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By Kulasekar Mittapalli · Scenario · Last reviewed August 3, 2026

Monthly Payment on a $300,000 House with 5% Down

A $300,000 home with just 5% down is one of the most common entry points for first-time buyers — enough to get in the door without waiting years to save 20%, at the cost of PMI.

The real payment breakdown

Property tax and insurance estimated at typical national figures ($4,800/year tax, $1,400/year insurance). Use the calculator below, already pre-filled with these numbers, to swap in your real figures.

Why PMI shows up at 5% down

Borrowing 95% of the home's value puts you well above the 80% threshold where PMI kicks in. At a 0.5% annual rate, that's about $119 extra every month until your balance falls to $234,000 — 78% of the original value — which happens automatically by law, typically a few years faster if you pay anything extra toward principal.

What income actually supports this payment

Using the standard 28% front-end rule, a $2,437/mo payment implies household income around $104,400/year — before factoring in any other debts, which would tighten that number under the full 36% back-end DTI rule.

What a rate change does to this specific loan

The 15-year alternative, run on these exact numbers

Switching this $285,000 loan to a 15-year term raises principal and interest to about $2,483/mo — roughly $682 more per month — but cuts total lifetime interest from $363,502 down to $161,878, a savings of $201,624.

Try it with your own rate and numbers

The calculator below is pre-filled with this exact scenario — adjust it to your real rate, location, and credit tier for a precise number.

Five percent down is a cash-flow decision, not a compromise

A $15,000 down payment on a $300,000 home is often framed as the option you take when you can't do better. That framing is worth resisting, because for a specific kind of buyer it's the correct choice on the merits.

The case for it: you keep capital. Buying a home is the moment your emergency fund matters most and your liquidity is lowest. A buyer who puts 5% down and retains $20,000 has genuine resilience against a job gap, a failed HVAC system, or an insurance deductible. A buyer who put 20% down to avoid PMI and holds $1,200 does not, regardless of how much better their amortization schedule looks.

The case against: you carry PMI, your loan is larger, and your payment is higher for the years before equity builds. Both of these are true simultaneously. The resolution depends on your cash position, not on which option is theoretically superior.

Getting rid of PMI faster than the schedule

At 5% down, PMI is a real line item and the natural question is how quickly it goes away. Three paths, and they move at very different speeds.

Amortization alone is the slow path — reaching 20% equity from a 5% start takes most of a decade at normal payment schedules on a 30-year loan.

Appreciation is faster in most markets and doesn't require you to do anything. Conventional guidelines allow requesting PMI removal based on current value with an appraisal once you cross 20%, though servicers apply seasoning requirements and the appraisal is at your cost.

Extra principal is the lever you control. Modest additional payments in the first few years compress the timeline substantially, because you're attacking the balance during the period when the equity gap is the only thing standing between you and dropping the premium.

One caution specific to low-down-payment loans: if this is an FHA loan rather than conventional, mortgage insurance generally persists for the life of the loan at this down payment, and refinancing to conventional is the only exit. That difference is worth confirming before you choose the program.