Coming up with enough cash for a down payment to buy a house can be the single biggest roadblock for prospective home buyers. But how much of a down payment do you really need? That depends on the type of loan, your lender and your priorities.

What is a down payment?

A down payment is the cash you pay upfront to make a large purchase, such as a home. You use a loan to pay the rest of the purchase price over time. Down payments are usually shown as a percentage of the price. A 10% down payment on a $350,000 home would be $35,000.

When applying for a mortgage to buy a house, the down payment is your contribution toward the purchase and represents your initial ownership stake in the home. The mortgage lender provides the rest of the money to buy the property.

Lenders require a down payment for most mortgages. However, some types of loans backed by the federal government may not require down payments. (More on that below.)

Do you need to put 20% down on a house?

You may have heard that you need to make a 20% down payment on a home, but that’s really just the threshold many lenders use for requiring mortgage insurance on a conventional loan. You don’t have to make a 20% down payment to buy a house.

In 2021, the typical down payment for first-time home buyers was 7%, according to the National Association of Realtors. The typical down payment was 17% for repeat buyers.

Minimum down payment requirements

The minimum down payment required for a house varies depending on the type of mortgage you’re planning to apply for:

• 0% down payment mortgages. Guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA loans usually do not require a down payment. VA loans are for current and veteran military service members and eligible surviving spouses. USDA loans, backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program, also have no down payment requirement. USDA loans are for rural and suburban home buyers who meet the program’s income limits and other requirements.

• As low as 3% down payment mortgages. Some conventional mortgages, such as HomeReady and Home Possible, require as little as 3% down, provided you meet certain income limits. Conventional loans are not backed by the government, but they follow the down payment guidelines set by the government-sponsored enterprises — or GSEs — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

• As low as 3.5% down payment mortgages. FHA loans, which are backed by the Federal Housing Administration, require as little as 3.5% down if you have a credit score that’s at least 580. If you have a credit score that’s between 500 and 579, FHA loans require a 10% down payment.

• As low as 10% down payment mortgages. Jumbo loans are home loans that fall outside of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s conforming loan limits. Because these outsized loans can’t be guaranteed by the GSEs, lenders tend to ask for higher down payments in order to offset some of the risk.

With low- or no-down-payment loans, you pay for the guarantee through fees or mortgage insurance, depending on the program.