Hugh, you're absolutely correct...many of us can't relate to the insanity
! I know Jeff will do his research, but I would suggest that it might be preferable to withdraw (rather than "borrow") from a 401k and maybe even move that portion beforehand to something more stable than equities, etc. (if you haven't already for other reasons). It would just suck to borrow for a down payment, etc. and begin to incur all the other expenses that come with first time home ownership, lose your job, and then have Uncle Sam stick out his greedy hand. I agree with Fint, but if you have the assets to "pay it off", why not use them instead of borrowing in the first place? Just my .02 worth, but not worth nearly that much...