<prompt> Human: Hey PF -A house purchase will likely be happening for my soon-to-be spouse and I in the next 2 years. Keeping as much of the nitty-gritty monetary details out of it as possible, I just wanted some of your thoughtsopinions on a strategy that my SO and I have discussed over the past few days. So lets get into it!Weve accumulated what I believe to be a relatively large amount of cash savings over the past 5 years while living well-below our means in preparation for a future home purchase. Houses that fit our long-term goalsdreams would likely result in a mortgageproperty taxinsurance of 40 of our take home pay if we put the standard 20 down without reducing retirement contributions, etc. which we are maxing right now. I know that 40 of your take home pay on housing is quite read:very high. Some people do it, Im sure, but numbers like that would likely make me feel house poor due to not having a ton of money left after making those monthly payments.Now heres the strategy weve discussed: What if we put more like 40 down on the house in order to reduce mortgage payments and yield more cash flow on a month-to-month basis? Here are my thoughts:Advantages: Less of a loan to pay off across the life of the loan Smaller monthly payments hopefully more like 20-25 of take home pay on the mortgage -- increased cash flow on a monthly basisDisadvantages: Yes, the extra cash that wed be putting toward the down payment could be invested and likely yield a much higher return in the market. Putting more down on the house would technically be a guaranteed return equal to the interest rate on the mortgage, though! More disadvantages...? Enlighten me.Curious to hear your thoughtsopinions on a strategy like this. Theoretically, a solution would be to buy a less expensive house, put 20 down, invest the rest of our excess cash in the market, and have the affordable monthly payments that we are seeking. However, as I mentioned above, the house of our dreamsthe house that fits best with our future goals costs more than that, and since we have the extra cash available to us for that big down payment, I see this as a potentially viable solution.EDIT: Thank you everyone for the answers! I disappeared about 2-3 hours after posting and just got back to reading some. I will try to respond to everyone soon!  <response>: There is absolutely a good reason to put more than 20 down. Every 100 you put down is going to save you like 4y in interest. Thats guaranteed return.Cash flow is a big deal. Much bigger of a deal than people typically make it sound.The lower your required minimum payments, the more likely you end every month in the black instead of in the red.You really want to end months in the black, rather than in the red. I mean you really really want it to be like that.Putting in a larger down payment is absolutely a good idea, especially if its a requirement to be in the black.Dont be scared to put in a larger down payment.Adding to stock accounts is what people should be doing after they otherwise get into the black.It doesnt make sense to lock up all your money in something like a 401k and then run right at the border between blackred. Any small problem will then put you on the wrong side.I would say its a bad idea to ever buy any house if you will have less than 500m at the end of the month afterwards. Nobody should be running finances closer than 500m to the plus. If you cant do that, then you cant own. If you cant rent a big place like that, then you have to rent a smaller place. If you cant rent a smaller place, then you need more income.Put in a down payment of whatever size gives you at least 500 left over in checking every month. Same thing with retirement. Dont contribute to it beyond what leaves you with 500 at the end of the month.Once you are doing all that, then dont waste the 500m. Use it to pay extra on the mortgage or put it in a Roth IRA or something else productive when you are sure you dont need it for any kind of unexpected expense. 