The $0-down-payment mortgage that isnt too good to be true

Home affordability is at a record low.According to the Urban Institute, nearly half of Americans can’t afford the true cost of living. Average house prices in the U.S.

are sitting at an all-time high of $514,600.In states like Florida, Colorado and California, those averages are higher — $477,000, $597,000 and $811,000, respectively.For most people, saving up nearly $100,000 in cash for a 20% down payment on your average house is a Sisyphean task.

And if you qualify for a loan with only 15%, 10% or 5% down on a conventional mortgage, you will have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI), which can add hundreds of dollars to your monthly payment.Fortunately, for qualified buyers, there are options.For active duty service members and veterans, the U.S.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers $0 down payment mortgages to offset the crushing cost of housing.And for people with modest incomes looking to buy property in rural or suburban areas, a loan from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) can provide a leg up.Anyone who has looked around the internet for homebuying information has seen the bad news.

Current mortgage rates are hovering around 6%, and at the end of last year, the average mortgage payment in the U.S.topped $2,000 per month for the first time.Fortunately for our men and women in uniform, the government created the VA $0-down payment home loan program in 1944 as part of the GI Bill of Rights.

The program allows veterans to take out a government-backed loan guaranteed by the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs.That also means you don’t have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI), which is common for mortgages with less than 20% down at closing and can be as much as 2% of your mortgage depending on your down payment and credit score.According to Chris Birk, VP of Mortgage Insight and Education at Veterans United Home Loans, “The $0-down payment feature gets most of the attention, but it’s only part of what makes the VA loan ...