If you're considering taking cash out of your emergency fund to make your down payment, you're probably not yet ready to buy.
On an episode of NPR's podcast The Indicator, certified financial planner Jill Schlesinger discusses why it's a bad idea.
When you decide you think you want to buy, you may be surprised to find out that it costs a lot of money to get into the place where you want to be. That may require you to put down all of your liquid assets into this house down payment and leave you what we like to call 'house poor,' she says.
She stresses that keeping an emergency fund can help avoid making rash money decisions in the future, and help ease stress in the event of job loss, injury, or other life events.