What did you put down on your mortgage TWW?



If there's one thing history has shown us it's that you should be keeping up with your Internet peers rather than living within your means

[Edited on April 15, 2013 at 9:48 PM. Reason : But srsly]

4/15/2013 9:47:58 PM

15,000 cash money, city put up 10,000 (bought a first time homeowners dealie) , so 25k total on a 140k condo

4/15/2013 10:05:14 PM

20%

4/15/2013 10:08:15 PM

5%, but only because we decided to do that and renovate instead of dealing with the BS of getting a renovation loan. Once we are done working on it we'll be able to get it appraised and get rid of the PMI super easy.

4/15/2013 10:51:53 PM

0, x2

4/15/2013 11:37:27 PM

$110k (20%)

4/15/2013 11:40:16 PM

not smart to have a lot of equity in a house.

cash is your friend. everyone else is trying to fuck you.

4/15/2013 11:44:50 PM

20%....which was about 30,000......

4/15/2013 11:50:03 PM

$7200 or 3% because we put our other cash towards remodeling our kitchen. we've since refinished our bathroom and about to redo our addition. all without appraisal our house value has gone up 20%, probably 30-35% after factoring in our remodel. doesn't really matter as we figure we'll be in our house 20 years or so. mortgage rates are so low, cash seems better to do remodeling.... but i'm a no debt kinda person, so after the addition we'll use extra to pay down

[Edited on April 16, 2013 at 12:47 AM. Reason : .]

4/16/2013 12:43:13 AM

first two homes-- 5%


current home-- 0%

[Edited on April 16, 2013 at 1:43 AM. Reason : no PMI on the first and current home]

4/16/2013 1:43:17 AM

3.5% or $8,300.

PMI sucked for a few years...but I just got rid of that. So I'm good to go. I could have put down more, but 20% would have broken me. CASH IS KING

4/16/2013 6:12:12 AM

20% of 185k

4/16/2013 6:14:50 AM

0% of $60k.

4/16/2013 6:28:26 AM

0%, but paid cash for some of the renovations that were not rolled into loand. had reappraised and had instant equity.

4/16/2013 8:49:35 AM

10%

4/16/2013 8:56:06 AM

~10% on a 155k in 2007, then ~5% last year of 321k; as little as I could to still get a nice rate while avoiding PMI both times.

4/16/2013 9:58:12 AM

In 2002, I put down nothing I have used house equity to do a lot of things, especially renovations. I refinanced about 2 years ago for a 15 year mortgage, and am finally paying the house off quickly.

4/16/2013 10:01:17 AM

0%

4/16/2013 10:04:14 AM

3%

4/16/2013 10:17:55 AM

Financed 90%.

4/16/2013 10:40:10 AM

3.5%

4/16/2013 10:49:43 AM

20% to avoid pmi

4/16/2013 12:50:07 PM

0%

because there was no advantage to it at the time

4/16/2013 1:16:03 PM

10%.

I bought back in 2009 and got $8000 back from the government for my first time home buyers thing. In retrospect I probably should have put that $8000 right back towards the mortgage but instead I bought a new TV, new desk, new furniture, and a shit load of other stuff I didn't really need.

4/16/2013 1:42:07 PM

House #1) 5% down at time of purchase, then refinanced at 100% with cash out (due to excessive partying this seemed like a good idea), This one has negative equity to the tune of 7-10k at this time. Had lots of fun with the money and took about 6 months off any type of work in my mid 20s, in hindsight it was probably still worth it. Can always work, cant always party. This one is rented and cash flows about +$240/month.

House #2) Received a gift of equity from my family that came out to about 22% of the value. This got us out of any PMI, in return the house was bought as is, no inspections or repairs were done.

House #3) Put down 20% in cash. No PMI. 2.75% ARM. This one is rented to my mother in law for the exact payment but if she ever moves out it will cash flow about +$250/month.

I am ready to buy another one but want to pay my cars and stuff off first before I save up another down pmt.

4/16/2013 2:08:36 PM

A friend of mine put down $8000ish, or 5% on his new home. He said that was about a quarter of his gross annual pay and it took him 3 years to save it, which I believe because he was a real cheap-ass whenever we hung out.

He's still a cheap-ass though, because now he's putting the same money into his baby's college fund. Kind of sad, since he's really become a less happy person. Tells me, with inflation and rising college costs, he doesn't even have the peace of mind of knowing that all his scrimping will pay off. Makes me wonder, at 29, whether I will ever feel like buying a house is worthwhile.

4/16/2013 2:46:45 PM

Quote :

"Makes me wonder, at 29, whether I will ever feel like buying a house is worthwhile."

there are a lot of variables that can determine whether it's worth it or not (location, cost, willingness to perform upkeep, etc)...but i bought my house when i was 26 and single and i don't regret it one bit

are there times i wish i didn't need to mow the yard or pay out of pocket for things to be fixed or replaced? sure...but i also like knowing that i will probably end up having lived in my house for "free" when i eventually sell it and that's worth the work and freedom that comes with home ownership

[Edited on April 16, 2013 at 2:58 PM. Reason : .]

