I've seen people use a smaller non refundable deposit/bond.

Mind you that treasury bonds and bills are backed by the full faith and credit of the US gov't so there viewed as a safe investment.

Purchase: 215kSale: 335k-commissions and closing costs=315k5 years interest: 21k5 years Insurance&Taxes: 26k5 years Utilities (electric, water, sewer, trash), lawncare and termite bond: 20k (~$330/month)5 years repairs/maint on home: 8kTotal: 75kI bumped up the repairs/maint about thinking about a few more things I had done to the home while I lived here, even though some of them were not things that I would have done to a rental property (pergola, firepit), I added them anyway. 

Either way, Word is Bond and it's so much slower to build than to burn.Be well,

YES.Economists will also be watching the bond market, most notably the 10-year Treasury yield. 30-yr mortgage rates track the 10-year and the spread between the two is still historically high.

“This significant shift in consumer expectations comes on the heels of the recent bond market rally and an already-significant downtick in 30-year mortgage rates, from their high of nearly 8 percent in early November to 6.62 percent as of this past week,” Palim said.Although not factored into the HPSI, 43 percent of consumers surveyed in December said they thought it would be easy for them to get a mortgage, up from a 2023 low of 40 percent in September.Among all survey respondents, the percentage who expect mortgage rates to go up decreased to 31 percent, down from 44 percent in November.

I wish to diversify beyond the stock/bond markets. 

But there were a lot of hoops to jump through and it felt like pulling teeth at times. 

I sued my accountant, the general partner and then my bonding company and 2 attorneys sue me.

And, put simply, government debt (treasury bonds) compete with mortgage debt that are resold by your bank into the bond market.