Actually I know someone who bought a 3 bedroom place 2 miles from Apple&#x27;s new HQ in 2010 for 650K. They took out an FHA loan for 3% down with a PMI. This was a really smart decision because in 3 years their house value increased to 850K, bringing their loan to value ratio within 0.8 thus allowing them to refinance and get rid of the PMI. They had a monthly PMI of 350 dollars. That amounts to $12,600 extra for 3 years. 17% savings in downpayment amounts to 110,500. So essentially they saved 98K.