$\"The$ \n

Saving up to buy a home can feel a little intimidating, especially right now. And for many first-time buyers, the idea that you have to put 20% down can feel like a major roadblock.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s actually a common misconception. Here\u2019s the truth.<\/p>\n

Do You Really Have To Put 20% Down When You Buy a Home?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Unless your specific loan type or lender requires it, odds are you won\u2019t have to put 20% down. There are loan options out there designed to help first-time buyers like you get in the door with a much smaller down payment.<\/p>\n
For example, FHA<\/a> loans offer down payments as low as 3.5%<\/a>, while VA<\/a> and USDA loans<\/a> have no down payment requirements for qualified applicants, like Veterans. So, while putting down more money does have its benefits<\/a>, it\u2019s not essential. As The Mortgage Reports<\/em> says:<\/p>\n
\u201c. . . <\/em>many homebuyers are able to secure a home with as little as 3% or even no down payment at all<\/em><\/strong> . . . the 20 percent down rule is really a myth.<\/em>\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According<\/a> to the National Association of Realtors<\/em> (NAR), the median down payment is a lot lower for first-time homebuyers at just 9%<\/strong> (see chart below)<\/em>:<\/p>\n
The takeaway? You may not need to save as much as you originally thought.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
And the best part is, there are also a lot of programs out there designed to give your down payment savings a boost. And chances are, you\u2019re not even aware they\u2019re an option.<\/p>\n
Why You Should Look into Down Payment Assistance Programs<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Believe it or not, almost 80% of first-time homebuyers qualify for down payment assistance (DPA), but only 13% actually use it<\/strong> (see chart below)<\/em>:<\/p>\n
$\"a$ <\/a>That\u2019s a lot of missed opportunity. These programs aren\u2019t small-scale help, either. Some offer thousands of dollars that can go directly toward your down payment. As Rob Chrane, Founder and CEO of Down Payment Resource<\/em>, shares<\/a>:<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/em>Our data shows the average DPA benefit is roughly $17,000.<\/em><\/strong> That can be a nice jump-start for saving for a down payment and other costs of homeownership.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Imagine how much further your homebuying savings would go if you were able to qualify for $17,000 worth of help. In some cases, you may even be able to stack multiple programs at once, giving what you\u2019ve saved an even bigger lift. These are the type of benefits you don\u2019t want to leave on the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bottom Line<\/h3>\n
Saving up for your first home can feel like a lot, especially if you\u2019re still thinking you have to put 20% down. The truth is that\u2019s a common myth. Many loan options require much less, and there are even programs out there designed to boost your savings too.<\/p>\n
To learn more about what\u2019s available and if you\u2019d qualify for any down payment assistance programs, talk to a trusted lender.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saving up to buy a home can feel a little intimidating, especially right now. And for many first-time buyers, the idea that you have to put 20% down can feel like a major roadblock. But that\u2019s actually a common misconception. Here\u2019s the truth. Do You Really Have To Put 20% Down When You Buy a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5661,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[29,27,20,18,28],"class_list":["post-5660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-insight","tag-idaho-real-estate","tag-north-idaho-homes","tag-rain-silverhawk","tag-real-estate","tag-sandpoint-idaho"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250505-The-20-Down-Payment-Myth-Debunked-original.png?fit=750%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdz2Zu-1ti","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandpointrealtyidaho.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}