A cluster of low-down-payment programs sits in the conforming-loan world: the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Conventional 97 / Home Possible programs (3% down, first-time-buyer requirement on at least one applicant, no explicit income cap but loan size bounded by conforming limits and the program is income-restricted in the Freddie variant); FHA loans (lower credit-score floor, higher mortgage-insurance cost); and VA loans (zero down, no PMI, restricted to qualifying veterans). They exist, they are widely advertised, and for the readers of this book they are almost never the right tool: loan sizes max out at conforming limits, the underwriting friction does not scale, and the mortgage-insurance carry on FHA loans is structurally worse than the Jumbo alternatives at section “Jumbo Loan Microstructure”. If your purchase price and down payment land you inside the conforming envelope and you qualify for the VA benefit, take it; otherwise treat these programs as background context and move on.