How much cash do I need on the day?

Add the down payment, closing fees, costs paid early, and moving money. Then subtract money already paid and seller credits.

Cash you need on the day

$85,460 wired at closing on a $400,000 purchase, plus $3,000 to move in.

Down payment: $80,000
Costs & prepaids: $10,460
Credits back: $5,000

See the full calculationFollow each number from the inputs to the answer.

Calculation 1

Find the cash needed to buy and move in

What are we finding?

We are finding the cash paid at closing, plus the cash needed to move and get set up.

What do these numbers mean?

Down payment: $80,000: The part of the home price paid now.
Closing costs: $6,400: The entered lender, title, and settlement costs.
Prepaid costs: $4,060: Property tax, home insurance, and daily loan interest paid before the first regular payment.
Credits: $5,000: Earnest money already paid and any seller credit. These lower the closing wire.
Moving and setup: $3,000: Cash for moving, immediate repairs, and getting the home ready.

How do we calculate it?

Add the down payment, closing costs, and prepaid costs. Subtract credits. Then add moving and setup costs.

total cash = down payment + closing costs + prepaids − credits + moving costs

$80,000 + $6,400 + $4,060 − $5,000 + $3,000

The down payment and all costs due before credits total $90,460.
$90,460 minus $5,000 in credits leaves a closing wire of $85,460.
$85,460 plus $3,000 for moving and setup equals $88,460.

Final answer

$88,460 total cash

What does the answer mean?

This is the modeled amount you need available to close on the home and move in. Your emergency reserve is checked separately and is not treated as spending money.

Where is it?

Closing costs, property tax and insurance all vary by state.

Where is the property

Filled in for you

StepShown state housing planning references, checked July 2026. Typical figures for Ohio.

Closing costs: 1.6%
Property tax: 1.53% a year
Home insurance: $1,675/yr

State planning averages, not your assessment or a real quote. Replace any figure with your own when you have it.

Your numbers

Home price

Down payment

$80,000

Cash available

Emergency savings to keep

Kept back for emergencies, not spent on the house

Moving and setup

Fees, bills paid early, and credits

Closing costs

$6,400. Replace with your Loan Estimate

Property tax rate

Property tax months paid early

$1,530 into the lender's holding account

Yearly home insurance

Usually a full year, paid upfront

Interest rate

Loan interest days paid early

$855. Fewer days if you close later

Earnest money already paid

Already paid, credited back at closing

Seller credits

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Does your cash cover it?

With the emergency reserve treated as untouchable, not as available.

Closes with the reserve intact

$88,460 needed against $120,000

PurchaseReserveLeft over

Wire at closing: $85,460
Total cash needed: $88,460
Left afterwards: $31,540
Against your reserve: $13,540 above

Where the money goes

Every line owed at the table, before credits come back.

$90,460

due at closing

Down payment$80,000.0088%
Closing costs & fees$6,400.007%
Property tax paid early$1,530.002%
Insurance premium$1,675.002%
Prepaid interest$854.791%

Percentages show each part of the whole. For example, 25% means 25 out of every 100, or about 1 out of 4.

What this actually means

Read directly from your numbers with no averages or hidden assumptions.

Helpful result

You can buy the home and keep your emergency savings

After paying $85,460 at closing and $3,000 for moving and setup, you have $31,540 left. That is $13,540 more than the $18,000 you wanted to protect for emergencies.

How to read this

The down payment is not the full cash amount

The down payment is $80,000. Fees and bills paid early add $10,460. Together, the cash due is about 2.6% of the home price. For example, 5% means 5 out of every 100 dollars. This money is due at one time, not spread across the loan.

How to read this

Your closing date changes what you owe

$855 of this is interest covering the 15 days between closing and the end of that month. Closing nearer the end of the month shrinks it; one of the few costs on this list you can move without negotiating with anyone.

Helpful result

What is already covered

$5,000 is credited back at the table, including the $5,000 earnest money you have already paid. Earnest money is not an extra cost; it is part of this total, paid early.

What a different deposit changes

The same purchase, with more or less cash down.

What you are looking at: Cash needed, loan size and remaining reserve at different deposit levels. Each row changes one choice while the other entered numbers stay the same.

Cash needed, loan size and remaining reserve at different deposit levels
Choice	Cash needed	Loan	Reserve left
5% downMortgage insurance applies	$28,620lower by $59,840	$380,000	$73,380 above reserve
10% downMortgage insurance applies	$48,567lower by $39,893	$360,000	$53,433 above reserve
20% downYour planNo mortgage insurance	$88,460	$320,000	$13,540 above reserve

Main takeaway: the shaded row is your plan now. Read across another row to see what one change would do.

What would reduce this

Ranked by cash saved on the day, largest first.

