Since 1980, the only time home prices dropped was during the housing market crash of 2008. Fortunately, the market today isn’t like it was in 2008.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the median down payment hasn’t been over 20% since 2005. In fact, for all homebuyers today it’s only 15%. And it’s even lower for first-time homebuyers at just 8%

You should know, even with student loans, waiting to buy a home may not be necessary. While everyone’s situation is unique, your goal may be more within your reach than you realize.

If you’re planning to buy a home, knowing what to budget for and how to save may sound intimidating – but it doesn’t have to be. One way to ease those concerns is to make sure you understand some of the costs you may encounter up front.

If you’re looking to buy a home, your down payment doesn’t have to be a big hurdle and the reality is, you probably don’t need to put down as much as you think.

If you put off moving because you’re worried home prices might drop, make no mistake, they’re not going down. In fact, it's just the opposite. National data from several sources says they’ve been going up consistently this year.

Here are the top two questions you need to ask yourself about home prices and mortgage rates as you make your decision.

If you’re intimidated by how much you need to save for a down payment it may be because you believe you must put 20% down. That doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.

Owning a home grows your net worth over time as your home appreciates in value and as you pay down your mortgage.

Buying a home as a first-time homebuyer is a vision you can bring to life, but you’ll have to overcome some factors that have made it more challenging in recent years.