Buying A Home
Stephanie2167
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Do most people put down 20%?
DH is military so we aren't looking to purchase a home until he gets out (unless we get stationed back in our home state sometime). So we have some time to put money away for a DP. We are currently stationed in WA but southern California is home for us. We have what we think is a great savings so far. But when I look at housing prices today in CA and think about having to put down 20% we're looking at $80,000 to $100,000.
Do people really put that much down? My God. And if the housing market starts going up by the time we buy, we'll be looking at even more.
Re: Do most people put down 20%?
RIP Dr. Irving Fishman - 10/1/19-7/25/10 - thank you for holding on for me.
You made my wedding day complete.
Did you put down the 16% on a VA loan?
We would only buy in our home state if it was where we planned to stay after DH gets out.
No conventional through Navy Fed
No. In my area, 20% is equivalent to the price of an entire house in other markets. It's unrealistic and unusual for a first time buyer to be able to save $80-$100k for a downpayment. It can happen but it isn't typical.
In our area our realtor said that about 90% of the homes buyers are VA or FHA so they are putting 0-3.5% down. We are doing a conventional with 5% down.
I think 5-10% is probably the most common, but if you have the time and are able to put down 20...you are a lot a head of the game. By putting down 20% A) morgage payments will be less,
Banks/lenders are more trusting of you and C) this might only apply to some areas, but you dont pay as many fees/closing costs in the transfer for putting down 20% or more.
So if you can, do it. We put down 20 and are sooo glad we did, even just to have the piece of mind that we can hold the morgage on one income (so my income will just be supplimental) and that we didn't pay closing costs at all.
My Blog:Through My Eyes
In CA, especially the LA area, no, most people don't put down 20%. It's very atypical; especially for 1st time buyers. However, DH and I were able to put down 20% on our current home (which is our first home) which equated to $114k for us. But we were only able to do so by sacrificing tremendously and saving $ like crazy.
We both have good-paying jobs as professionals but we lived with my mom in her apartment for a few years and paid minimal expenses. Rent for us was only $350. This was about 4 years of saving and living like that. If we had lived in our own apartment I seriously doubt we would have been able to save up 20% in 4 years for the area we wanted to buy a house in. In fact, with the exception of one couple we know, we are the only people we know that have put 20% down for a house in LA County based solely on saving $ and not borrowing from our 401ks.
The other couple we know who did put 20% down of saved money ($130k for them) have good jobs like us but they also lived frugally for years in order to save money. Although, they were able to live more comfortably in that time by renting out the back house of the wife's parents for $450/month. DH and I had to share a 10x10 bedroom in a tiny apartment, lol However, this allowed us to still travel, live debt free, and pay for our entire wedding almost completely by ourselves. It was a sacrifice that was well worth it.The only problem was, since we never had our own place prior to buying our home, we literally had to furnish and buy every single appliance we needed when we finally did buy. That was definitely a big financial hit.
We saved my income - all of it - for downpayment fund. Your payments will be higher each month for the length of your mortgage when you put down less than 20%.
In addition to the downpayment, you need closing costs, moving costs, start up costs, repair/renovation costs, decorating/furniture/appliances, tools, lawn care items, out door furniture ---- and a good emergency fund in place after you close
When do you want to be mortgage free? Figure the # years after purchase and either finance for less than 30 years or add extra to the principal each month to be mortgage free sooner.
If home ownership is important to you as a goal - start now by being careful with your spending and add more to your savings every month. Pay off consumer debt.
Being a home owner is so much more than the mortgage payment. Be prepared before you buy.