“How much down payment is needed for a condo in Seattle?”
This was one of the questions I saw typed into Google recently. Your down payment required for buying a house or a condo is extremely dependent on your credit score according to most lenders I speak with. Jon Carpenter is a Seattle Mortgage Broker who works with borrowers closely to figure out what their best option is. He helps borrowers decide if they are going to purchase a home via a FHA loan or a conventional loan.
According to Jon the minimum credit score for purchasing a home or condo right now is 620. There are some nearly impossible loans out there for a 580 credit score, but down payments skyrocket to 45% at that point. FHA officially says that your credit score needs to be a minimum of 580 for their 3.5% down payment program, but unfortunately there are not investors that are willing to take on that credit risk. The result is that a minimum of 620 for a 3.5% FHA loan is more realistic.
For a conventional loan, you can still get a loan requiring as low as 5% down as long as your credit score is a minimum of 720 to 740. Your credit score impacts everything! So, how much down payment is needed for purchasing property? It depends on your credit score!
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