Down Payment Calculator

Enter the home price and the share you plan to put down. The calculator returns:

• Down payment: price × percentage ÷ 100
• Loan amount: price minus the down payment
• Estimated closing costs: a flat 3% of the price

With the defaults, a $400,000 home with 20% down needs a $80,000 down payment and a $320,000 loan, with closing costs estimated at $12,000.

The tool doesn't add the last two together. The cash you need at closing is roughly $80,000 + $12,000 = $92,000. The 3% is a fixed placeholder applied to every price, not a quote. Replace it with your lender's own estimate once you have one.

Here is the $400,000 home run at four percentages, with the tool's 3% closing estimate added to show total cash up front:

At the low end, closing costs can be close to the down payment itself, so budget for both. The 3.5% row is the minimum investment the National Housing Act sets for FHA-insured loans. Other loan types set their own minimums, and lenders can ask for more.

On a conventional loan, lenders generally require private mortgage insurance when the down payment is under 20% of the sales price or appraised value. That is lender practice rather than a law, per the CFPB.

The Homeowners Protection Act then sets when it ends, for loans on single-family principal residences closed on or after 29 July 1999:

• You can ask to cancel once the balance is scheduled to reach 80% of the original value. The request must be in writing, and you need a good payment history, no junior liens and proof the value hasn't fallen.
• It ends automatically when the balance is scheduled to reach 78%, as long as you are current.
• It ends at the latest at the midpoint of the loan's amortization schedule.

On the $400,000 home, 80% is $320,000 and 78% is $312,000. With 10% down, your $360,000 loan must come down by $40,000 before you can ask and by $48,000 before it drops off automatically. FHA and VA loans follow different rules.

A larger down payment shrinks the loan, which lowers the monthly payment that lenders compare with your income. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide (revision of 2 April 2025) caps total debt-to-income at 36% for manually underwritten loans (up to 45% with credit-score and reserve requirements) and 50% for loans run through its Desktop Underwriter system. Take the loan amount from this tool into a mortgage calculator to see the payment, then check it against your gross monthly income.

The loan amount here is simply price minus down payment. Any fees you roll into the loan would raise it.