Short answer: most buyers put down 1% to 3% of the purchase price as earnest money, and in hot, low-inventory markets that can climb toward 3-5% or more to make an offer competitive (Rocket Mortgage, updated May 2026; Zillow). There's no legal minimum or federally set percentage — it's a negotiated number that depends on your local market, the price point, and how badly you want this specific house more than the next buyer in line. That flexibility is exactly why this question doesn't have one clean answer, and why "just Google the percentage" leaves people either underbidding on a competitive listing or overcommitting cash they didn't need to put at risk.

This piece is about the number. If you want to know what actually puts your deposit at risk once you've written the check, that's a separate breakdown — worth reading before you sign anything, but not what we're covering here.

The baseline: 1-3% of the purchase price

On a typical single-family home financed with a conventional or FHA loan, 1% to 3% of the purchase price is the going range nationally (Zillow; Rocket Mortgage). On a $400,000 home, that's roughly $4,000 to $12,000. Your buyer's agent will usually have a feel for what's "normal" in your specific ZIP code, because local custom drifts a fair amount — it's less a hard rule and more a regional habit that real estate agents and title companies have settled into over time.

A few sellers and listing agents will ask for a specific number outright, especially on new construction or builder contracts, where deposits of 3-10% aren't unusual and the builder often has more leverage to set the terms than a typical resale seller does.

Why the percentage moves: market temperature matters more than the price tag

The single biggest driver of your EMD size isn't the price of the house — it's how many other people want it.

  • In a hot, multiple-offer market: sellers use earnest money as a proxy for how serious and financially solid a buyer is. Rocket Mortgage notes that offering closer to 3% (versus the 1% floor) "can even help you win your bid" when you're competing against other buyers (Rocket Mortgage). During the 2021-2022 bidding-war peak, it wasn't unusual to see buyers in competitive metros push EMD well past 3%, sometimes into five figures on a modest house, purely as a signal of commitment.
  • In a slower or lower-cost market: the same logic runs in reverse. In less competitive areas, or on lower-priced homes, deposits of $500-$1,000 aren't unheard of, because there's less competition for the seller to weigh offers against (themortgagereports.com).
  • Where the market sits right now: heading into late 2026, multiple forecasters (Redfin among them) are describing a national shift toward a more buyer-friendly market as inventory rises and price growth cools (Scotsman Guide, on Redfin's 2026 forecast; NAR's 2026 outlook). That's a national trend, not a guarantee for your specific metro — some cities are still tight, some have flipped hard toward buyers — so treat "the market is cooling" as a reason to ask your agent for current local comps on offer strength, not as a reason to assume you can lowball your deposit everywhere.

The practical takeaway: ask your agent what similar recent offers in your target neighborhood actually included, not just what a national blog says is typical. "Normal" is hyperlocal.

It also varies by price point and by region

  • Lower-priced homes tend to see earnest money expressed as a flat dollar amount rather than a strict percentage — $500 to $2,000 is common territory, since a full 1-3% on a $150,000 house is a small enough number that sellers and title companies often just round to a customary figure.
  • Higher-priced and luxury homes often see the percentage come down even as the dollar amount goes up, since 3% of a $2 million property is a serious chunk of cash to have parked in escrow for a 30-45 day closing window. Deals in that range are more likely to be individually negotiated line items than governed by a rule of thumb.
  • New York City co-op and condo purchases are the standout regional exception. Contract deposits there are customarily far higher than the national range — commonly cited around 10% of the purchase price, due upon signing the contract of sale, well above what buyers elsewhere are used to writing a check for (Hauseit; Brick Underground). If you're buying in NYC, budget for this specifically — it's genuinely a different game than a suburban resale market.
  • Elsewhere, state-level custom (Texas option fees, certain Southern markets defaulting to smaller flat amounts, etc.) can nudge the number too. This is another spot where a local buyer's agent is worth more than a national average.

A bigger deposit is a lever, not a requirement

Earnest money isn't collateral for your mortgage and it isn't a fee you pay to the seller — it's a signal. A bigger check tells the seller: this buyer has cash sitting ready, is less likely to walk over cold feet, and is putting real money on the line to prove it. That's specifically useful when:

  • You're competing against a cash offer and can't compete on financing speed, but can compete on how much skin you have in the game.
  • The seller has been burned before by a deal falling through and is pricing in that risk when comparing offers.
  • You're waiving or shortening certain contingencies (a separate conversation with real tradeoffs) and want the rest of the offer to look as strong as possible to offset that risk from the seller's side.

None of that means max out your deposit reflexively. A bigger EMD only helps if it's money you're genuinely comfortable having tied up in escrow for the weeks between contract and closing — it shouldn't come from funds you need for your down payment cushion, inspection costs, or moving expenses. Going in with 5% because "bigger is stronger" without a financial cushion behind it can put you in a worse spot than a smaller, well-supported offer.

The mechanics: who holds it, and where it goes

A few things that trip people up on the money mechanics, separate from the amount question:

  • You don't hand the check to the seller. Earnest money is held by a neutral third party — typically a title company, escrow company, or real estate attorney's escrow account — not the buyer or seller directly (Zillow; themortgagereports.com). If anyone ever asks you to wire earnest money straight to them personally, that's a red flag worth stopping and verifying before you send anything.
  • It's due fast. Deposits are typically expected within a few days of both sides signing the purchase contract — commonly within 24-72 hours — not at closing (Zillow).
  • It counts toward what you already owe, not on top of it. At closing, the deposit is credited toward your down payment and/or closing costs — it's not an extra cost stacked on top of the purchase price. If you put down $8,000 in earnest money and need $30,000 total at closing for down payment and costs, you show up with $22,000, not the full $30,000 (Rocket Mortgage).
  • Contingencies are what protect it. A well-written contract with financing, appraisal, and inspection contingencies is how a buyer's earnest money stays protected if the deal falls apart for a legitimate reason covered in the contract. That's a big enough topic to deserve its own article — for now, just know that the size of your deposit and the strength of your contingencies are two separate levers, and a bigger check is a much better idea when your contingencies are solid than when they're not.

So, what number should you actually write down?

Start at 1% as your floor in a normal market, lean toward 2-3% if you're in a competitive bidding situation or want your offer to read as more serious, and treat anything above that as a deliberate strategic move rather than a default — one you make with your agent, with a clear read on local norms, and with money you can actually afford to have locked up for a few weeks. If you're buying in a market with its own customs (NYC being the clearest example), budget for that reality specifically rather than anchoring to the national 1-3% range.

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