To pay a down payment on a house at closing, you deliver the money to the title or escrow company handling the transaction by wire transfer or cashier’s check. Personal checks are almost never accepted above a few thousand dollars, because closing cannot proceed until the funds are verified as collected. The exact amount you owe appears on a federal disclosure form your lender must send at least three business days before closing, and the transfer itself has to be timed so the money arrives before the signing appointment.
Confirming the Exact Amount You Owe
The precise dollar figure you need to bring appears on a document called the Closing Disclosure, which uses standard form H-25 under federal mortgage disclosure rules.1eCFR. Appendix H to Part 1026 – Closed-End Model Forms and Clauses Your lender must deliver this five-page document so you receive it no later than three business days before closing.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.19 – Certain Mortgage and Variable-Rate Transactions That waiting period exists so you can review every number before you are locked in.
Turn to the “Calculating Cash to Close” table on page three and look at the “Final” column. The bottom-line number there is the total you need to bring. It combines your down payment minus any earnest money you already paid, plus all closing costs.3eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.38 – Content of Disclosures for Certain Mortgage Transactions (Closing Disclosure) Compare every line item against the Loan Estimate you received when you first applied. If closing costs jumped beyond the legal tolerance limits, the lender must issue a corrected disclosure and the three-day clock restarts.
That final number, not your down payment percentage, is what you send.
Wire Transfer or Cashier’s Check
Almost every closing requires “good funds,” which means either a wire transfer or a cashier’s check. Both are treated as guaranteed payment. The right choice usually comes down to the size of the transfer and how close you are to the closing date.
Wiring the Funds
A domestic wire moves through the Fedwire system operated by the Federal Reserve.4eCFR. 12 CFR Part 210 – Collection of Checks and Other Items by Federal Reserve Banks and Funds Transfers Through the Fedwire Funds Service To initiate one, you will need the escrow or title company’s bank name, ABA routing number, account number, and your file or reference number. You can send the wire online through your bank’s portal or in person at a branch. Fees typically run $25 to $50, with online-initiated transfers at the lower end.
Timing is where buyers get in trouble. Fedwire operates from 9:00 p.m. ET the night before through 7:00 p.m. ET on business days, but the cutoff for transfers benefiting a third party is 6:45 p.m. ET.5Federal Reserve Board. Fedwire Funds Services – Data and Additional Information If you are closing in the afternoon, send the wire first thing in the morning. A wire initiated at 4:00 p.m. may not clear until the next business day, which can push your entire closing back. This is the single most common logistics mistake buyers make at closing.
Once submitted, the Fedwire system assigns a unique reference number. Share it with the escrow officer so they can track the incoming payment on their end. Same-day wires initiated early enough in the business day usually arrive within hours.
Bringing a Cashier’s Check
A cashier’s check is drawn against the bank’s own funds rather than your personal account, which is why title companies accept it as guaranteed payment. Visit a branch, provide the exact payee name (the escrow or title company), and the teller will verify your balance, withdraw the amount, and print the check. Fees run $10 to $20 at most banks. Write your closing file number in the memo line so the title company can match the check to your transaction.
You hand the check directly to the closing agent at the signing appointment. The agent verifies the amount against your Closing Disclosure and provides a receipt showing the funds have been credited. The physical handoff is straightforward, but it means you need the check in hand before you walk through the door.
For either method, the bank will verify your identity with a government-issued ID and your Social Security number or taxpayer identification number to comply with federal customer identification requirements.6FFIEC BSA/AML Manual. Assessing Compliance With BSA Regulatory Requirements – Customer Identification Program Keep the receipt or confirmation number. You will need it if anything goes wrong.
Protecting Your Wire From Fraud
Real estate wire fraud is not a theoretical risk. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 58,000 victims nationwide reported $1.3 billion in losses to real estate fraud schemes.7FBI. FBI Boston Warns Quit Claim Deed Fraud Is on the Rise The typical scam works this way: a criminal hacks into a real estate agent’s or title company’s email, monitors the transaction, and at the last minute sends fake wiring instructions from what looks like a legitimate address. The money disappears within hours.
A few habits close the window:
- Before wiring any money, call the title or escrow company at a phone number you obtained independently, not one from the email containing wiring instructions. Confirm the routing number, account number, and recipient name verbally.
- Treat any last-minute change to wiring details as suspicious. Title companies do not suddenly switch bank accounts.
- Inspect email addresses character by character. Fraudsters register addresses that differ from the real one by a single letter or number.
- After sending the wire, call the title company to confirm receipt. If something is wrong, you have a narrow window to contact your bank and attempt a recall.
What Your Lender Verified Before This Point
By the time you are moving money to escrow, your lender has already vetted where it came from. It is worth knowing what triggered scrutiny during underwriting, because the same rules affect how you should handle the funds in the days before closing.
The standard requirement is two months of consecutive bank statements for every account holding money you plan to use. Underwriters flag any single deposit exceeding roughly 50% of your monthly qualifying income. If the source is obvious from the statement (a payroll direct deposit, a tax refund), no extra paperwork is needed.8Fannie Mae. Depository Accounts Anything else needs a written explanation and supporting documents.
Money that has sat in your account for at least 60 days is generally considered seasoned and does not need sourcing. Deposits that land within that window get more scrutiny. If you plan to consolidate money from multiple accounts before closing, do it early enough that the transferred amounts show up on at least two monthly statements. Moving large sums between accounts the week before closing is the surest way to slow down underwriting.
Gift Funds
A gift from a family member is one of the most common down payment sources, and the requirements are specific. The donor must sign a gift letter with their name, address, phone number, and relationship to you. The letter must state the exact dollar amount and explicitly say that no repayment is expected.9Fannie Mae. Personal Gifts The lender will also want to see the transfer documented on both the donor’s and your bank statements.
Do not misrepresent a loan as a gift. Providing false information on any document used to influence a federally related mortgage loan is a federal crime carrying fines up to $1,000,000 or up to 30 years in prison.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1014 – Loan and Credit Applications Generally That statute covers gift letters as well as loan applications.
Retirement Withdrawals and Asset Sales
Lenders will accept withdrawals from vested 401(k) accounts and IRAs, provided they can verify that you own the account and that withdrawals are permitted.11Fannie Mae. Retirement Accounts Selling personal property like a vehicle or boat is another accepted source. The lender will want proof you owned the asset, documentation of the sale, and a bank statement showing the deposit.12Fannie Mae. Sale of Personal Assets The buyer of that asset cannot be anyone involved in your property purchase or mortgage transaction.
Closing Day and What Happens If Funds Are Late
The closing cannot proceed until the title company has verified receipt of the full amount. A wire that arrives a day late or a cashier’s check made out to the wrong payee can delay recording of the deed with the county, potentially pushing the transaction past its contractual deadline. If you fail to deliver the required funds by the closing date specified in your purchase agreement, the seller may have grounds to declare you in breach of contract and keep your earnest money deposit. On a $400,000 home with a typical earnest money deposit of 1% to 3%, that is $4,000 to $12,000 lost without ever getting the house.
Once the closing agent confirms all funds have cleared, they authorize release of the keys and submit the deed for recording. At that point, the property is legally yours.