re: Minimum Amount Needed to Put Down on Home Purchase

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I disagree. Anytime you can pay a lesser price for something that's always a smart move.

$200,000 loan at 4% over 30 years will cost $343,000.

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Put down as little as you can and spend as little of your own money as you can.


No, you're paying an extra $143,000 to borrow $200,000. Spending 171% of the purchase price to pay less today so you can to spend more tomorrow.

Now, take that same $200k over 15 years and you end up spending $266k, saving yourself $77k in the process, in addition to the equity that you've paid into the house.

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That is under the assumption that inflation stays under 4%. If inflation hits 4% (which is likely) then having a long term loan like 30 years is pretty sweet because you really aren't losing money assuming you bought something that appreciates in value along with inflation