That doesn't stop you from spreading it out... while you say "only" just a down payment, it's also worth noting that a down payment is the single largest cash t

That doesn't stop you from spreading it out... while you say "only" just a down payment, it's also worth noting that a down payment is the single largest cash transaction many people will ever make. Which is all the more reason that it doesn't make sense to have a giant balance all in the same spot 99% of the time. ("A lot" of cities is also doing a lot of work in that sentence... 250k is 20% of 1.25M. That would buy you a lot of house in the vast majority of US cities.