Myth: You Need a 20% Down Payment to Buy a Home
Gone are the days of 20% down or no loan, but recent surveys reveal that many Americans are not aware that programs exist to put down less. Fannie Mae’s article, “What Consumers (Don’t) Know About Mortgage Qualification Criteria,” revealed that “only 5 to 16 percent of respondents know the correct ranges for key mortgage qualification criteria.” The survey results revealed that consumers often overestimate the down payment funds needed to qualify for a home loan; 76% of respondents either don’t know (40%) or are misinformed (36%) You Need a 20% Down Payment to Buy a Home Myth 2: about the minimum down payment required. Many believe that they need at least 20% down to buy their dream home, but many programs actually let buyers put down as little as 3%. On the right are the results of a Digital Risk survey of Millennials who recently purchased homes. Since Millennials make up the largest share of first-time buyers, it should come as no surprise that 97% of this generation financed their home purchase, compared to 86% of all buyers. What may come as a surprise to many who have not yet purchased, however, is that 16% of those who financed their home put 0% down! 61% of Millennials who purchased a home in 2016 put down 10% or less! According to data from the last 12 months of Ellie Mae’s Millennial Tracker, the average down payment for a Millennial was 10%. Your dream home could be within your reach much sooner than you ever thought if you only need to save up 3-10% instead of the 20% that you may have thought you needed!
