<prompt> Human: Im about to sell my house and use that money to buy another house contingency. Im thinking about using my previous loan officer, but shes telling me if I put 20 down, I still have to pay a fee to get a lower rate. But if I put down 25 down, I get an even better rate but no fee.I thought the standard was 20 down and you dont have to pay PMI or fee. Whats the deal?  <response>: Licensed LO here Your loan officer is correct - often, people do have to pay for the rate they want. What youre actually doing is paying some of the interest up front so that youre paying less interest over time. Every bankmortgage lender has a scale of what theyre charging you for the money youre borrowing, and youre welcome to shop around and see if other bankslenders will charge you less for the rate youre looking for.2037; down is to avoid PMI mortgage insurance - and in most cases, youre actually likely to get a slightly higher interest rate because no PMI means that the bank takes a higher risk.When your lender talks about fees - see if she will provide a breakdown of them for you so you know exactly whats being charged and why aside from the charges to buy down the rate. 