What is a down payment?

What is a down payment & how is it applied?

Your total down payment consists of what you would put down at “contract” and what you would bring to the closing table.  
So if you were going to put down a total  5% on a $500,000 home, you would have a total of $25,000 total downpayment that would be divided into:
Monies down on contract signing ($10,000)  The money for contract signing is due upon the contract signing, which if offer was accepted today, figure that you would need contract money in about 7 days from now.  Monies brought to closing ($15,000)  The balance of the entire downpayment is not due till the closing, usually about 45-60 days after contract signing.  All closing costs associated with the loan (i.e taxes, fees, title) etc are completely separate from your downpayment monies needed.