Cash to Close Calculator

A lender quotes you a rate and a monthly payment. Neither is the number you have to produce on settlement day. This workbook builds that number line by line, then tells you what is left in the bank once the wire clears.

What This Workbook Does

• Sections 1 and 2 build the full monthly payment — principal and interest, property tax, homeowner’s insurance, mortgage insurance and any HOA fee.
• Sections 3 and 4 take the one-time costs straight off your Loan Estimate: lender fees, title and settlement, recording and transfer taxes, prepaid interest and the escrow cushion.
• Section 5 subtracts what you have already paid or negotiated — earnest money, seller credit, lender credit.
• The bottom line is CASH TO CLOSE, followed by your reserve status once it is paid.

How to Use It

1. Enter the purchase price and down payment percentage. Everything in section 1 follows from those.
2. Enter the note rate and term. The monthly principal and interest is calculated for you.
3. Fill in section 2 from the county assessment and your bound insurance policy, not from the listing sheet or the seller’s old bill.
4. Copy sections 3 and 4 straight off the Loan Estimate. The notes column tells you which section letter to look under.
5. Enter your earnest money and any negotiated credits in section 5.
6. Read CASH TO CLOSE. That is the wire.
7. Check the reserve status at the bottom. Closing with under three months of payments left is how a good purchase turns into a bad first year.

What It Will Not Do

Every line is an estimate until the Closing Disclosure arrives. Transfer taxes and recording fees swing by thousands of dollars between states, and escrow cushions are set by the lender, not by you.