Conventional vs FHA Downpayment

[Joshua Taffe]

I was speaking with a lender that was doing a preapproval for me and he said for conventional duplexes 20% are always required even owner-occupied is there anyone that can shed light to this?

[Jason Wray]

Joshua,

That is incorrect on the duplex DP quote of 20%. When owner occupied FHA is 3.5% and Conventional can be as low as 5% with certain Freddie/Conventional Programs. The normal down payment is 15% when its owner occupied if not using a special program but keep in mind some banks/lender have "overlays" which means restrictions. I would look to go FHA unless the loan limit exceeds the FHA loan limit for the county. You can easily check that by going to the FHA/HUD loan limit website and put in the county name and make sure you look for 2 family/2 unit.