Down Payment

The down payment is the cash you contribute toward the purchase price up front. It reduces what you borrow and establishes your starting equity, and through those two levers it shapes almost everything else about the deal.

The trade

A larger down payment lowers your LTV, shrinks the monthly payment, eases lender approval, and widens your cushion when rents dip or expenses spike. A smaller one increases leverage, which can lift cash-on-cash return when the property performs, at the price of bigger payments and a thinner margin when it doesn't.

There is no universally right answer; there's the answer for this property, this financing, and your reserves. The way to find it is scenario testing: how do cash flow, DSCR, and cash-on-cash move as the down payment moves?

Where you'll see it in Rescover

The down payment is a live input on every analysis. Slide it and watch the loan, payment, cash flow, DSCR, and returns recompute, so you pick your leverage with the consequences in view.