We did but we had a high income. DH just finished his medical training. We both had tons of student loans and had very little savings. We put 5% down. We had to borrow the closing costs from MIL. 5 years later and our house is almost paid off. We knocked out our student loans first, then cars and now the house.

We did it; paid PMI for two years then refinanced.

I know lots of folks who have done it in other cities, but I have a hard time imagining it working in a hot market like DC and the close-in suburbs. My impression is that sellers like to see more down, because it suggests more financial security and less likelihood that the deal will fall through. So, if you are in a market where multiple offers are a certainty, I could see losing repeatedly on financing alone.

We are doing it now. Not first time home buyers. Buying our "forever home"
We bought at the height of the market in 2005 and were underwater for several years. This is the only way we can get out of our house and into a new house because we don't have the cash.
We are not paying PMI and our mortgage payments are more than manageable.

yes many people in this area put 5% down, especially first time buyers.

In Q4 2015, FHA loans comprised about 23% of all purchase loans. Since there is little reason to get an FHA loan if you can swing a >=10% down payment, it is reasonable to assume that nearly all of these FHA loans had down payments of 5% or less.

Some additional percentage of all purchase loans are VA loans or loans in other programs that allow for low down payments.

I've put down 3.5% twice, and am happy that I did so in each case. It doesn't strike me as particularly rare.

Anonymous wrote:Subject says it all.

Never heard of being able to do this without the special circumstances others have noted. In general, don't buy what you can't afford.

I put down 3% on my first home with an FHA loan.

We put 0 down several times with a VA loan. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to do it.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not actually doing it yet, I'm just at the beginning stages of research and as I read through forums I see more and more that others have done it. I will be a first time home buyer and am struggling to save so I was just curious if this is a common thing.

Well you first need to figure out how you plan on doing it. Are you a veteran? etc.

OP here. I'm not actually doing it yet, I'm just at the beginning stages of research and as I read through forums I see more and more that others have done it. I will be a first time home buyer and am struggling to save so I was just curious if this is a common thing.

I put down 3% via with an FHA loan last summer. (Not a first-time home buyer but it was my first FHA.)

By what mechanism are you putting down so little?

Subject says it all.