Downpayment on a home in northern Virginia

Home Downpayment

The downpayment is normally some percentage requirement of the sales price. As an example if a home cost $200,000 and there was a requirement for a 5% downpayment then you would need to have $10,000 to apply towards the downpayment. And almost always these must be your funds … already in your bank account. The downpayment is what the buyer pays in cash and does not finance with a mortgage. Your down payment will reduce the amount you'll need to borrow. So, the more cash you put down, the smaller the size of your loan, and the smaller the amount of your mortgage payments.

Generally lenders often view mortgages with larger down payments as more secure because you have more of your own money invested in the property. The government offers loan programs which provide you the ability to have the lowest amount possible for a downpayment. With a VA loan you can buy a home with no money down. FHA offers loans which will enable you to have as little as 3.5% of the sales price for a home. This is subject to change.

There are the conventional loans which have other downpayment requirements. However there is one consideration to be made here with conventional loans. Whenever you put down less than 20% you will have another charge for your monthly mortgage payment and that is for private mortgage insurance. Ask the lender about this. There may be programs to diminish this effect and we can review those.

Be sure to inquire about all the various loan choices when you to talk a lender.