If you're buying a home in DFW, here is a sentence worth hearing early: your down payment is only part of the money you need. Many buyers save hard for a down payment, then get surprised at the closing table by the rest of the bill. That rest has a name — cash to close — the total you bring to closing, on top of your loan. It is not one fee, but four buckets added together: your down payment, closing costs, prepaid taxes and insurance, and earnest money. Once you can name them, you can plan for them and avoid the last-minute scramble that stresses out so many buyers.
For Texas buyers, one bucket deserves special attention. Property tax rates here are set locally — by city, county, school district, and sometimes special districts — so two similar homes a few miles apart in DFW can carry very different prepaid tax bills. That is why a cash-to-close estimate written for one neighborhood can shift the moment you change zip codes. Knowing how the four buckets work — and which ones move with location — is the difference between budgeting with confidence and scrambling at the table.
The down payment bucket: how much you actually pay yourself
Your down payment is the portion of the purchase price you pay yourself rather than borrow, and it ranges from 3% to 20% or more depending on the loan program. On a conventional loan, a qualified buyer can put down as little as 3%, while an FHA loan requires a minimum of 3.5% down. A VA loan for eligible veterans and service members can require zero down — the strongest of the three for eligible buyers. There is no single number that applies to everyone; your credit profile, loan type, and the home you choose all shape it.
Two points matter here. First, your down payment is not the same as your earnest money or your closing costs, even though all three come out of your pocket. Second, a smaller down payment does not automatically mean a smaller cash-to-close total. In my work helping DFW buyers, I've seen low-down-payment loans where the prepaids and mortgage insurance more than filled the gap — because other buckets, especially prepaid taxes and insurance, can shift the whole picture. That is why comparing loans by down payment alone misleads you.
Because rates and terms change daily, budget off today's numbers, not a rate you saw last week — contact me before you anchor your plan to a specific figure, and bring your current credit profile so we can match the right program to it.
The closing costs bucket: where shopping around pays off
Closing costs are the fees for getting the loan done and transferring the home to you — lender fees, appraisal, title and settlement charges, recording fees, and related third-party costs. On a typical DFW purchase they commonly add up to several thousand dollars, but the exact amount depends on your loan, your lender, and the transaction. This is also the bucket where shopping around pays off most: lenders do not all charge the same fees.
Two tools can shrink what you actually bring. Seller contributions — where the program allows them — let the seller cover part of your closing costs. Lender credits trade a slightly higher rate for cash toward your upfront fees. Both change the bottom line, so compare Loan Estimates line by line before you assume any fee is fixed. I work with FHA, VA, and conventional loans regularly, and the fee structures differ enough that the same home can carry a meaningfully different cash-to-close total depending on the program you choose.
The prepaids bucket: why this catches Texas buyers off guard
Prepaid taxes and insurance are the bucket that catches Texas buyers off guard most often. At closing, your lender usually collects money up front for property taxes and homeowner's insurance and sets up an escrow account to pay those bills as they come due. That means you may prepay several months of taxes and insurance at the table, on top of everything else — and in Texas, this bucket can be a large share of your cash to close.
Insurance moves too. Texas homeowners' insurance rates rose about 19% in 2024 after a 21% spike in 2023, driven largely by claims litigation costs, according to Texas Department of Insurance data cited by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I). The premium your lender collects into escrow depends on the home, its condition and location, and your carrier — so it pays to shop the policy before you close, because the escrow figure on your Closing Disclosure flows straight from it.
A concrete example ties the bucket together. The school district alone can swing the tax bill by nearly a third of a percent of assessed value across DFW: Garland ISD's 2026 estimated rate is about 1.1393 per $100, while Highland Park ISD's is roughly 0.8128 (DCAD 2026 estimated rates). Two buyers purchase similar-priced homes in those different districts with the same loan type, and their prepaid tax amounts — and monthly payments after closing — look very different. The list prices matched. The cash to close did not. That is the DFW reality, and it is exactly why a local lender who knows the districts matters.
The earnest money bucket: timing is the whole point
Earnest money is the good-faith deposit you put down with your offer to show the seller you are serious. The amount is negotiated as part of your offer, and it is typically applied toward your purchase at closing — usually part of your cash to close, not an extra cost on top of it. The key point is timing: it comes out of your pocket early, when you go under contract, while the rest is due at the closing table. Plan for both moments, not just closing day.
In a competitive DFW market, a stronger earnest money deposit can make your offer stand out — but it is money you tie up earlier, so set the amount with your real estate agent and lender together. Once the deal closes, that deposit rolls into your cash to close and reduces the final amount you wire on closing day.
Why the total is different for every buyer
Add those four buckets together and you get your cash to close — and no two buyers get the same number, even for similar homes. Loan type changes the down payment and insurance rules, lender changes the fees, location changes the taxes, the home itself changes the insurance, and your offer changes the earnest money and any negotiated contributions.
That is also why comparing homes by list price alone can mislead you. A lower-priced home with high taxes, high insurance, and steep HOA dues can cost more each month — and more cash up front — than a slightly higher-priced home in a district with lower rates. Compare total monthly payments and total cash to close, home by home, before you fall in love with a price tag. As a DFW mortgage professional, I run these comparisons for buyers across Garland, Dallas, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, and the surrounding suburbs — and the tax-district gap shows up in nearly every one of them.
What to do before you start shopping
You do not need to memorize every fee. You need a clear estimate, early, for your situation. Ask your lender for a cash-to-close estimate before you write an offer, and ask what could change it — a different loan type, price point, or part of town. Get it in writing, and revisit it if your target home changes.
And remember: rates change daily, so contact me for today's numbers rather than budgeting off a rate you saw last week. What stays constant is the structure — down payment, closing costs, prepaids, and earnest money — and once you understand it, no number at the closing table should surprise you.
If it helps to see how the pieces fit together, you can run cash-to-close scenarios in my interactive Texas mortgage explorer before we talk — then bring your questions to me and we'll walk through your real numbers together.
Start your pre-approval here: bondmortgagesolutions.com
Rates and terms are subject to change without notice, and every loan is subject to credit approval, underwriting, and program guidelines. Nothing here is a commitment to lend or a guarantee of any specific rate, approval, or cash-to-close figure. Contact me to confirm current rates and your qualification for the loan programs discussed.
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