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The short answer
On a $450,000 Nashville home with 5% down, plan on roughly $31,000 to $36,000 in cash from offer to keys. About $22,500 of that is your down payment. Closing costs make up most of the rest, usually 2% to 3% of the loan amount, plus a few hundred dollars in inspections you pay along the way.
That money doesn't leave your account all at once. Some of it goes out a few days after your offer is accepted, some during the inspection window, and the biggest piece gets wired to the title company a day or two before closing. Knowing the order matters as much as knowing the total, because your first check is due weeks before your lender gives you a final number.
Four payments, in the order they come due
Here's how it plays out on a $450,000 home with 5% down on a conventional loan ($427,500 borrowed):
| Payment | When it's due | On a $450,000 home | Comes back to you? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnest money | Within a few days of acceptance, per your contract | $4,500 (about 1%) | Yes, credited at closing |
| Home inspection | During your inspection period | Often $450 to $550 for the general inspection + termite. Sewer scope, and radon cost extra | No |
| Appraisal | When your lender orders it | Shown on your Loan Estimate | No |
| Cash to close | Wired a day or two before closing | $22,500 down + $8,550 to $12,825 in closing costs, minus your $4,500 earnest money = $26,550 to $30,825 | No |
Notice the earnest money isn't extra. It's money you'd spend anyway, just sent early. If the sale closes, that $4,500 is credited on your closing statement. If you terminate inside a right your contract gives you, like the inspection period, it generally comes back to you. Walk away outside those rights and you can lose it, which is why Stephanie reads every deadline in the contract before you sign.
What's inside "closing costs" on a Nashville closing statement
Closing costs sound like one fee. On the settlement statement they're a page of line items, and they fall into a few groups. Our closing costs guide goes fee by fee; here's the short version with real numbers.
Tennessee's two recording taxes
These are set by law, so they're the easiest part to predict. Rates are from the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
- Realty transfer tax: $0.37 per $100 of the price. On $450,000, that's $1,665. Tennessee law puts this one on the buyer, and unless your contract shifts it, that's where it lands.
- Mortgage tax: $0.115 per $100 of the loan, with the first $2,000 exempt. On a $427,500 loan, that's $489.33. Pay cash and it disappears.
Title company charges
Your title company searches the ownership history, insures it, runs the signing, and records the deed. Here's the buyer side of a Davidson County closing statement from September 2026:
- Settlement fee: $525
- Closing protection letter: $50
- Title search: $150
What's not covered here is title insurance. Who pays for that is negotiable. On Davidson County resales the seller often covers it, on new construction the buyer usually does. Ask the title company to quote the owner's policy on your price before you write the offer, so you know what you're negotiating over.
Lender charges
This is where the numbers vary most from one lender to the next: origination, underwriting, the credit report, the appraisal, and any points you buy. They sit in Sections A and B on page 2 of your Loan Estimate. Get two Loan Estimates on the same day and compare those sections side by side. It's the fastest way to tell a cheap loan from a low rate with fees stacked behind it. Our home loans guide walks through the loan types.
Prepaids and escrow
Your lender collects some bills in advance: the first year of homeowners insurance, HOA start up/prorations, interest from closing day to the end of that month, and a starter cushion for your escrow account so it can pay property taxes and insurance when they come due. None of that is a fee. It's your money, collected early. But it's real cash on closing day, and in Tennessee the property tax piece swings a lot depending on when you close. More on how escrow works in Nashville.
Your agent's fee, if the seller won't cover it
Since August 2024, buyers sign a written agreement with their agent before touring, and that agreement sets the fee. Most sellers still agree to pay it, and we ask for it in our offers. If a seller says no, the fee becomes part of your cash to close, so budget for it until it's settled. Here's how buyer agent pay works in Nashville now.
Tennessee property taxes make your closing date matter
Tennessee collects property taxes in arrears. The Davidson County Trustee mails bills the first week of October, they cover the current calendar year, and they're payable through the last day of February. So when you buy in the fall, the seller usually hasn't paid a cent of this year's taxes yet, and they cover every day they owned the house since January 1, typically as a credit to you on the closing statement. Say the bill is $3,000 a year and you close on November 2. The seller owes you 305 days of it, about $2,507.
Don't spend that credit in your head yet. Your lender is going to pay the full bill in February, so it collects a much bigger escrow deposit from you at a fall closing, and the seller's credit is what covers most of it. A November closing statement can look alarming, with a big tax line on one side and a big credit on the other. The two mostly cancel out.
