The first question almost every buyer asks me is some version of this: how much do I need in the bank before I can actually do this?
It is the right question. It is also the one that gets answered badly more than any other, usually with an old rule about 20 percent down that has very little to do with how people buy homes in Seattle in 2026.
Here is how I walk clients through it. Not one number, but four buckets. When you see all four, the picture gets a lot clearer and a lot less intimidating.
Bucket One: The Down Payment (And Why 20 Percent Is a Myth)
Seattle's median sale price has been running somewhere around $865,000 this year. Twenty percent of that is $173,000, and if that were the real entry fee, almost nobody would buy their first home here.
It is not the real entry fee. Conventional loans go as low as 3 percent down for qualified first-time buyers. FHA sits at 3.5 percent. VA loans, if you have served, can go to zero. On an $800,000 home, 5 percent down is $40,000. That is a very different conversation than $160,000.
The tradeoff is private mortgage insurance, which you pay monthly until you reach roughly 20 percent equity. In Seattle, where appreciation has historically done a lot of that work for you, a lot of buyers decide PMI is a reasonable price for getting in three or four years earlier. I have watched people wait to hit 20 percent while prices moved out ahead of their savings. That math rarely wins.
Bucket Two: Closing Costs
This is the bucket people forget, and it is the one that causes the panic call two weeks before closing.
Buyer closing costs in Seattle typically land between 2 and 3 percent of the purchase price, sometimes higher depending on your loan. On an $800,000 purchase, budget somewhere in the $16,000 to $24,000 range. That covers lender fees, title insurance, escrow fees, recording fees, and prepaid items like your first year of homeowners insurance and a few months of property taxes into escrow.
A few line items worth knowing by name:
- Appraisal: roughly $700 to $1,000 in King County right now
- Title insurance: commonly $1,000 to $3,000 depending on price point
- Escrow fee: usually split between buyer and seller, often around $1,000 to $1,500 on your side
- Prepaid taxes and insurance: this varies a lot depending on when in the year you close
One thing worth saying out loud: in today's more balanced Seattle market, seller-paid closing costs are back on the table. With inventory sitting near two to three months of supply, I have negotiated meaningful credits for buyers this year that would have been laughed at in 2021. That does not mean you should plan on it, but it does mean you should ask.
Bucket Three: The Money You Spend Before You Ever Close
This is the bucket that surprises people, because it comes out of pocket early and some of it is not refundable.
Earnest money in Seattle typically runs 1 to 3 percent of the purchase price. On an $800,000 offer, that is $8,000 to $24,000, wired to escrow within a couple of days of mutual acceptance. It does get credited back to you at closing, so it is not an extra cost. It is a timing issue. That money has to be liquid and available fast.
Then there are inspections, which you pay for regardless of whether you end up buying the house. A general inspection runs about $500 to $900. If the home was built before 1980, and a huge share of Seattle housing stock was, I almost always want a sewer scope on top of that, which adds $250 to $400. A cracked or root-invaded side sewer line is a five-figure repair, and finding it for a few hundred dollars is the best money you will spend all transaction.
If you write on two or three homes before one sticks, those inspection costs can stack. Budget $1,500 to $2,000 for the search itself and you will not be caught off guard.
Bucket Four: What You Keep After Closing
I care about this one more than most agents do, because I have seen what happens when someone closes with $400 left in checking.
Your lender will likely want to see some reserves anyway, often two to six months of mortgage payments depending on the loan. But set that aside and think about it practically. Seattle homes are old. Things break. Your first year of ownership will include a water heater, a furnace tune-up, a plumber, or something you did not see coming. I tell clients to plan on holding three to six months of housing costs after closing, plus a few thousand for immediate repairs and the boring stuff nobody budgets for like a lawn mower and window coverings.
Putting Real Numbers On It
Say you are buying an $800,000 townhome in Ballard with 5 percent down:
- Down payment: $40,000
- Closing costs at 2.5 percent: $20,000
- Inspections during the search: $1,500
- Post-closing reserve: $15,000
That is roughly $76,500 to do it comfortably, and closer to $61,500 if you are willing to run a thinner cushion or negotiate a seller credit toward closing costs.
Now run the same thing on a $575,000 condo in Beacon Hill or Columbia City at 5 percent down. You are at about $29,000 for the down payment, $14,000 in closing costs, and a smaller reserve. Under $55,000 all in. That is a real number for a lot of households that assumed they were years away.
And if you qualify for Washington State Housing Finance Commission down payment assistance, which is worth checking regardless of what you think you make, the first number drops again.
Start With the Number, Not the Listings
The buyers who have the smoothest time are the ones who figured out their actual cash position before they started scrolling listings on a Saturday morning. Not because it is more disciplined, but because it changes what you look at and how confidently you move when the right house shows up.
If you are sitting on some savings and genuinely do not know whether it is enough, that is a 20 minute conversation, not a research project. I can walk you through what your specific number looks like at a few different price points and loan types, and you will know exactly what you are working with. My team at Emerald Group does this with first-time buyers every week, and there is no pressure attached to finding out.
Ready to buy in Seattle? Brennen Clouse at Emerald Group is here to help. Call or text 206-899-9101 or visit emeraldgroupre.com.
