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Should I buy now or save for a bigger down payment?

Buying sooner with less down means PMI and a bigger loan. Saving longer means a smaller loan and no PMI — but home prices keep rising while you save, so the amount you need keeps growing too. This shows how long the saving actually takes and what each path costs in total.

The home and your cash

SHARED
$
$
$
$/mo

You live somewhere for every month of the wait, and over a saving period this long it is usually the largest number on the page. Enter 0 only if you would genuinely pay nothing.

yrs
%/yr

The target moves as you save. This is what makes waiting expensive.

The two down payments

COMPARE
%
%
%
%
🧮

Enter the price, your savings and both down payment targets to compare the paths.

Save or send these numbersEmail

All four happen in your browser. Your figures are not sent anywhere — the email opens in your own mail app, already filled in.

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For educational purposes only. PMI rates here are typical bands, not a quote, and price growth is an assumption rather than a forecast. Rent while saving is counted, but taxes, insurance and maintenance are not — they fall on the owner either way.