4/16/2013 2:58:00 PM

Yeah, I bought at 24, and no regrets aside from the decrease in value, although I probably would have been hesitant to do so if I was only making 32K a year and had a kid.

4/16/2013 3:13:49 PM

5% of $340,000

4/16/2013 3:48:51 PM

Was required 10% down on construction costs even though it appraised for $180k more than construction costs. Absolutely 0 risk for bank.

4/16/2013 4:42:09 PM

20%

This will be my first home.

4/16/2013 5:09:17 PM

20%

4/17/2013 1:57:25 AM

5%.

Refinanced a few years later with ~21% equity to get a better rate and drop PMI.

Refinanced again with a 15 year note because a 30 year felt like a rental when I looked at how little my payments were affecting the principal. Thanks to lowered interest rates my mortgage only went up about 240/month, but it knocked 11 years off the life of the mortgage. I could have done a 20 year and knocked 6 years off the loan with almost no change in monthly payment.

4/17/2013 9:03:23 AM

0% this was in 2008

4/17/2013 9:56:05 AM

3% on 130K 1st House
7% on 210K 2nd House

My dream is to one day get the loans paid down so I can get rid of PMI.

4/17/2013 11:00:52 PM

20% is always the way to go if you can swing it, and not just because of PMI.

If you ever have to sell due to forced relocation, divorce, income loss, or any other shitty scenario the odds of you being able to sell the home and not bringing money to closing are WAY better if you actually have that amount of equity in it.

During the last 5 years I have definitely seen a lot of sellers walk away from some or all of their down payment, but that was still better than the folks that were scraping together money to BRING to closing to sell because their loan balance was too high.

4/17/2013 11:17:46 PM

It's a good idea to put more money down if you can comfortably afford it???

4/17/2013 11:30:12 PM

^^ But what about all those people who put nothing down who were underwater and were able to walk away years later without paying the difference?

4/18/2013 12:00:15 AM

the only reason to put a lot down (like 20%) was back in the day if got you a better interest rate. nowadays you can get a good rate with 0% down so there is no need.

try not to have a lot of equity in your home. that way if the shit hits the fan (politically, with your health, you get charged with a murder, etc) you can walk away from it with your pockets full of cash.

cash is your friend

4/18/2013 4:19:56 AM

if SHTF with my health, job, etc., i'd ideally prefer to own a house and not have to "walk away" from anything.

4/18/2013 12:07:10 PM

Yeah, you can't just walk away with pockets full of cash, but assets are def better protected in a retirement account than in a house.

I put 20% down to avoid pmi, especially since when I bought since it wasn't even tax deductible.

4/18/2013 4:10:19 PM

depends on how long you'll be in the house (among other things). I forgot the breakdown, but if it's relatively short-term, then putting as little down as possible is typically financially better.

4/18/2013 4:12:04 PM

Quote :

"But what about all those people who put nothing down who were underwater and were able to walk away years later without paying the difference?"

People with no assets had nothing to lose by the short sale, deed in lieu, foreclosure, it made more financial sense to walk away. The downside is ruined credit at least for a couple of years. Many jobs run credit checks as a part of the hiring process, also insurance companies can raise your rates if your credit report is bad, then there is the issue of being raped with high interest rates on every other loan you have like credit cards, cars, etc.

I do not fault anyone who was underwater and gave their home back to the bank for less than the loan balance. The issue is for people who want or need to preserve their good credit, if they do not have the money or equity to pay to sell, they have to deal with the consequences.

The most popular loophole no this these days is that since so many households have both partners working, if only one has fucked credit from a previous mortgage they can buy in the ones name that did not lose a house.

4/18/2013 4:22:19 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, you can't just walk away with pockets full of cash, but assets are def better protected in a retirement account than in a house."

agreed. Maxing out all tax-sheltered retirement accounts plus putting extra aside for retirement comes before paying the house down imo. I just think some people are too absolute. The ultimate goal for home ownership to me is not to have equity in the house. The ultimate goal in home ownership for me is to eliminate the outflow (with exceptions of repairs, insurance, and taxes of course) associated with renting/owning at least by the time I retire if not sooner.

I definitely agree that it doesn't make sense to pump all your money into paying off a house, especially if it isn't your retirement house. So, Im putting lots into the market, but still paying 150% on my mortgage.

[Edited on April 18, 2013 at 4:37 PM. Reason : ]

4/18/2013 4:30:11 PM

Bitch, what have I told you about prepaying your mortgage?

4/18/2013 4:45:33 PM

I know, I know.

I haven't upped it anymore than the 150% I upped it to last year though.

4/18/2013 4:50:20 PM

Tax assessed value on my house is 190k, bought it as a foreclosure for 120k and put 24k down. Then put 15k into remodeling.

4/19/2013 7:24:47 PM

0, but i owned the land and built on it

4/20/2013 10:02:05 AM