A focused tool for picking a down payment. Most mortgage calculators treat down payment as one of many fields. This page makes it the primary axis: enter a home price and see what 3.5% / 5% / 10% / 20% each get you in loan amount, monthly payment, and PMI status, with the cash-to-close number (down payment plus closing costs) front and center. Click any of the four preset cards to snap your down payment to that level and watch the rest of the page update.
Down payment calculator
Cash to close
$52,000
on a $400,000 home — $40,000 down payment plus an estimated $12,000 in closing costs. That's the rough total you'll need in the bank at closing — your lender's Loan Estimate will give the exact figure.
Enter five numbers for a quick cash-to-close estimate. Open Refine your estimate for taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI.
Quick estimate
Typically 2 – 5% of the home price. Includes lender fees, discount points, appraisal, title insurance, recording fees, and prepaid items. Your lender's Loan Estimate will give the exact figure once you apply.
Refine your estimate
Property tax, homeowners insurance, HOA, and PMI assumptions. Open this if you want a more accurate monthly payment figure.
You'd need $40,000 more down to avoid PMI altogether.
That brings your down payment to $80,000 (20% of the home price), pushing your starting LTV to exactly 80% and removing the PMI requirement at closing.
Closing costs are an estimate
Real closing costs vary by state, loan program, and lender — typically 2 – 5% of the home price for conventional loans, sometimes more in high-tax states. This calculator uses a flat percent assumption (default 3%); your lender's Loan Estimate will give the exact line-by-line figure once you apply. FHA loans add MIP that this tool doesn't model — the 3.5% preset is shown for comparison but the monthly payment doesn't include FHA-specific MIP. Use the cash-to-close number above as a planning ceiling, not a final invoice.
How to use this down payment calculator
See what different down payment levels get you in loan amount, monthly payment, and PMI status — plus the rough cash you'd need at closing.
Enter the home priceThe price of the home you're shopping. The dual-mode down payment input lets you enter your contribution as either a dollar amount or a percent — the other field syncs automatically.
Read the cash-to-close numberThe blue hero card shows your down payment plus estimated closing costs — the rough total you'll actually need at closing. Adjust the closing-cost percent in the inputs if you have a better estimate.
Click a preset card to compareThe four preset cards (3.5% / 5% / 10% / 20%) each show the resulting loan, monthly total, and PMI status. Click any card to snap your down payment to that preset and see the rest of the page update.
Frequently asked questions
These cover what counts as a typical down payment, the difference between common levels, what cash to close includes, and whether 20% down is really required.
FAQ
How much down payment do I need to buy a house?
It depends on the loan program. Conventional loans typically allow as little as 3% down through programs like Fannie Mae's Conventional 97 or Freddie Mac's Home Possible, with most lenders supporting 5% down for standard conventional loans. FHA loans allow 3.5% down with a credit score of 580 or higher. VA loans (for eligible veterans and active-duty military) and USDA loans (for eligible rural areas) allow 0% down. Putting at least 20% down on a conventional loan eliminates the PMI requirement entirely. There's no single right answer — the question is what trade-off works for your situation, which is what this calculator is for.
FAQ
What's the difference between 3.5%, 5%, 10%, and 20% down?
The four common down payment levels each move different levers. 3.5% (FHA minimum) gets you in with the smallest cash outlay but locks in MIP for the life of the loan on most FHA loans. 5% (conventional minimum on most lender overlays) is similar but uses BPMI that you can eventually remove. 10% gets you a slightly lower PMI rate because you're at 90% LTV instead of 95% LTV — the same insurance scaled to a smaller risk. 20% removes the PMI requirement entirely on a conventional loan, dropping your monthly payment by the PMI line item. The comparison row on this page shows all four side-by-side with their resulting monthly payment and PMI status.
FAQ
What is cash to close, and what does it include?
Cash to close is the total amount of money you need to bring to the closing table to actually buy the house. The two big components are your down payment and your closing costs. Down payment is what you're contributing toward the home's purchase price. Closing costs are the fees and prepaids the lender, title company, and government agencies charge to originate, record, and insure the loan — typically 2 to 5% of the home price for a conventional loan. This calculator estimates closing costs as a flat percent of home price (default 3%) and adds them to your down payment to give a rough cash-to-close ceiling. Your lender's Loan Estimate will give the exact line-by-line figure once you apply.
FAQ
Is 20% down really required?
No. The 20% number is famous because it's the threshold above which conventional loans skip private mortgage insurance, but it isn't a legal requirement for buying a house. You can buy a home with 3% down on a conventional loan, 3.5% down on an FHA loan, or 0% down on a VA or USDA loan. The trade-off is that lower down payments mean a larger loan, a higher monthly payment, and (on conventional loans below 20% down) a PMI premium added to that monthly payment until your loan-to-value reaches 80%. Whether the extra cost is worth waiting longer to save 20% is a personal trade-off — the comparison row on this page shows you the monthly numbers so you can decide.
FAQ
Should I put more down to skip PMI?
Maybe — it depends on the math and on your other priorities. Skipping PMI means a lower monthly payment for the life of the loan or until you would have hit 80% LTV anyway. But the cash you put down is cash you can't use for an emergency fund, home repairs, furniture, or investing elsewhere. A common framing: if you can hit 20% down without depleting your emergency reserves and without delaying the purchase by years in a rising market, doing so is usually a clean win. If putting 20% down would empty your savings or delay the purchase significantly, paying PMI for a few years until you can request removal at 80% LTV is often the more honest trade. The 'Skip PMI' guidance card on this page tells you the additional dollar amount you'd need to reach 20%.
FAQ
Is anything I enter here stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser. The down payment math, LTV calculation, and payment composition are all computed locally, and the page makes no network requests for the calculation. Nothing you enter is logged, stored, or transmitted to Everyday Tools Hub or anywhere else.
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