If you're paying cash or skipping an escrow account, that math lands on you. Ask the title company whether this year's bill was paid at closing. If it wasn't, the whole bill is yours by the end of February, and the seller's credit is the money meant to cover it. Park it somewhere you won't touch it. Prepaid interest runs the other direction: close on the 28th and you prepay a few days of interest; close on the 3rd and you prepay almost a month.
Seller credits can cover your closing costs, up to a cap
With homes sitting on the market longer, asking the seller to pay part of your closing costs is a normal request again. Our August market report found more Middle Tennessee sellers pulled their homes than sold them, and sellers in that spot tend to listen. Your loan program sets the ceiling, though:
| Loan type | Most a seller can credit you |
|---|---|
| Conventional, less than 10% down | 3% of the price |
| Conventional, 10% to under 25% down | 6% of the price |
| Conventional, 25% or more down | 9% of the price |
| FHA | 6% of the price |
| VA | 4% of the price, plus normal closing costs |
On our $450,000 example with 5% down, 3% is $13,500. That's more than the $8,550 to $12,825 in closing costs, so a credit could cover all of them and leave you bringing the down payment and not much else. That's as far as it goes. A credit pays closing costs, prepaids, and points. It can't touch your down payment, and anything above your real costs doesn't come back to you as cash.
Whether to ask for a credit, a price cut, or a rate buydown is its own decision. We break it down in rate buydown, closing cost credit, or price reduction.
Call the title company before you wire anything
🔒 Wire fraud targets home buyers because the amounts are big and the timing is predictable. Before you send your cash to close, call the title company at a number you looked up yourself, not one from an email, and confirm the wiring instructions out loud. Real instructions don't change by email the day before closing. If you get a message saying they did, stop and call us. Once a wire lands in the wrong account, getting it back is rare.
Plan your cash before you write the offer
- Get a fee worksheet at the top of your price range. A Loan Estimate comes once you have an address, but most lenders will estimate closing costs on a sample price before you start touring.
- Keep your earnest money liquid. It's due within days of acceptance. Money tied up in a CD or a brokerage account can miss the deadline.
- Leave your down payment where it is. Lenders read your last two months of bank statements, and big deposits need a paper trail. Gift money needs a gift letter. Our loan application checklist covers the documents.
- Keep a cushion after closing. Some loans require reserves left in the bank, and the first month in a house always costs something: new locks, a mower, a water heater that picked its moment.
- Read the Closing Disclosure the day it arrives. You'll get it at least three business days before closing. That's your final number, and the time to question any line that surprises you.
Questions buyers ask us about cash
How much cash do I need to buy a $400,000 house in Nashville?
With 5% down on a conventional loan, about $27,600 to $31,400: $20,000 down plus closing costs of 2% to 3% on a $380,000 loan. Inspections add a few hundred dollars, and a seller credit can bring it down.
Is earnest money part of the down payment?
It's credited toward your cash to close when the sale goes through, so it isn't an extra cost. Your contract sets the amount, the deadline, and when it comes back if you terminate.
Who pays the transfer tax in Tennessee?
The buyer, unless the contract says otherwise. It's $0.37 per $100 of the price, or $1,665 on a $450,000 home.
Can the seller pay all of my closing costs?
Often, if they agree and your loan allows it. Conventional loans cap seller credits at 3% of the price with less than 10% down, FHA at 6%, and VA at 4% plus normal closing costs. A credit can't pay your down payment.
Do I need 20% down to buy in Nashville?
No. Some conventional loans start at 3% down, FHA at 3.5%, and VA at zero, and Tennessee has down payment assistance through THDA. Our first-time buyer guide covers the programs.
Want your own number?
Send us your price range and how much you plan to put down. We'll run the cash-to-close math with real lender numbers before you tour a single house.
Run My Numbers →Or call James at (615) 751-8913.
Keep reading
- The Nashville Homebuyer's Guide to Closing Costs
- First-Time Home Buyer Guide: Programs & Down Payment Assistance
- Rate Buydown, Closing Cost Credit, or Price Reduction?
- Explaining the Escrow Process in Nashville
- What $2,500 a Month Gets You Renting vs. Buying in Nashville
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James & Stephanie Crawford
Nashville natives who've run Nesting Realty together since 2003, with 500+ sales across Middle Tennessee. James is with you in the field for showings, inspections, and the final walkthrough. Stephanie, the broker, handles contracts and negotiation, which is where most of the numbers in this post get decided. No hand-offs, no assistants.
General information, not legal, tax, or lending advice. Your Closing Disclosure is the final word on your numbers.
