How Little Can I Put Down on a 2-Flat in Chicago?

You do not need 20 percent. That number keeps a lot of people renting for years while they save toward it, and it is not the real number.

If you live in the building, the real number is 5 percent.

5 percent down. A regular home loan lets you buy a building with up to four apartments for 5 percent down, as long as you live in one of them. On a $600,000 two-flat, that is $30,000. The other apartment comes with rent, and lenders can count most of that rent when they decide what you can afford. So the building helps you qualify for itself.

3.5 percent down. An FHA loan goes down to 3.5 percent for a two-flat. That is $21,000 on the same $600,000 building. FHA adds an extra math test for buildings with three or four apartments, and most of them do not pass it. Two-flats skip that test. Buyers of bigger buildings usually just use the 5 percent loan instead.

Zero down. Veterans and active military can buy a building with up to four apartments through a VA loan with no down payment at all, living in one of them.

What putting less down changes. A smaller down payment means a bigger loan and a monthly insurance charge on top of the payment. Closing costs are their own line too. Know both numbers, then stop letting the 20 percent myth make the decision for you.

One rule to know. These loans are for people buying a home, not just an investment. You live in one apartment, usually for at least a year. In Chicago, that is the whole play anyway. You get a home, and the rent from the other unit goes toward the mortgage every month.

Not sure which one fits you? Reach out. You do not need to know exactly what you want yet. Most people who reach out do not.