Trish,

If you can do a 15 yr mortgage, go FHA. That will alow you to avoid the mortgage insurance. You will still have to pay the up front mortgage insurance though. No way around that one. But at least its not monthly...

Danny Castagna
Sr Loan Officer
E-Mortgage Management
dcastagna@emmloans.com

just depending on your income, and the area you are buying in, you may be qualified for a usda which is 100% financing without pmi.

Buy a house that is lower in price, or ask the seller to contribute to closing cost. Arrange the numbers so that your cash out of pocket matches the 20% of the purchase price.

A higher than market rate with lender paid MI is basically still MI, but just in the form of a higher interest rate. So you can not get around MI (in some form) with less than 20% down.

Trish, with less than 20% down payment, you will be faced with the traditional or "borrower paid" PMI (paid by you each month with the mortgage). While "lender paid" PMI mortgages requiring a slightly higher rate, it should be a solution you should consider for yourself, as mentioned by Chris Covalle.

Regardless, you are faced with PMI directly or indirectly.

Any chance you have a family member who can provide you gift funds to cover the additional 5%??

Hi Trish,

Yes, you do have to deal w/ MI w/ a lower than 20% down payment, however, you can choose between lender paid MI and traditional client paid MI. Having the PMI built into your mtg rate (typically 1/4% for your scenario) will lead to a lower overall monthly payment than the traditional PMI payment being made separately. Please advise if you have any questions,

You can't. Any conventional loan over 80% has PMI. Any FHA loan period (even with 20%+ down) has MI.