The 20% down 'rule' is a convention that stuck, and the large majority of buyers we work with put down far less. Dave Ramsey still champions it, alongside a 15-year mortgage with a payment no higher than 25% of take-home pay. Nothing wrong with 20% down if you can swing it comfortably. For a big share of buyers, though, saving that much takes years they do not have, and treating a rule of thumb as a hard requirement keeps people renting far longer than they need to. Loan programs have long allowed much less: conventional options start at 3% down and FHA at 3.5%. A buyer who puts 5% down gets the same appreciation on the same home, the same equity building, and the same fixed housing cost as the buyer who put down 20%. What the down payment actually changes is your monthly payment and whether you carry mortgage insurance. And mortgage insurance is nothing to fear for a well-qualified buyer. An emergency fund in the bank is usually worth more than a slightly lower payment.