Type in a home price, your target down payment percentage, what you have saved today, and how much you can add each month — and get back the exact date you can make an offer.
"20% down" is a number people carry around for years without ever turning it into a date on a calendar. It stays a vibe — a someday — right up until a listing you love hits the market and you realize you have no idea whether you are three months or three years from being able to make an offer. This planner ends that. Enter the home price you are targeting, choose your down payment percentage, tell it what you have saved so far, and set a monthly contribution amount. The tool returns your target in dollars, the gap between where you are and where you need to be, and the exact number of months until you can write the offer.
It also shows you what happens when you change any of those inputs. What if you save $300 more per month? What if you buy a home priced $50,000 lower? What if you put down 10% instead of 20%? Each change updates the timeline in real time, which turns an abstract savings goal into a decision you can act on this week.
How much of a down payment you actually need
Twenty percent is the number everyone hears first, and it has a real advantage: you avoid private mortgage insurance, which typically adds $80–$200 per month to your payment on a $300,000 loan. But 20% on a $400,000 home is $80,000 — a target that takes years for most savers. The planner lets you model any percentage from 3.5% (FHA minimum) through 20% so you can see what each option actually costs you in time.
Three-and-a-half percent on that same $400,000 home is $14,000. At $800 per month saved with $5,000 already banked, that is 11 months. Twenty percent is 94 months at the same contribution rate. The right answer depends entirely on your market, your income stability, and how much PMI costs relative to how long you plan to stay. The tool does not tell you which to choose — it shows you what each one means in months and dollars so you can make the call.
The planner also factors in Closing Costs if you enter them as a separate savings target. Buyers often forget that closing costs — typically 2–5% of the loan amount — come out of pocket on top of the down payment. A $400,000 purchase with 10% down and 3% closing costs requires $52,000 at the table, not $40,000.
The gap number and what to do with it
The Gap Remaining field shows the dollar difference between your Current Savings and your Down Payment Target. This is the actual mountain to climb. On a $350,000 home at 15% down, if you have $8,000 saved, the gap is $44,500. The Months to Goal output tells you how long it takes to close that gap at your current contribution rate.
If the timeline is too long, the tool gives you two honest levers: increase the monthly contribution or reduce the home price target. Increase monthly savings by $200 and watch the months drop. Reduce the target home price by $30,000 and the gap shrinks by whatever percentage you set times $30,000. These are not platitudes — they are real numbers that change the timeline in ways you can calculate before committing to either.
Some buyers use the tool to set a savings deadline and then work backward. If you want to buy in 24 months, set Months to Goal to 24 and adjust the monthly contribution until you hit it. That tells you exactly what you need to save each month to stay on schedule.
How the savings timeline and growth projection work
The planner builds a month-by-month savings timeline starting from your current balance and adding your monthly contribution. If you enter an expected savings account interest rate, it compounds that return monthly. A high-yield savings account currently paying around 4.5–5.0% APY adds a meaningful amount over a two- to four-year saving window. At $1,000 per month saved over 36 months at 4.5% APY, compound interest adds roughly $2,500 to the balance compared to zero-interest savings — about 2.5 extra months of contributions for free.
The chart view shows this growth curve month by month and marks the point where your balance crosses the down payment target. That visual is often more motivating than the month count alone — you can see the curve flattening as you approach the goal rather than staring at a single number.
The Savings Rate Impact tab shows what happens to the timeline at different monthly contribution levels — $500, $750, $1,000, $1,500 — so you can see which savings amount is worth stretching for versus which ones barely move the timeline.
PMI cost versus time to 20 percent down
One of the most useful comparisons this tool enables is the PMI trade-off. If you put down 10% now and pay $150 per month in PMI versus waiting 18 more months to reach 20% down, which option costs less in total? Eighteen months of PMI at $150 is $2,700. If 18 months of continued renting costs $2,000 per month more than a mortgage would, waiting to hit 20% costs $36,000 in rent versus $2,700 in PMI. The math almost always favors buying sooner at 10% in high-rent markets.
The planner does not run this full comparison automatically, but it gives you the timeline inputs you need to do it yourself. Model the 10% down date, note the months, then model the 20% down date. The difference in months times your current rent tells you what waiting costs — and whether it is worth it.
Markets where home prices are appreciating quickly add another dimension: a $400,000 home that appreciates 5% per year is worth $420,000 in 12 months. A 20% down payment on that home is now $84,000 instead of $80,000. The goalposts move. Buying at 10% down when you can afford the payment is often the better call.
