<prompt> Human: Im looking to buy a new forever home, but given the market the only options that attract me are priced higher obviously. I am concerned about high monthly payments leaving little left over to go further into savings. However my current assets would allow me to buy a house in the price range Im like looking at outright, eliminating much of the monthly expenses, but leaving me starting at 0 at the bankstocks. If I do a larger down payment then Ill have money in the bank and a smaller monthly mortgage. If I do the typical 20 down then I have majority of my savings, but a large monthly bill. Which is the best option? Im great at saving money but Im terrible at putting it to good use investments, stocks, etc. Are there other options I havent considered?  <response>: If you think you can earn a rate of return investing your money that is greater than the interest rate on your mortgage, e.g. greater than 3.5 or 4 these days, it makes sense to rent more money and invest your own cash. If you feel you cannot earn that kind of return with your cash you say youre terrible at putting it to good use, put more into the house and live with a slower-growth financial model. We are in a period of historically low mortgages in the mid-90s 30-year fixed-rate mortgages were at 9 or 10! plus high stock market returns, so the incentive to rent more money on a fixed-rate basis is obvious. These conditions probably wont last forever though. 