---
title: "Filter by Payment & Cash Needed"
description: "What cash needed means, and how the two filters work together."
url: https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/39-filter-by-payment-and-cash-needed
collection: "Using Padzilly"
updated: 2026-10-01
language: en
alternates: [es]
---

# Filter by Payment & Cash Needed

What cash needed means, and how the two filters work together.

Padzilly gives you two filters that work off your loan rather than off the asking price. They sit together above the results list, on desktop and on mobile.

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### What "Cash needed" actually means

Worth stating plainly, because it is not just the down payment:

**Cash needed = down payment + closing costs − any credits**

Credits include a seller contribution, a lender credit, down payment assistance and anything else that reduces what you have to bring. So the same house can need very different cash depending on how the offer is structured.

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### How to use the two filters

**Filter by Payment** — shows only homes whose estimated monthly payment is at or below your payment limit.

**Filter by Cash Needed** — shows only homes where the total cash needed is at or below your cash limit.

**Turn both on** and a home has to clear both tests to appear. This is the combination we recommend, because the two constraints are genuinely different: plenty of homes you could afford monthly need more cash than you have on hand, and plenty you could pay for in cash carry a payment you would not want.

You can use one, the other, or both. Padzilly applies your limits only while the filters are on.

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### Changing your limits

Adjust them from your profile or from the filter panel. If your limits come from an uploaded loan approval, you can lower them but not raise them — the ceiling belongs to your lender.

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### How SearchPro changes the answer

The filters test each home against fixed limits. **SearchPro** lets you change the home instead, with what-if controls that can move a property from failing to passing:

**Lower the price** — adjust the Price slider and watch both the payment and the cash needed fall.

**Increase the down payment** — adjust the Down Payment slider. More cash down means a smaller loan, a lower payment, and sometimes no mortgage insurance at all. It also means more cash needed, so the two filters move in opposite directions here. That is the trade-off, made visible.

On a specific property, **OfferPro** goes further and lets you add a seller contribution, which reduces cash needed without raising your payment.

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### The practical sequence

1.  Turn both filters on
    
2.  If the list is too short, use SearchPro to see what a lower price would do
    
3.  When you find a home you like, open OfferPro and try a seller contribution before you assume it is out of reach
    

Most buyers do this backwards — they widen the filters first. Widening the filters does not make a home affordable, it just stops Padzilly from warning you.

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See also: [How to Filter by Payment](https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/26-how-to-filter-by-payment-b1124-017.md) and [How to use SearchPro: What-If Qualification](https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/2-how-to-use-searchpro-what-if-qualification-b1124-002.md).