PURCHASE PILOT

Your co-pilot for offers, financing & ROI

How this works: PurchasePilot can't pull live listings from Zillow or Realtor.com on its own — those sites block automated data access, and this is a standalone app with no live data feed. Enter the listing price and a few comparable sales (found on Zillow, Redfin, or from your agent) and it builds your full strategy from there. Nothing here is legal, financial, tax, or lending advice — always confirm exact figures with your lender, agent, insurer, and a Loan Estimate.
📚 New to home buying? Here's how the process works

A quick, plain-language walkthrough so you know what to expect before you ever talk to an agent — nothing below is intimidating once you know the order it happens in.

  1. Get pre-approved. A lender checks your credit and income and tells you what you can actually borrow. It's not a final commitment, but it tells sellers you're a serious, qualified buyer — do this before you start touring homes.
  2. Find a buyer's agent. Their fee is typically paid through the transaction, not out of your pocket up front. They'll tour homes with you, pull comps, and negotiate on your behalf. Compare agents on Tab 4.
  3. Tour homes & build your offer strategy. Once you find one you like, use the form below to land on a fair, well-supported price and a clear list of what to ask for.
  4. Submit your offer. Price, concessions, earnest money, and contingencies (inspection, financing, appraisal) go into a written contract your agent submits to the seller.
  5. Negotiate. The seller accepts, rejects, or counters. Back-and-forth is completely normal before you're under contract.
  6. Inspection & appraisal. A licensed inspector checks the home's condition (you can renegotiate based on findings); your lender orders an appraisal to confirm the home is worth what you're paying.
  7. Underwriting & closing. Your lender finalizes the loan, you do a final walkthrough, sign the paperwork, and get your keys — typically 30–45 days from accepted offer to closing.

A good agent walks you through every step above in real time. Use this tool to walk into that first conversation with real numbers instead of guesses.

Tell us about the property

Advanced: refine your cash-to-close estimate (optional)

Your recommended offer range

OPENING OFFER
$0
TARGET OFFER
$0
WALK-AWAY CEILING
$0

Why this range

    📋 Your offer, in writing

    Ready-to-send language for your agent to submit to the seller — grounded in the numbers above, including a backup move if it's not accepted. Not a lowball, and not more than the data supports.

    💵 Pick an offer to see the full financial breakdown

    See exactly what each price means for your monthly payment (including estimated taxes & insurance) and total cash to close.

    Concessions worth asking for

    Based on your loan type's rules and current market. Ask for these alongside your price — sellers often prefer to hold their price and give credits instead.

    Compare deal structures

    Same seller "give" ($), three different ways to structure it.

    StructurePurchase priceCash due at closing*Est. total monthly payment (PITI)†

    *Down payment portion only. †Includes principal, interest, and estimated property tax & insurance. See the full cash-to-close breakdown below.

    💰 Cash you'll need at closing

    A detailed, itemized estimate so you know how much to have ready. Actual figures come from your lender's Loan Estimate — this can vary especially by state (e.g. transfer taxes are much higher in states like NY/DE/PA than in MO/ID).

    DOWN PAYMENT
    $0
    EST. CLOSING COSTS
    $0
    LESS SELLER CREDIT
    $0
    TOTAL CASH TO CLOSE
    $0

    Should you (or the seller) buy down your rate?

    One "point" costs 1% of your loan amount and typically lowers your rate by about 0.25%. This calculator tells you when that trade pays off. It shows principal & interest only, since taxes/insurance don't change with points — see Tab 1 for your total monthly payment including those.

    Results

    Cost of points-
    New rate-
    Monthly payment (no points)-
    Monthly payment (with points)-
    Monthly savings-
    Break-even point-
    Net savings over your expected time in home-

    Alternative: ask the seller for a temporary 2-1 buydown instead

    Instead of permanently lowering your rate, the seller funds an escrow that cuts your rate by 2% in year 1 and 1% in year 2, then it returns to your normal rate. Good if you plan to refinance soon or want maximum relief in your first two years; costs roughly the same as 2-3 permanent points but the benefit disappears after year 2.

    Rental income & cash-on-cash ROI

    For investment purchases. This can't pull live Fair Market Rent (FMR) data automatically — that requires a manual lookup at huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html (search your county/ZIP and unit size). Enter that number below for the most accurate result, or use the quick-estimate button as a rough placeholder.

    Income & expenses

    Returns

    CAP RATE
    -
    MONTHLY CASH FLOW
    -
    CASH INVESTED
    -
    CASH-ON-CASH ROI
    -

    Cap rate = net operating income ÷ purchase price (ignores financing). Cash-on-cash = annual pre-tax cash flow ÷ total cash invested (down payment + closing costs). Both are before income taxes and exclude appreciation/loan paydown, which add to your total return over time.

    Compare agents by real cost

    Since 2024, buyers typically sign a written agreement with their agent and commissions are fully negotiable — the national average buyer's-agent fee is about 2.8% of the price, but many agents will negotiate or rebate part of it. Compare up to three agents below.

    Comparison

    Note: commission rebates to buyers are not legal in every state (a handful, including Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, and Tennessee restrict or ban them). Confirm with the agent and your state's real estate commission.

    Questions to ask before you sign with an agent

    Your negotiation-ready summary

    Fill out Tab 1 (and Tabs 2-4 if relevant) first, then generate a full summary — download it as a branded PDF to send straight to your agent.

    Email this to your agent

    This opens your default email app with the summary pre-filled in the body. Browsers don't allow auto-attaching files for security reasons — attach the PDF you just downloaded before hitting send.

    Site settings
    🔑 Enable live address autocomplete (optional, your own free Google API key)

    This can suggest real addresses as you type, powered by Google. It does not pull listing prices or comps — that's separate data Google doesn't provide. Get a key at console.cloud.google.com/google/maps-apis: create a project, enable "Places API" and "Maps JavaScript API," then create a key. Google requires a billing account but includes a recurring monthly credit that comfortably covers personal use. For safety, restrict the key in Google Cloud Console to just those two APIs. Your key is stored only in your own browser (localStorage), never sent anywhere by PurchasePilot itself.

    🏠 Auto-fill comparable sales from the address (optional, your own free RentCast API key)

    Once your key is saved, this runs automatically — pick a suggested address (or just tab out of the address field) and the average price of nearby comparable sales fills in on its own. Listing price is always entered manually. Uses RentCast's real estate data API — a separate service from Google. Sign up at app.rentcast.io/app/api, activate the free plan (50 lookups/month, no card needed for the free tier), and copy your key from the dashboard. Security note: RentCast's own docs say this key shouldn't be used in browser-side code — since PurchasePilot is a standalone file with no server, there's no way around that here. Fine for your own personal use on your own computer; just don't share this file or host it online with a key saved in it. This may also fail if RentCast's servers block direct browser requests (a limitation of this app's single-file design, not something fixable with a different key).