[Ecky]

I got into my $200,000 house with effectively zero down. I could have put some money down, but I didn't. There are a lot of different programs and options. I can't remember them all right now, but broadly speaking you can either get a government backed loan or a private one. The government loans have some specific requirements but often have lower interest rates because they're government backed. Private can be whatever a lender is willing to give a mortgage for.

I believe our lender required 3% down on a private mortgage we qualified for. Vermont has a first time home buyer program which will give you a $5000 interest free loan that only needs to be repaid when you sell your house. We took that out and used it to cover the 3%. We also stipulated that the seller give cash back on closing. There were limits to how much we could ask, but when we added it all up, it covered all of our closing costs as well.

There is also a housing trust in Vermont which assists lower income people with owning a home. They provide a large chunk of the mortgage, maybe as much as 30-40%, so the buyer has no PMI (private mortgage insurance) and the monthly payment is really low. In return, the buyer forfeits any value increase in the house at the time of selling that is due to market increases. However, the seller can still get back any value added from home repairs or improvements. In my opinion, this is a really good deal, especially considering it gets people into houses who otherwise couldn't.