Using the planner to stress-test your home price ceiling
Many buyers start with a dream home price and work backward to a timeline. A better approach is to start with what you can realistically save per month and calculate what home price that supports in your target timeframe. Enter your monthly contribution, set your timeline in months, and try different home prices until you find one where the Gap Remaining closes within your window.
This also helps calibrate the down payment percentage. Maybe 20% on a $350,000 home in 30 months is feasible, but 20% on a $450,000 home in the same period requires $600 more per month than you have. Dropping to 15% on the $450,000 home brings the monthly requirement back to what you can manage. Now you have a specific plan: save this much, for this long, for this home price at this down payment.
Sign up for a free trial to save your down payment scenario and track monthly progress — so next time you open the tool, you are checking in on a running plan rather than rebuilding from zero. Your timeline is already calculated. You just need to keep contributing to it.
How to use it
- Enter your Target Home Price — the realistic price range you are shopping in, not your absolute ceiling.
- Set the Down Payment Percentage — try both 10% and 20% to see the time difference before deciding.
- Enter your Current Savings — what you have specifically earmarked for the down payment today.
- Set your Monthly Savings Contribution — what you realistically add each month after all expenses.
- Read the Down Payment Target in dollars, the Gap Remaining, and the Months to Goal, then adjust any input to optimize the timeline.
Who it's for
- First-time buyer deciding between 10% and 20% down — Discovers that 10% down on a $380,000 home is reachable in 14 months versus 38 months for 20%, and uses that timeline to decide whether PMI is worth buying sooner.
- Couple saving together on separate accounts — Combines both partners' monthly contributions into the Monthly Savings field to see a shared timeline, then splits out what each needs to contribute to hit the goal in 24 months.
- Renter in a hot market racing appreciation — Realizes that a target home priced at $450,000 today may cost $475,000 in 18 months, so models 10% down now vs. 20% down later and chooses the faster path.
- Buyer who received a lump-sum gift — Enters a $15,000 gift as current savings and sees that their Months to Goal drops from 22 to 8, triggering immediate action on pre-approval and house hunting.
Key terms
- Down payment percentage
- The portion of the home purchase price paid in cash at closing, expressed as a percentage. Common targets are 3.5% (FHA minimum), 10%, and 20% (PMI avoidance threshold).
- Gap remaining
- The dollar difference between your current earmarked savings and the down payment target. The actual amount you still need to save before you can make an offer.
- PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance)
- Insurance required by most lenders when the down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price. Typically adds $50–$200 per month to the mortgage payment until the loan reaches 80% LTV.
- Months to goal
- The calculated number of months it takes to close the gap at your current monthly contribution rate, factoring in any interest earned on existing savings.
- Closing costs
- Fees paid at settlement in addition to the down payment, including lender fees, title insurance, appraisal, and prepaid interest. Typically 2–5% of the loan amount.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include closing costs in my savings target?
Yes, and the tool allows for it. Closing costs typically run 2–5% of the purchase price — on a $350,000 home that is $7,000 to $17,500. Many buyers are surprised at the table. Enter closing costs as a separate savings goal or add them to your effective down payment target so the planner accounts for the full cash needed at closing.
What interest rate should I enter for my savings account?
Use your actual account's APY. High-yield savings accounts as of 2026 are paying roughly 4–5% APY. If you are keeping the money in a standard checking account, enter 0%. The interest component matters more over longer timelines — over two years at 4.5%, compound interest can meaningfully reduce your effective saving period.
Is 20% down still the right target in 2026?
Not necessarily. Twenty percent avoids PMI and gets you a better mortgage rate, but the right target depends on your market, your income, and how long you plan to stay. In high-appreciation markets, buying at 10% sooner often outperforms waiting to save the full 20%. Use this planner to compare the timelines, then model the total cost scenario for each.
What if my monthly contribution varies?
Enter a conservative monthly figure — not your best month, but a number you can reliably hit. The planner's timeline will be more accurate if you underestimate slightly than if you inflate it. You can also re-run it with a higher contribution to see the best-case scenario and use that as a stretch goal.
Can I use this for an investment property down payment?
Yes. Investment properties typically require 15–25% down and lenders want to see more reserves on top of that. Enter the investment property price, set the down payment percentage to your lender's requirement, and add anticipated closing and reserve costs to your total target.