Use this Down Payment Calculator to convert between down payment percent and dollars, then see your estimated loan amount, closing costs, total cash to close, and an optional savings timeline.
Advanced options
| Percent | Down payment | Loan amount | Cash to close (adds closing costs) |
|---|
How to use this calculator
- Enter the home purchase price in dollars.
- Pick how you want to enter the down payment: percent or dollars.
- Type your down payment (either percent or dollars, depending on the option you picked).
- Enter an estimated closing costs percent (this is separate from your down payment).
- Click Calculate to see your down payment in both percent and dollars, your estimated loan amount, and your estimated cash to close.
- Check the common down payment options list to compare 3%, 3.5%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% quickly.
- Optional: Open Advanced options to add your current savings and monthly savings to estimate how many months it could take to reach your goal.
- Optional: In Advanced options, choose what you are saving for (down payment only, closing costs only, or both) and add an expected annual return if your savings earns interest.
Definitions
Down payment: Money you pay upfront when buying a home. The loan covers the rest.
Purchase price: The price of the home before subtracting the down payment.
Loan amount: Purchase price minus down payment (a simple estimate).
Closing costs: Extra fees to finish the purchase (separate from the down payment) [1].
Cash to close: Down payment plus estimated closing costs.
PMI (private mortgage insurance): Extra insurance cost that often applies on conventional loans when you put less than 20% down.
Methodology
What this calculator computes
This tool converts your down payment between percent and dollars, then estimates (1) loan amount, (2) closing costs, (3) cash to close, (4) a quick comparison list for common down payment percents, and (5) an optional savings timeline.
Inputs and basic calculations
Down payment dollars (when you enter percent): down payment amount (USD) = purchase price (USD) x (down payment percent / 100).
Down payment percent (when you enter dollars): down payment percent = (down payment amount / purchase price) x 100. Purchase price must be greater than 0.
Loan amount: loan amount (USD) = purchase price (USD) - down payment amount (USD). If down payment amount is greater than purchase price, the result would be negative, so the calculator shows an error.
Closing costs estimate: closing costs (USD) = purchase price (USD) x (closing costs percent / 100). This is a planning estimate, not a quote [1].
Estimated cash to close: cash to close (USD) = down payment amount (USD) + closing costs (USD).
Common down payment options list
For each percent in 3, 3.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20, the calculator computes: down payment (USD) = purchase price x (percent/100) and loan amount (USD) = purchase price - down payment.
Mortgage insurance threshold note
If your down payment percent is below 20%, the calculator shows a reminder that conventional loans often have mortgage insurance costs with lower down payments. This tool does not estimate that cost; it only flags the common 20% milestone [3].
Savings timeline (Advanced options)
Goal amount: You can set the goal to (A) down payment only, (B) closing costs only, or (C) down payment plus closing costs.
Monthly growth rate: monthly rate = (annual return percent / 100) / 12. If the annual return is very close to 0, the calculator uses the no-interest version to avoid divide-by-zero issues.
Future value after m months: If monthly rate is not 0, FV(m) = current savings x (1 + monthly rate)^m + monthly savings x (((1 + monthly rate)^m - 1) / monthly rate). If monthly rate is 0, FV(m) = current savings + monthly savings x m.
Months to goal: The calculator checks month-by-month to find the smallest whole number of months where FV(m) is at least the goal, up to your max months limit. If monthly savings is 0 or negative and you have not already met the goal, months to goal is shown as N/A.
Goal date: If months to goal is a real number within the max months limit, the calculator adds that many months to todays date and shows an estimated month and year.
Validation and formatting rules
Required percent fields cannot be blank. All dollar outputs are shown with comma separators and 2 decimal places. The calculator avoids scientific notation, blocks invalid math (like dividing by 0), and shows clear error text telling you what to change.