The 20% down to the seller is so that there is enough equity in the home to work out in the banks favor if they have to repo the house in a down market, and then sell the house, there should still (over 99% of the time) be enough value left in the house that they can get their "loan" money back.
I have heard of people, when forced out of their home by the bank, breaking as much shit in the house as possible on the last day (punching in all walls, pouring wet cement down the drains so it hardens under the house and then has to be dug up to be replaced, leaving something to rot deep in the air ducts, shutting off the main water valve to the house, then going into the walls and cutting the pipes in strategic places so that the water can still flow to a bunch of different places, but soaks a lot of the walls, causes rot and flooding to different areas of the house). I don't know what kind of shit one would get into doing this, but something to think about if you have nothing to lose.
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