Anywhere from 3% to 25% of the home's purchase price, depending on your lender, your credit score and where you're buying.

We've spoken with loan officers and mortgage brokers across the country, and they all say 100% financing is no longer available, even if you have exceptional credit.

"Your credit score would have to be infinity," says Todd Merritt, a vice president at Link One Mortgage Bankers in Jericho, N.Y. "I'm not aware of any lenders doing 100% financing anymore, at least not in New York."

State-sponsored mortgage programs as well as private down-payment assistance programs are helping low- and moderate-income families buy homes without putting any money down. But they impose strict limits on how much applicants can earn and spend on a home.

Most borrowers won't qualify.

A few mortgage brokers are still touting 100% financing on their Web sites. But they're just come-ons to get you on the phone.

Once they've gotten you to apply, a salesman will tell you that you can't qualify for a loan without making at least a small down payment.

"I don't have any lenders that will do 100% financing, and quite honestly, even if I did, I wouldn't do it," said Debbie Zentner, a mortgage broker with Diversified Capital Funding in Pleasanton, Calif.

That's because prices are now declining in most of the country. Putting little or nothing down means you could easily find yourself upside-down, or owing more than your home is worth.

Suppose you financed the entire purchase price of a $200,000 home and its value declined to $190,000 over the next year, even though you still owed the bank more than $197,000.

That might not seem like a problem if you intend to live in the home five or 10 years -- plenty of time for the market to turn around.

But what if you lost your job or got transferred to another city, suffered through a divorce or major illness, and had to sell?

You couldn't do it without making up the difference between the selling price and what you owe. If you don't have an extra $10,000 or $20,000 to buy your way out, you're literally trapped in your house.

Indeed, a major reason lenders have done away with 100% financing is because so many borrowers who took advantage of no-down-payment deals over the past several years are upside-down and defaulting on their homes.

That doesn't mean we've turned back the clock 20 or 30 years when lenders demanded 20% down payments from almost everyone. But you will need:

3% of the purchase price if:

• You can qualify for an FHA loan.

The Federal Housing Administration was created to help first-time buyers, especially low- to moderate-income families and minorities, get the home financing they need. The federal government guarantees repayment, so the lender knows it will not lose money on the deal.

That allows the bank or mortgage company to offer competitive interest rates on a loan that's easier to qualify for than a conventional home loan. The trade-off is that you'll pay a bit more in interest.

Borrowers with credit scores in the mid- to high-600s should be good to go for FHA-backed financing. Those with credit scores between 580 and 620 are on the bubble. A score below 580 won't work.

A 5% down payment if:

• You have a credit score of 700 or higher. Some lenders will consider borrowers with credit scores as low as 620, but you'll need additional assets, such as a retirement fund or hefty savings account, to qualify.
• Are borrowing less than $417,000.
• Want a traditional fixed- or adjustable-rate mortgage not backed by the government.
• Aren't buying in what your lender considers to be a "distressed market" -- areas suffering from the highest foreclosure rates and steepest price drops. About 9,600 ZIP codes in 34 states have popped up on various lists, and it's not uncommon for the entire states of California, Florida, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Ohio to be considered distressed.

A 10% down payment if:

• You need to borrow more than $417,000, which requires what lenders call a jumbo loan.
• Don't live in a distressed market.
• Have a credit score above 700. Borrowers with extra assets and credit scores as low as 620 could be accepted by some lenders.

A down payment of more than 10% if:

• You have a credit score below 720 and no significant assets.
• Live in a distressed market. Wells Fargo & Co., for example, recently told mortgage brokers it wanted a 25% down payment in the hardest-hit cities.

By Regan Doherty

Interest.com Associate Editor

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