15% down
$3,069/mo$60,000 upfront$170/mo PMIMortgage down payment calculator How much should you put down on a house?
Compare several down payment amounts to see how much cash each uses upfront and how each changes your loan amount, monthly mortgage payment, estimated PMI, lifetime interest, and starting equity. Adjust the home price, interest rate, loan term, taxes, insurance, and PMI assumptions to test your own scenario.
Your mortgage details
Loan term
Use a name like 1234 Main St.. It appears on charts and shared links.
PMI assumption
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) is a lender-required cost that commonly applies to conventional loans with less than 20% down.
With your current inputs, we do not estimate PMI.
Mortgage
$2,773
estimated monthly total
$400K home$320K loan6.5% rate30 years20% down
Compare down payments
20% downYour choice
$2,773/mo$80,000 upfrontNo PMI estimated25% down
$2,646/mo$100,000 upfrontNo PMI estimatedPrincipal + interestProperty taxInsuranceEstimated PMI
Beanio's insight
Putting 5% less down keeps $20,000 in your pocket, but adds about $296 per month.
Explore mortgage down payment tradeoffs
See how different down payments change your upfront cash, monthly mortgage costs, financing costs, equity, and PMI.
Upfront cash versus monthly mortgage payment
See the immediate tradeoff between cash at closing and your estimated monthly loan costs.
Mortgage
$400K home6.5% rate30 years
Beanio's insight
Moving from 15% to 25% down uses $40,000 more upfront and lowers the estimated monthly total by $423.
| Down payment | Cash upfront | Loan amount | Est. monthly total |
|---|
How down payment changes lifetime interest and PMI
Compare lifetime interest and estimated PMI. Property tax and homeowners insurance are excluded here because the down payment does not change them.
Mortgage
$400K home6.5% rate30 years
Lifetime interestEstimated PMI
Beanio's insight
Lifetime interest plus estimated PMI totals $443,171 at 15% down and $382,633 at 25% down, a difference of $60,538.
| Down payment | Lifetime interest | Estimated PMI | Total financing cost |
|---|
How down payment affects home equity and PMI over time
A larger down payment creates more equity immediately. It may shorten or avoid the time you pay PMI.
Mortgage
$400K home6.5% rate30 years
Beanio's insight
At 20% down, starting equity is $80,000 and no PMI is estimated.
Understand your mortgage down payment
Learn how your down payment affects the cash you need today and the mortgage costs you may carry later.
Do you need 20% down to buy a house?
No. Twenty percent is a common threshold associated with avoiding PMI on conventional mortgages, but it is not a universal home-buying requirement.
Available minimums and mortgage-insurance rules depend on the loan program, lender, property, and borrower qualifications.
Is your down payment the full amount needed at closing?
No. The down payment is only one part of the cash you may need to complete a purchase.
This down-payment result does not include closing costs, prepaid taxes and insurance, moving expenses, or immediate repairs.
Should you put more down or keep more cash available?
Mortgage down payment terms, explained
Get a plain-language definition of each input and result used in this estimate.
Definitions of terms
- Down payment
- The portion of the home price you pay upfront, in cash, rather than borrowing. You can enter it as a dollar amount or a percentage; they stay in sync. The rest becomes your loan amount. A bigger down payment means a smaller loan, which lowers both your monthly payment and the total interest you'll pay over time.
- Home price
- The price you're paying for the house: the number on the purchase agreement, before any down payment is subtracted. This is the starting point every other number on this page is built from.
- Annual property tax
- The yearly tax your local government charges based on your home's assessed value. Lenders typically collect this monthly along with your mortgage payment and hold it in escrow, then pay the tax bill on your behalf. So even though the bill itself is annual, we divide it by 12 to show you the monthly share.
- Annual insurance
- Your homeowners insurance premium for the year, covering things like fire, theft, and storm damage. Like property tax, it's usually collected monthly through escrow, so we divide the annual premium by 12 here too.
- Loan term
- How many years you have to pay off the loan, 15 or 30 here. A 30-year term spreads payments out further, so each monthly payment is smaller, but you pay more in total interest because you're borrowing the money for longer. A 15-year term does the opposite: higher monthly payments, less total interest.
- Interest rate
- The annual cost of borrowing the loan amount, expressed as a percentage. This is set by your lender based on market conditions, your credit, and your loan details. This calculator lets you plug in a rate so you can see its effect, but it doesn't estimate what rate you'd actually qualify for.
- Principal + interest
- The core loan payment: the portion that pays down what you borrowed (principal) plus the cost of borrowing it (interest). This is calculated with the standard fixed-rate amortization formula and stays the same every month for the life of the loan. What changes month to month is how much of it goes to each piece.
- Private mortgage insurance (PMI)
- An added cost that commonly applies to conventional loans when you put less than 20% down. It protects the lender, not the borrower, if the loan goes into default. The amount shown here is an estimate based on the adjustable PMI rate. Your actual cost and cancellation timing depend on your loan and servicer.
- Estimated monthly total
- Also called: house payment, monthly mortgage payment
- Principal + interest, plus your monthly property tax and insurance shares and estimated PMI when it applies. This gives you a more complete estimate of what the house will cost each month, not just the loan payment alone.
More money questions
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About this down payment estimate
Review what is included, what is excluded, and how PMI is estimated.
What’s included
Principal and interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, and estimated PMI below 20% down.
About the PMI estimate
The default rate is adjustable. Estimated duration assumes you request cancellation when the scheduled balance reaches 80% of the original home price.
What’s excluded
Closing costs, HOA fees, maintenance, utilities, lender fees, and changes in home value or escrow.
Updated date and disclaimer
Updated August 11, 2026. This estimate is educational and is not a loan quote, approval, or financial advice. See the full disclaimer.