What % downpayment did you make on your home?

[ducklite]

The first one was 5%. The second was 16%, and we took a 4% 2nd mortgage to avoid PMI. We were planning on putting more down at closing so it would be 20%, but ended up putting a lot more upgrades in after the fact, so that went "poof!"

Property values have skyrocketed here since we bought the place, and we've now got over 50% equity now.

Anne

 

[kinntj]

1st home- 10%
2nd home in California-10%
3rd home (now in)-20% 1/2 the price of the house in California.

 

[dcfromva]

We put down 5% 20 years ago. (My first home, DH's second home). We held back some of our savings so we could make some improvements on our home.

Barring any more major "speedbumps" along the way (which might prevent us making extra principle payments), we should have the house paid off Dec 2007. (From this point, it would save us about 1,300 in mortgage interest.) Otherwise, it will be paid off by Dec 2009 using the regular payment schedule.

After all these years of making payments, I can't wait!

-DC

 

[CarolA]

First house, 10%
Second house 25%
Third Condo; 21%

I have no plans to stay here forever and have no real motivation to pay this thing off early LOL! If it appreciates I will roll the cash into a home in a few years. If not, I will buy again and rent it which is why all the proceeds from house two were not invested in Condo three!

 

[sandy6879]

We put 3% down - we were renting and couldn't afford to save a huge downpayment.

Not even 3 years later, the house was just appraised for almost $100k more than what we bought it for. We refinanced to get rid of PMI and currently have 43% equity. Not too shabby.....

 

[HaleyB]

I wish we had put more down because we bought in 99 and the market crash hit us really hard. But we put about 25% down on the house.

 

[fac]

around 6% in 1991.
20% in 2001 <- this was required by the bank

 

[raammartin]

15% down on our first home (we built) and it wasn't easy saving up for it, but we wouldn't have done it any other way.

 

[Doodlebug939]

This is a really great thread. My husband and I are looking at moving because of the military in Dec or April to hopefully our last duty station. We are hopeful to buy a house and set down some roots. We are going to use VA I would guess. But I would like to have at least 5%-10% down. I think that the biggest thing it to find a house in your own price range that you are comfortable with. I know what my good limit will be based on our income and it is a lot lower then what I know they will approve us for. But I want a safe home in a good neighborhood like most people but I would rather be able to have a home and a life because I know that stuff happens. My brother has a wonderful house over his limit. And I see the stress that he has and being house poor.

Just my thoughts but thanks everyone for sharing.

 

[SetzKitten]

My first house I put 20% down, second 50%, this one I have no mortgage.

 

[PattiPB]

1992 (NJ) 10%
1996 (NV) 10%
2001 (NV) 30%

This house has more than doubled in value, so our equity percentage is unbelievable. But, it's all on paper---we have no intention of selling in the next ten years, so this incredible appreciation rate will probably rise and fall many times before we actually consider selling.

Some of the things that happen in real estate astound me! I can't imagine paying $3-4,000 per month in mortage. I also can't imagine taking HELs up to 100% of the PERCEIVED resale value of your home. We have people in our neighborhood who have refinanced 7 times in the same 5 years since we built this house! They'll never make a penny on their house---but the boat, jetskis, ATVs and trailer in their garage are sure pretty. Too bad they can't afford to actually USE THEM!

 

[ptrbryant]

But, it was on a $130,000 house. We don't have a high household income since I homeschool and DH has a very middle-income salary, but I had money from an inheritance that enabled us to buy the house we'll probably stay in for many years with much lower mortgage payments than we would have had.

Karla B.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Whoever thinks you should have 20% to put down on a house is an idiot. Sorry to be harsh, but it all depends on the market you are buying into.

In 2003, we put 8% down on a house that went for $320,000. Yes, we were forced to make PMI payments of $120 per month for two years ($2,880 total). In that same time the value of our house appreciated over $100,000 and mortgage rates rose over 1 full point.

If we had saved the $30,000 over the first two years that we paid for our mortgage, taxes and PMI and then were able to purchase the exact same house, the 1% rise in interest rates would have resulted in the same monthly payment. However, that house went up $100k during that time frame, so we would not have been able to afford it!

