Cash-to-close estimator.
The total cash you'll bring to closing — down payment and costs, minus deposits and credits.
What "cash to close" includes
Cash to close is the total you need available on closing day, and it's more than just the down payment. On top of it sit closing costs — lender fees, title insurance, appraisal, recording and the like, usually 2–5% of the price — plus prepaids, which are upfront amounts for property taxes, homeowner's insurance and prepaid interest that fund your escrow account. From that total you subtract anything you've already paid or been given: your earnest money deposit, and any seller or lender credits negotiated into the deal. The result is the figure your settlement statement will ask you to wire. It's an estimate; your closing disclosure has the exact line items. For the ongoing monthly cost, see the mortgage calculator.
A worked example
Take a $400,000 purchase with 10% down. The down payment is $40,000. Closing costs at 3% add $12,000, and prepaids — the upfront property tax and insurance that seed your escrow account, plus interest from closing day to the end of that month — come to roughly $3,000. That totals $55,000. Subtract the $5,000 earnest money you already put down when the offer was accepted and the wire on closing day is about $50,000.
Earnest money is the piece people most often forget to subtract. It is not an extra cost; it is a part-payment you made weeks earlier, and it is credited back to you on the settlement statement.
What sits inside "closing costs"
- Lender fees — origination, underwriting, and any discount points you buy to lower the rate.
- Third-party services — appraisal, credit report, survey, pest or structural inspections.
- Title — the title search plus lender's title insurance, and optionally an owner's policy that protects you rather than the bank.
- Government charges — recording fees and, in many areas, transfer or stamp taxes, which vary enormously by location.
The 2–5% rule of thumb is a starting point, not a quote. Transfer taxes in particular differ so much between jurisdictions that two identical purchases can have closing costs thousands of dollars apart.
Credits, and the document that settles it
Seller credits and lender credits both reduce the cash you bring. A seller may agree to contribute toward closing costs as part of the negotiation, and a lender may offer a credit in exchange for a slightly higher interest rate — useful if you are short on cash now and willing to pay more over time.
Three business days before closing, your lender must provide a Closing Disclosure listing every line item and the exact cash-to-close figure. Compare it against the Loan Estimate you received earlier and query anything that has moved. This calculator is for budgeting ahead of that document, not a substitute for it.