---
title: "How much cash do you have for down payment and closing costs? (B1124-014)"
description: "What the funds figure includes, and why most buyers should lower it."
url: https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/31-how-much-cash-do-you-have-for-down-payment-and-closing-costs-b1124-014
collection: "Using Padzilly"
updated: 2026-10-01
language: en
alternates: [es]
---

# How much cash do you have for down payment and closing costs? (B1124-014)

What the funds figure includes, and why most buyers should lower it.

Your **Funds available** figure is one of the two numbers that drive everything in Padzilly. It is also the one people get wrong most often, because it is not simply "my savings".

* * *

### What the figure means

**Funds available = your down payment + your closing costs − any credits.**

Credits are anything that reduces what you have to bring: a seller contribution, a lender credit, a realtor or builder credit, employer assistance, down payment assistance.

So it is the cash that actually has to leave your hands on closing day, not the balance of your savings account.

* * *

### Where it comes from

**If your lender uploaded your approval**, the figure comes from the approval and the screen tells you: _You have $X available._ It is locked to your lender's number.

**If you have no approval yet**, you entered it yourself when you created your account, and you can edit it freely.

Either way you will find it in **Profile → Homebuying Budget**.

* * *

### You can tell Padzilly to use less

This is the part worth knowing. When the figure is locked to an approval, you can still shop below it.

Tick **Search with less available cash**, then **Set how much cash you want to use**. Padzilly will filter as though you had that smaller amount.

You can lower it, never raise it. The approved figure is your lender's; how much of it you are willing to spend is yours.

**Most buyers should lower it.** Emptying your account on closing day is how a new homeowner ends up unable to fix a water heater in month two. Leave yourself something.

* * *

### Two things that are not the same as cash to close

Padzilly sometimes includes these, and they behave differently.

**Reserves.** Money that has to remain available _after_ closing. You do not spend it — you prove you have it. Your lender requires it as a cushion.

**A required payoff.** Money used to reduce or clear a debt that your approval depends on. This one does get spent.

If your total cash figure looks higher than you expected, one of these is usually why, and the full breakdown on the property page will show you which.

* * *

### What to actually count

Add up what you could genuinely put toward a purchase:

-   Savings you are willing to spend
    
-   Gift funds, if a family member is helping and your loan program allows it
    
-   Down payment assistance you have been approved for
    

Then subtract what you want to keep back for moving, repairs and the first few months.

Put the result in Padzilly, not the bigger number. Every payment and cash figure on every home you look at is measured against it, and an honest figure gives you an honest list.