Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background.

For a mortgage down-payment, what percentage is sensible?
Well hindsight tells us now that by and large, doing 100% borrowing was not the best policy we could have taken.  It gets nitpicky, but in the US the traditional 20% is the answer I presently feel comfortable with. It could be a reactionary judgement I am making to the current mess (in which I have formed the opinion that all parties are responsible) and arm-chair quarterbacking "if we had only stuck with the 20% rule, we wouldn't be here right now. The truth is probably much more gray than that, but like all things personal finance it is really up to you.  If the law allows 100% financing ask yourself if it really makes sense that a bank would just loan you hundreds of thousands of dollars to live somewhere.