I don’t have a great answer for you, but one thing I learned from buying my first house is that you don’t have to put down as big of a down payment as you might think. My wife and I did 3.5%. We were fortunate that we made a good amount and had good credit, but we had very little in savings. We were both putting a ton toward student loans.

Although a small down payment is tough to swallow these days considering that means you’re financing more house at 7% plus.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Did you have to pay PMI?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yes, but again because of our credit score and good DTI ratio, the PMI was very reasonable. Like $40/mo IIRC.

We refinanced and got rid of PMI when the housing boom happened and our equity was suddenly over 20%. That was pure luck, but anyway it’s possible that rates will go back down during the next recession.