When you put a down payment on a car, the dealer is the one who gets it. You'll want to make your check out to them. Since the dealership gets your down payment, you often are eligible for extra incentives or discounts if you pay a higher amount.
If you're buying a vehicle from a dealership, any cash down or trade-in equity that you want to use is put toward the car's selling price. This means the dealership takes the down payment and it knocks down how much you need to finance with your auto lender.
A down payment is seen as a percentage of the car's purchase price. If you're buying a $30,000 car and make a 10% down payment, the down payment would be $3,000 at the time of sale. This down payment can be paid with cash, by trading in your old vehicle or a combination of both.
A home down payment is simply the part of a home's purchase price you pay upfront, and does not come from a mortgage lender via a loan. Suppose you want to buy a house priced at $100,000. If you were to put $3,000 toward the purchase price, or 3 percent down, you'd take out a mortgage for the remaining $97,000.
Your down payment is not included in the loan amount. Both parts of the down payment are deducted from the purchase price — what remains is the loan amount. When making a home purchase, the down payment is the total you'll be required to pay to satisfy the requirements of the loan.
Lenders love to see large down payments because it lowers the risk you pose to them. The larger your down payment, the less you have to pay each month in both principal and interest. Think of a down payment as an interest-free way to get a jump-start on paying off your home.
In general, you should strive to make a down payment of at least 20% of a new car's purchase price. For used cars, try for at least 10% down. If you can't afford the recommended amount, put down as much as you can without draining your savings or emergency funds.
Frequently, a down payment isn't paid all at once. Instead, you'll likely wind up paying it in two installments — first as an “earnest money” payment when you sign the purchase contract, and a final payment at the closing.
In most cases, you can pay a down payment with a personal check, cashier's check, credit card, or electronic payment. The down payment is the portion of the home price that you pay on your own instead of borrowing from your lender. It's recommended that borrowers establish savings before house hunting.
It's better to put 20 percent down if you want the lowest possible interest rate and monthly payment. But if you want to get into a house now and start building equity, it may be better to buy with a smaller down payment — say 5 to 10 percent down.
“A typical down payment is usually between 10% and 20% of the total price. On a $12,000 car loan, that would be between $1,200 and $2,400. When it comes to the down payment, the more you put down, the better off you will be in the long run because this reduces the amount you will pay for the car in the end.
A good rule of thumb for a down payment on a new car loan is 20% of the purchase price. A down payment of 20% or more is a way to avoid being “upside down” on your car loan (owing more on the car than it's worth).
“Car dealerships want you to finance through them for two main reasons: They can make money off the interest of a car loan you get through them. They may get a bit of a kickback if they're the middleman between you and another lender (commission).
In general, your first payment is due 30 days after you sign for the car loan. However, you can often adjust the payment date to your schedule. For example, you could pay 45 days after the loan, as long as you're okay to accrue a bit more interest on the loan.
An offer with a higher down payment will be more attractive to the seller and may help you outbid your competition. Price matters, of course, but it's not everything. Sellers also have to take into consideration the likelihood of the deal closing.
They are not the same but are closely related. The earnest money deposit can be viewed as part of the down payment. While an earnest money deposit functions as a promise to the seller, a down payment is a promise to the lender providing your mortgage loan.
Often, a down payment for a home is expressed as a percentage of the purchase price. As an example, for a $250,000 home, a down payment of 3.5% is $8,750, while 20% is $50,000.
When the dealership is handling the financing, the down payment, it can be in the form of a cashier's check, a personal check or even a credit card payment. To find out what forms of payment the dealership will accept, call ahead of time and ask to speak with a finance manager.
The principal is the amount of money you borrow when you originally take out your home loan. To calculate your mortgage principal, simply subtract your down payment from your home's final selling price.
“You can change the amount of your down payment after the offer has been accepted on a home but will need to confirm with your lender and Realtor before making such changes,” says Shelby McDaniels, channel director for Corporate Home Lending at Chase.
As a general rule, you should pay 20 percent of the price of the vehicle as a down payment. That's because vehicles lose value, or depreciate, rapidly. If you make a small down payment or no down payment, you can end up owing more on your auto loan than your car or SUV is worth.
When it comes to a down payment on a new car, you should try to cover at least 20% of the purchase price. For a used car, a 10% down payment might do.
On a $20,000 car, that would be up to $2,000 down. There's another common adage for down payments though, and it mostly holds true. If you're financing a used car, you should aim to put down at least 10%; put down 20% or more on a new car if you can.
To purchase a $300K house, you may need to make between $50,000 and $74,500 a year. This is a rule of thumb, and the specific salary will vary depending on your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, the type of home loan, loan term, and mortgage rate.