Should I put more down?

[James Walsh]

Hey all, I have about 100K to invest and want to start with a multi family house hack. My question is, should I use an FHA loan and put the least possible down or should I bite the bullets and put 20% for a conventional loan and better rate without PMI?

[Jimmy Lieu]

Originally posted by @Ujwal Velagapudi:

I would leverage what you can to make your equity work for you...but make sure to underwrite it strictly and buy right. If you're buying it truly under market value, still have additional value add opportunities, and are in it for the long haul then I'd say go try putting as little down as possible via the FHA. Also, your lower downpayment I think will go further than a slight decrease in the interest rate.

This is a really good response. Even with FHA's upfront mortgage insurance and MIP, it is still a better deal than a 20% down for a conventional loan?

Also, I believe conventional loans can go as low as 5% right? So would this possibly be better than a FHA loan at all?

I would love some more insight on this!