Hi David,
You have received great advice already from both Curt and Myke. I also agree that an FHA loan is probably going to work best if you are looking for the minimum down payment. That currently is 3% which would take a bit over $10k of your $20k down. You will also need closing costs, unless you can get the seller to pay these, which many sellers have been based on the market being more towards buyers. As far as a payment, you can expect to pay somewhere between $2850 - $3200 depending on several factors like the taxes each year on the property, homeowners insurance rates for the home you select, and the interest rate that you get. I'm not a lender but it looks like Curt is from Santa Cruz, and he probably does know a great local lender that can give you some actual numbers. Good luck! - Wed Aug 20 2008, 01:40