Comments on: Is Putting a 20% Down Payment on a House Realistic?

By: CP

CP — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:27:24 +0000

86%…you must live with your parents…

By: Rjh

Rjh — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:28:46 +0000

20% seems really steep to me. If you can easily save up that much money then why not just stick it out for the other 80? I mean seriously if I had that kind of money just lying around why would I even bother with a damn loan. Do you know how long it would take a minimum wage worker to save up that kind of money? Especially while they are trying to rent out a place. Where I live it’s quite common for people to make minimum wage or around minimum wage. Of course the houses are cheaper as well, but even on a 100,000 home that’s still 20,000. For a renter in my area the rent is probably 800 a month plus utilities. Making 8.00 an hour a person only makes around a thousand a month. That leaves little to no money left to save for a house. In my area it almost makes more sense to buy then to rent, especially sense in the long run your paying for something that’ll be yours. I know a lot of people say putting no money down isnt going to be profitable, but a lot of people buy homes to live in not to make a profit in the end.

By: WaW

WaW — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 02:57:29 +0000

Nice that none of you seem to get that not everyone who longs to own a home to grow “old” in will ever, regardless of how supreme credit ratings are, be able to afford this. It does not make us stupid or lazy or naive or poor with money.

Owning a home is not an elitist club.

If you can put down 20% be grateful for your immense blessing but don’t look down your nose at those who can’t.

By: Cory

Cory — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:23:30 +0000

This is so ridiculous it makes me laugh in 2010. There is no confidence anymore like you say there is.

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:25:30 +0000

While I agree with the point that there may not be a hard and fast rule, always, for home buying, I find this article hilarious and ironic now, in our current housing market. Yes, the market cycles.

By: Washington Renter

Washington Renter — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:04:52 +0000

I think the article hits the issues just right. I can’t think of anyone I know (even successful people) who has or has been successful saving toward 20% of the cost of an average home for the area just lying around. The median cost of a home where I live is $250,000 – 20% of that is $50,000! Wages just aren’t keeping up with inflation, rising fuel costs, rising food costs, rising medical costs, and a multitude of other things that make saving money that much harder.
I’ll admit the housing market is cyclical – but it has always rebounded and costs have ALWAYS ended up higher then before the fall. We can’t hold onto hopes that housing will decline to the point where those of us earning less than a 6-figure income will come up with that 20% down before we end up with grandchildren. Of course it is up to the individual to be smart – stick to a budget, eliminate extra things from your finances you don’t need, see if you can get rid of that high car payment by trading it in on something older or less fancy, and consolidate whatever debt you may already have. If you’ve done that, take the down payment assistance or go in with just the 3-5% down. Yes you have to carry mortgage insurance but if you stick to your budget it wont be too big of a pill to swallow. Buy a fixer or a small house. Add onto it or improve it over time as you can afford to. Be content being there for a while until you can sell and get the money out of it so your next purchase puts you where you want to be. You are always better off owning your own piece of real property.

By: ab

ab — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:04:44 +0000

I work in the financial management area of a Fortune 500 home builder with a mortgage arm. I do not disagree with your basic premise that putting 20% down might not be realistic for all people. In fact I put 3% down on my first home using an FHA loan, but that was long before the current downturn in housing.

I think you are setting unrealistic expectations based on what people can actually get today.

So lets get real with today

By: disneysteve

disneysteve — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:12:33 +0000

Where you should be saving your downpayment money depends largely on your timeline. If you plan to buy in 5 years or less, you should probably avoid the stock market as you don’t have time to ride out a market downturn. With a short timeline, you should stick with high-yield money market accounts or CDs.

By: dave

dave — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:48:57 +0000

Yes, the price of the home increases, but assumedly we’re not saving our down payment in a mattress, right? What if we sock that $500 or $1000 a month into an index fund? By and large, that’s going to grow faster than housing prices increase, the already popped bubble notwithstanding.

I’ve been doing almost exactly that ($250 a week) for about 5 years, and i have an extremely nice downpayment saved up! I could buy a house now, but my apartment’s fine for now, and i think the housing market will decline a bit more.

By: Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:23:06 +0000

Most people earn much more than minimum wage.
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Question for “free market” advocates:

Where’s the private sector when you need them? Why aren’t they building for this sectopr of the market?

Every other niche market seems to be served.