Plan a down payment, user-set closing costs, additional cash needed, a month-end savings timeline, comparison targets, and a starting PMI illustration.
A quick decision brief for this specific tool
Home price, down-payment percentage, closing-cost planning rate, savings already available, month-end contribution, nominal savings rate, and optional illustrative PMI rate
Down payment, closing costs, total/additional cash needed, loan amount, explicit goal-reached status, target-date contributions, comparison scenarios, and starting PMI illustration
Cash need is down payment plus user-set closing costs; savings grow monthly before each month-end deposit and search an explicit 600-month horizon
Choose your path
Estimate transparent cash-to-close needs and a savings path while separating user-set closing costs and illustrative PMI from lender-specific rules.
Understand cash required beyond the down payment.
Enter price, down percentage, closing-cost rate, savings, and monthly contribution; inspect total and additional cash.
Can reconcile down payment plus closing costs and knows which amounts require lender quotes.
Know whether the target is reachable and what monthly saving supports a chosen date.
Review the explicit reached/not-reached projection and target-horizon contribution comparisons.
Never receives a fabricated payoff month and can see the 600-month model boundary.
Understand the starting PMI illustration without a false cancellation date.
Compare down-payment scenarios and read the lender-rule caveat and CFPB reference.
Treats PMI as a quoted, loan-specific cost and does not infer automatic cancellation from a straight-line estimate.
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Project a future savings balance, solve the month-end deposit needed for a goal, or calculate time to goal with an explicit 40-year not-reached result.
Compare rent-path and buy-path net worth using equal starting cash, symmetric monthly cash-flow investing, ownership costs, appreciation, and transaction costs.
The down payment is a percentage of the home purchase price paid upfront. The remainder is financed through a mortgage.
Down Payment = Home Price × (Down Payment % ÷ 100)The mortgage principal is the difference between the purchase price and down payment.
Loan Amount = Home Price − Down PaymentThe planning total adds the user-entered closing-cost rate to the down payment. Savings accrue at the entered nominal rate before each month-end deposit for up to 600 months; an unreached goal stays explicit.
Total Cash Needed = Down Payment + (Home Price × Closing-Cost Rate)Updated: August 2026
A first-time buyer saving for a 10% down payment on a $350,000 starter home.
→ Down payment: $35,000, loan: $315,000; PMI may apply and requires a lender quote
Compare the cash need at 20% down while verifying the actual loan program, mortgage-insurance terms, and closing disclosure.
→ Down payment: $96,000 before user-entered closing costs; verify insurance requirements with the lender
A saver with a small monthly contribution sees an explicit 600-month horizon balance instead of a fabricated completion date.
Keep 3–6 months of expenses in emergency savings after closing. Closing costs (2–5% of price) and moving expenses add $10,000–$20,000 beyond the down payment.
FHA loans require as little as 3.5% down. Conventional loans accept 3–5% for qualified buyers. Lower down payments require PMI but enable earlier homeownership.
Build a transparent cash-to-close and savings scenario in your browser. Closing costs and PMI are user-entered illustrations, not lender quotes.