How Does Mortgage Insurance Compare? Buying a home and putting less than 20% down, you're always going to have mortgage insurance In some cases you may be paying a separate fee while in other cases it may be built into the rate. Either way you are paying it With conventional financing it's required whenever you put less than 20% down. Once you have 20% equity in the property you can typically have that mortgage insurance removed With FHA financing it's a bit different, mortgage insurance is requ