Transcript
Brian (0:00)
Okay, Wait to see what the team has put together. All they've told us in preparation is, hey, we think you guys might think this is some bad advice.
Bo (0:08)
And Brent, I am so excited about this because if we know one thing to be certain, it's that if it's on the Internet, it must be true. Let's check it out.
Mortgage Expert (0:17)
Don't make the mistake of putting 10, 12, or 15% down, thinking it'll lower your monthly payment. Instead putting the minimum down to secure a lower interest rate and then make a lump sum payment to your mortgage. Let me explain what. Whenever you put less than 20% down on your loan, typically it comes with what's called mortgage insurance, or pmi. But here's the counterintuitive trick most people don't know. The less you put down up front, the lower your interest rate tends to be. But you still want a lower payment, right? Here's how you do both. Get the best rate and the lower payment. Step one, put the minimum down payment, typically 5% or 3% if you're a first time home buyer. Step two, take the extra cash you would have put down and apply it as a lump sum payment to your mortgage. And within the first 90 days after closing, let's break that down. Say you're buying a $500,000 home and you plan to put 15% down. That's $75,000. Instead, put 3% down, just $15,000, and hold on to that extra $60,000. After closing, take that $60,000 and pay it directly to your mortgage principal. At that point, your lender can recast the loan. This means they'll lower your balance and lower your monthly payment. You secure the best interest rate available and you end up with a lower payment than if you had just put 50% down. This isn't something your average lender tells you because they don't get paid extra for giving you smarter options.
Brian (1:37)
Bo, from my understanding, every time I've bought a house, the more I put down because it's less risk to the bank, the lower my interest rate has been. So what is he talking about? Put down the least amount and you get better rates. That doesn't make any sense.
Bo (1:51)
Every time I've ever done this, they've asked, what do you want your down payment to be? Whether I was putting down 50%, 20% or 3%, it's always been the same interest rate. I've never been able to influence the interest rate on buying a home. Now, there was one little redemptive piece that he had in there. Because I was like, no, no, this is horrible advice. Because if you put down the small amount and you take out the mortgage, you got this higher mortgage payment. Just dumping that principal doesn't change the payment unless you do the recast. And recasting is great, but it's not free. And I don't think that's going to change the circumstance at all.
