people teach them. This could lead to another topic I guess. Anywho, interest rates are nice and low now though.