Possible change
Ask for $4,000 in seller credits
saves $4,000
A concession toward closing costs is normal in negotiation and costs the seller less than an equivalent price reduction costs you, because it arrives as cash on the day rather than being financed over thirty years.
Keep in mind: Negotiated, not earned
Possible change
Close nearer the end of the month
saves $570
Prepaid interest only covers the days between closing and month end. Moving the date later cuts it directly, and unlike every other line here it requires no negotiation; just a different date on the contract.
Keep in mind: 15 days becomes 5

Take it with you

Your inputs are already saved in this page's URL.

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How this tool was checked

Sources and review

Expert review is still needed

StepShown checked the calculation code and its tests. An independent expert in this subject has not checked it yet. Use it to plan, and ask a qualified professional before making an important decision.

Calculation version: Version 1.0
Last updated: Jul 28, 2026
Person responsible: StepShown engineering

Closing Disclosure explainer
Published by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Area covered: United States. StepShown owner: StepShown editorial. Checked Jul 28, 2026. Check again by Jan 24, 2027. Cash to close line items including prepaids, initial escrow, credits, and settlement costs. Reference guidance; no date specific value is ingested.
Loan Estimate explainer
Published by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Area covered: United States. StepShown owner: StepShown editorial. Checked Jul 28, 2026. Check again by Jan 24, 2027. Comparing mortgage offers, fees, monthly payments, and closing costs on standardized disclosures. Reference guidance; no date specific value is ingested.

Location planning

30 state guides show a large enough change to affect the answer.

Browse the location guides

Read the StepShown calculation and writing rules, or report a problem.

Learn more

How the calculation works

Cash to close is built from five things, then reduced by what you have already handed over.

Down payment: your chosen percentage of the purchase price
Closing costs: lender, title, settlement and appraisal fees
Tax escrow: a few months of property tax, collected in advance
Insurance: normally the full first year, paid upfront
Prepaid interest: loan × rate ÷ 365 × days from closing to month end
Less credits: earnest money already paid, plus any seller concessions

Moving and setup costs are added separately. They are not part of the wire and no lender asks about them, but they land in the same few weeks and come out of the same account, so planning without them is planning to be surprised.

The reserve is treated as untouchable. Rather than counting all your savings as available, this reports what remains once an emergency fund is set aside; because the months right after moving in are precisely when unexpected costs arrive, and a purchase that consumes the last of your cash turns an ordinary repair into new debt.

One caveat worth stating plainly: the percentages here are planning figures. Actual fees vary by state, lender and property, and only a written Loan Estimate binds anyone. Replace the closing cost percentage with that figure as soon as you have it.

Common questions

What is cash to close, exactly?

Cash to close is the one amount you must send before you get the keys. It includes the down payment, lender and title fees, property tax and insurance paid early into a holding account called escrow, and interest for the rest of the closing month. Earnest money already paid and seller credits lower it. Cash to close is larger than the down payment or closing fees alone.

How much are closing costs, typically?

Commonly 2% to 5% of the purchase price, before prepaid escrow items are added on top. They vary by state, lender and property, and a written Loan Estimate is the only figure that binds anyone. Use a percentage here for planning, then replace it with the Loan Estimate once you have one.

Why am I prepaying property tax and insurance?

The lender puts this money in an escrow account, which is a holding account used to pay future bills. It often includes a few months of property tax and a full year of home insurance paid early. This is your money, not a lender fee, but you still need it on closing day.

Does my closing date really change what I owe?

Yes, and it is one of the few levers that costs nothing to pull. Interest is collected from the closing date to the end of that month, because your first monthly payment covers the month after. Closing on the 28th rather than the 3rd can remove most of that line item.

Should I use my emergency fund to close?

Deliberately, no. The months immediately after moving in are exactly when unexpected costs appear, and a household that closes with nothing behind it meets the first repair with a credit card. This calculator treats the reserve as untouchable and reports what is left after it, rather than counting it as available.

Is earnest money an extra cost?

No. It is a deposit you have already paid, held in escrow and credited back to you at closing. It reduces the amount you wire on the day, which is why it appears here as a credit rather than an additional line.

Knowing the cash works is one half; knowing the payment works is the other.

Or browse everything in Home Ownership.

How much cash do I need on the day?

Find the cash needed to buy and move in

What are we finding?

What do these numbers mean?

How do we calculate it?

What does the answer mean?

You can buy the home and keep your emergency savings

The down payment is not the full cash amount

Your closing date changes what you owe

What is already covered

Ask for $4,000 in seller credits

Close nearer the end of the month

Sources and review

How the calculation works

Common questions

Where to go next

Find the cash needed to buy and move in

What are we finding?

What do these numbers mean?

How do we calculate it?

What does the answer mean?

You can buy the home and keep your emergency savings

The down payment is not the full cash amount

Your closing date changes what you owe

What is already covered

Ask for $4,000 in seller credits

Close nearer the end of the month