A listing leads with one number, the asking price. Whether a home fits your life comes down to two others: the cash you need on closing day, and what leaves your account every month after you move in. Cost after purchase is also the regret homeowners name most often. In Bankrate’s 2025 homeowner survey, 42% of homeowners with a regret said maintenance and other hidden costs ran higher than they expected.
This guide takes each cost in turn, then adds them up for one $400,000 home with round numbers, so you can see the whole bill before you run your own.
How much you need to put down
Most people think it is more than it is. In NerdWallet’s 2025 Home Buyer Report, a survey run by The Harris Poll, 62% of Americans said a 20% down payment is required to buy a home. The median first-time buyer put down 10%, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and many loan programs accept less than that.
A smaller down payment gets you in sooner and leaves more of your savings in the bank. You pay for it each month in two ways. The loan is larger, so the mortgage payment is larger, and a conventional loan with less than 20% down usually carries private mortgage insurance (PMI), which protects the lender and is added to your payment. Ask your lender which programs you qualify for and what each one charges for mortgage insurance.
Closing costs: the second check you write
Closing costs are the fees and prepaid items due when the sale closes, on top of the down payment. They were the largest blind spot in a 2026 home lending quiz that Wells Fargo commissioned from Ipsos: among people planning to buy their first home, almost 7 in 10 said they felt knowledgeable about buying, and nearly 90% did not understand what closing costs involve.
Closing costs usually include:
- Lender charges: origination and underwriting fees, and any points you pay to lower your rate.
- Third-party services: the appraisal, the credit report, the title search and title insurance, and in some states an attorney.
- Government fees: recording fees and, in many places, a transfer tax.
- Prepaid items: the first year of homeowners insurance, a share of the property tax, interest up to your first payment, and the opening deposit in your escrow account.
The total depends on your state, your lender and your loan, and you get it in writing early. A lender must send you a Loan Estimate within three business days of receiving your application, with the estimated closing costs, and a Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you close, with the final figures (both rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). Compare the two line by line. You can also ask the seller to pay part of your closing costs as a credit in your offer. The example below uses 3% of the price.
The monthly payment a quote shows
A payment quote usually adds up three things:
- Mortgage principal and interest. On a 30-year fixed loan this stays the same for the life of the loan, and the principal part builds your equity.
- Property tax. Your county or city sets it, and in many places the bill rises after a sale because the home is reassessed at its new price. Ask what the tax will be for you, which can differ from what the seller paid.
- Homeowners insurance. Your lender requires it. Get a quote for the specific home early, because the price varies with location and with the home’s age and condition.
Tax and insurance are often collected with the mortgage into an escrow account, so the three look like one payment. The tax and insurance parts can still change every year, and the escrow payment moves with them.
PMI comes on top when you put less than 20% down on a conventional loan. It is temporary: you can ask your servicer to cancel it once your balance is scheduled to fall to 80% of the home’s original value, and it ends automatically at 78% as long as you are current on payments, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. FHA loans carry their own mortgage insurance, with different rules.
Upkeep and HOA dues: the costs after you move in
Repairs arrive unevenly: a quiet year, then a water heater, then a roof. A common budgeting rule sets aside about 1% of the home’s value a year, more for an older home or one that needs work. On a $400,000 home that is about $333 a month, set aside even in the months when nothing breaks.
Condos, townhomes and many newer subdivisions charge homeowners association (HOA) dues. Dues vary widely between buildings and pay for different things, so ask what they cover, how often they have gone up, and whether a special assessment is planned. For a condo, add the dues to every month. Maya’s comparison of two Chicago condos shows how much a gap in dues can move the total.
One home, every cost
Here is a $400,000 house with no HOA, bought with 10% down, close to the median first-time buyer, at a 6.5% 30-year fixed rate. The tax, insurance and PMI figures are round-number assumptions, and your Loan Estimate and insurance quote will give you real ones. The second column puts 20% down on the same home.
| Down payment | $40,000 | $80,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Closing costs (3%) | $12,000 | $12,000 |
| Cash to close | $52,000 | $92,000 |
| Mortgage principal and interest | $2,275 | $2,023 |
| Property tax | $400 | $400 |
| Homeowners insurance | $150 | $150 |
| The payment a quote shows | $2,825 | $2,573 |
| PMI | $150 | $0 |
| Upkeep | $333 | $333 |
| First month in all | $3,309 | $2,906 |
At 10% down, the payment quote for this home is $2,825 a month. Add PMI and upkeep and the first month comes to $3,309, $484 more than the quote. Before that first month you need $52,000 in cash, and $12,000 of it is closing costs.
Putting 20% down takes $40,000 more at closing and lowers the first month by $403, from the smaller loan and the missing PMI. Which suits you depends on what else that $40,000 would do for you, such as an emergency fund or the cost of moving in, and on how soon PMI would come off. It helps to keep some savings after closing either way, because the first repair seldom waits for a convenient month.
Run the numbers for your home
Start with the free ownership-cost calculator, which needs no account. Enter the price, your down payment and rate, your monthly taxes, insurance and fees (with any HOA dues and mortgage insurance), an upkeep allowance and your closing costs. It shows your cash to close and your month-one budget. It runs on the same engine as the example above, so you can type in these numbers to check them and then swap in your own.
When you have a real address in mind, look it up. The free check shows the home’s estimated monthly payment (mortgage, taxes and insurance), the asking price beside the home’s estimated value, and a score out of 10 for how the home is positioned to appreciate in its market, with its confidence. Your first home is free.
Cost to Own adds up what this home costs you each month, from mortgage to upkeep, and grows it at its estimated appreciation rate, its market’s long-run rate plus its market edge, through to the cash you keep at sale. It opens with a credit on that home or with a plan.