Cash to close vs. down payment: plan for both
Your down payment is only one part of the money needed for a purchase. Closing charges, deposits, credits, and other adjustments affect the amount due at closing.
Build the cash picture
Start with your down payment, then add estimated closing charges. Subtract deposits already paid and applicable credits when calculating the remaining amount due. Track inspections and other costs paid before closing separately so they are included in your overall purchase budget without being counted twice.
Read the actual documents
The Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure provide transaction specific figures. Use the CFPB explainers linked below to understand the categories and compare them with your own estimate. A calculator cannot predict your local charges or replace a lender disclosure.
Keep a reserve outside the closing figure
Moving, immediate repairs, utility setup, and cash you want left after the purchase belong in the decision even when they do not appear as closing costs. Enter them in the move planner as moving costs and retained reserves.
Make your next conversation specific
Ask which figures are quotes, which are estimates, which charges you can shop for, and how credits change the amount needed. If you have already paid an earnest money deposit, confirm how it appears in the closing calculation.
Does earnest money count toward cash to close?
An applicable deposit already paid is accounted for in the closing calculation rather than paid a second time. Illustrative arithmetic: $80,000 down payment plus $12,000 closing charges, less $5,000 credited deposit and $3,000 applicable credits, leaves $84,000 before other adjustments. Confirm each entry on your actual disclosure. The purchase cash budget tool does not reconcile these deposits and credits.
Put the decision on paper.
Use your own assumptions and bring the result to the professionals helping with your move.
Build a move plan ↗Sources and method
Examples use illustrative assumptions and original arithmetic. Planning recommendations are editorial analysis. Local contracts, funding steps, charges, and loan requirements need transaction specific verification.
Sources checked November 2, 2026.
Corrections or questions: call Dalton at 337.764.1754.
Keep planning
Using home sale proceeds for your next down payment →