The down payment often covers a meaningful percentage of the total purchase price (such as 20 percent). You pay off the remainder of the loan over time with regular installment payments -unless you pay the loan off early with a large prepayment or by refinancing. Example: You buy a house for $200,000.
First of all, you don’t need 20 percent down It’s great to have a big down payment. The more you put down, the less you need to finance and pay mortgage insurance on, and the smaller your monthly mortgage payment will be. But in case you haven’t heard, the traditional 20 percent is no longer the norm.
Our down payment calculator tool helps you understand what your minimum potential down payment could be in your geography based on the target home price that you choose. First we look at the loan limits for different mortgage types in your location, then we take your target home value and identify.