I have to agree here. We certainly would have been priced out of our neighborhood if we waited. We also bought in 2003, but luckily were able to get a VA loan. With only one income (enlisted) and two kids, we were lucky we were able to come up with the $5K-$6K closing costs, let alone a down payment. 2003 was still fairly early in the "bubble", but it was nearly impossible to find anything in our price range that didn't already have several offers, so there was no way sellers would be willing to pay closing costs. There is no PMI on VA loans, but there is a funding fee, and ours was around $3,500, which we rolled up into the loan.

 

[paladin]

We bought our condo in 2003 with 5pc down (so we had to pay PMI), then we refinanced 8 months later when the parking spaces went on sale. By then, it had appreciated enough that we no longer needed to pay PMI.

If we had needed to wait until we had 20% down, we would still be waiting (and probably always would be)

 

[Jen_in_NH]

We bought our house last year, with 10% down. Yes, we have PMI on our mortgage, but by paying extra on our mortgage every month, and being re-assessed for taxes after we did a TON of renovations, it will be gone this fall. So I don't think it hurt us any. Given how fast the interest rates are climbing here, and how fast the property values in the area are climbing, I think we made out just fine.

Jen

 

[sk!mom]

I was just reading an article on debt management. The author stated that he believes that if you can't put down 20%, you can't afford the house. So I was wondering, with the popularity of creative financing these days, how many of us put down 20% or more when buying our homes.

We bought our home in April 1994 and put down 20%.

How about everyone else?

I think that the truth of the author's statement really depends on many factors. If you are stretching to get into a house and therefore put less down then you are headed for trouble. On the other hand if you know that your salary will soon increase you may be fine.

For instance, we put 5% in 1996. We bought a home in a great location with good schools that we knew we would be happy with forever unless we decide to leave town or downsize in retirement. The house needed work though and we put less down so that we had cash for the work. We expect to have it paid off in 2008. We bought based on only DH's income even though I planned to return to work in the next year. I did return to work and we have the house nearly paid off.

 

[SWVA BGSU Fan]

We paid 3% down in 1993. For the first 3 years we paid extra principal and refinanced (shortened term) and were able to drop the PMI. We also refinanced again in 2003 and shortened the term once again.

I work in banking and find that most people don't pay more than 10% on homes they purchase. Heck, the conforming loan market is so competitive that PMI isn't required on some loans over 80% LTV if the applicants have a very good credit score.

 

[hiwaygal]

I bought my first house just about 10 years ago. I still live in it...and I paid roughly $30 down payment.

It was a HUD home (foreclosure) and I was renting. My house payment (even with an ARM) was lower than my rent. Since I was a first time homebuyer, I only had to come up with $1000 earnest. My realtor was wonderful and managed to get all kind of incentives for me, and when I closed, I got just over $960 back.

Now, DH and I would like to start saving for another home. We have lots of equity in our current home (thank goodness) and that equity would probably be a good chunk of 20% down.

While I don't think 20% is NECESSARY (especially if you need the tax break, like I did), I certainly would like to have that next time!

 

[Edna E. Mode]

In 1994 we bought a new house for $146,000 with 0 down. We sold that house in 2001 for $275,00 and bought another new house for $405,000. Our house in now worth $800,000. I can't imagine having to save up a down payment for either one of our houses. I know we got really lucky and are so grateful for everything we have. We feel that owning a home is the smartest thing you can do for your financial future. I don't really see a down side unless you have to move around a lot.

 

[femail]

so really, the 20% is just for foregoing the pmi... that extra insurance that they sock you with if you don't have 20% of the current homes' value already as equity; however, i would think that it wouldn't hurt to ask a realtor if in the state you live in, if you are buying a house for less than appraised value, if that will go towards your 20%... if you need it like that, make sure that the appraiser is aware of what you are needing his appraisal for; you usually pay for it or at least half of it; it's part of your closing costs and besides a great inspector, one of the most valuable things on your side..(just make sure it's after your inital contract is signed.. you wouldn't want the sellers to start feeling like they sold themselves short... )

if you do a lot of work on the home within a year you can usually get a second appraisal and dump the pmi... without an entire title search again... but i have a feeling that a lot of areas are going to go "soft"
great deals everywhere... too much "high end" housing...(we used to drive in the really great neighborhoods when i was younger and guess how many apartments a house would split into..)