I am eligible for a FHA loan which requires no money down so luckily I do not have to pay PMI. That helps. I would still try and put something down, though. The more you put down, the less interest you pay over the course of the loan. Have your bank do the numbers for you to compare how much interest you'll pay if you put no money down versus whatever amount you're thinking of paying up front. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes over 30 years. It only helps if you can afford to do it, though. There's no point in extending yourself when you don't have to put anything down. I guess I do not understand why I would pay off those other loans first. I know this is for Robin19, but I'll put in my two cents worth. The reason why you pay everything else off first, before worrying about extra principal payments on your mortgage, is interest. It's tax deductible on your mortgage and not on your other loans. Also, your house is considered an investment and should go up in value (except lately), while a car and most anything you buy on a credit card tends to depreciate. So you have loans on depreciating items that offer no tax breaks. Get those out of the way and then focus on paying down your mortgage.