Do I really need 20% down payment in order to buy a home? 

REAL TALK: No BUT….

💰 So yes, there are several lenders that will lend to you with a smaller than 20% downpayment. Sometimes significantly smaller. The median down payment actually hasn’t been over 20% since 2005, and even then, that was for repeat buyers, not first-time homebuyers. 

💰 However, here’s the rest of the story. If you are in the 65% of the LA County homebuying population that is looking for a house under $1M, you will be competing with many other buyers, some of whom do have high downpayments, and you will need to be competitive in other ways to win in a bidding war.

💰 There are lots of things you can do to increase your odds of getting your offer accepted even with a lower downpayment, please reach out if you have any questions about your particular situation.