Where to put the down payment money?

We are splitting it up among multiple CD accounts to keep within FDIC limits. I am satisfied knowing it is safe. If you need more return, then you get to shoulder more risk -simple. If you really want to buy in a year, be very careful. My measly return on the CD accounts is more than made up by what I'm saving by waiting, making my possible effective return in the 20 - 30 - 40 - 50% range depending on what you believe will happen to the market.

wishhouse, I only those investments that are guaranteed/insured by the Federal Gov. The returns may be low but you will not have to worry about your account balance getting hammered.

More specifically, my entire home fund is in Treasury Notes, pre-refunded muni bonds and CDs. Zero risk for us when it comes to this account. The returns are paltry at present but the buying power of the savings is growing rapidly as asset values continue to fall.

wishhouse - cash, cash and cash. I have most of mine in institutional treasury money market funds (all "institutional" means is that it requires a decent min balance). Most retail money managers / mutual fund companies (Fidelity, Vanguard, etc.) offer treasury mutual funds. They aren't yielding much if anything these days, but it's all about capital preservation. Also have $$ in CDs, below the $250K FDIC limit per institution. You could also avoid the management fee and buy short-term treasuries at TreasuryDirect.gov.

Schwab has a treasury money market.

"Downpayment" is so 2007. Expect all cash deals (a la Japan, Brazil and other countries) to be the norm soon. There will probably be a dead-cat-bounce in the market when the first wave of sideline cash comes in (like the Dow > 9,000 Oct dead-cat-bounce).

CDs are pretty good places to store your cash. In my mind it doesn't make sense to take on any risk when the downside is complete loss of capital that you can never replenish. Essentially, whatever money you have today is all the money you're going to have for the next few years. Anyone long gold should be buying puts/trailing stops. That market can turn on a dime if any major bank (e.g. Europe/Russia) decides to sell.

Mine are in savings account (2.5% return) and NYC muni bonds, which actually have pretty good yields (3-5%, triple-tax-free), but, scary to say, I am putting up with a bit more risk than I'd like to get those yields.

I agree that capital preservation is MUCH more important than yield for downpayment money.

"Downpayment" is so 2007. Expect all cash deals (a la Japan, Brazil and other countries) to be the norm soon.

agree.

Several banks, CDs and HYSavings.

Putting money you plan to use within a year in anything that could lose principal is just gambling. If you're comfortable with that, then go for it.

You can invest your downpayment with my firm. You can make 15% a year. Just make sure you withdraw your money before the SEC thors our butts into ponzi scheme jail!