I disagree about the 20% scenario. I think more homes go into foreclosures because banks will pre-approve you for a loan much higher than you can probably afford. People see that they can have this huge house, low monthly payments for a few years, etc but they fail to think about a rainy day. I was shocked to hear that my bank would approve me for 180k loan. I'm like "um, I'd like to have a life outside of paying for my home"

Would I like to live in a more expensive home? Sure, why not? But I am single and if I lost my job (which is exactly what happened two months after I bought my house by the way) would I still be able to afford those payments? had I bought a more expensive home, I would have had to sell it because of the job loss. Things like this are what you need to consider when buying a home.

So many people take advantage of the credit extended to them and that is where the foreclosures and getting in trouble takes place. Not because they take out a 30 year fixed loan and not put 20% down. Personally, I took the 30 but make higher payments most of the time. I hope to have my house paid off in about 12 more years. Each situation is different, I don't think this is a book written rule about what is right and wrong about what to put down on a house.