The 10 Numbers That Matter When Buying a Home in Seattle
A cheat sheet of the ten numbers every Seattle buyer should know cold — from your real monthly payment to your walk-away price — and why each one matters.
Buying a home generates an ocean of numbers, and most of them are noise. These ten aren’t. Know them cold — written down, not vibes — and you’ll make better decisions than most buyers in the market. None of the figures below are predictions or market stats; they’re your numbers, and the whole point of this cheat sheet is that you compute each one for yourself before you need it.
1. Your real monthly payment
Not the mortgage payment — the whole payment: principal, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, any PMI, any HOA dues. In Seattle, the non-mortgage lines are substantial, and a budget built on principal-and-interest alone is off by hundreds of dollars a month. Run the full stack in the affordability calculator before you fall for anything.
2. The number you’re approved for — and the smaller one you’ve chosen
Your lender hands you a maximum. That’s their number, built on debt ratios, not on your life. Your number subtracts the things underwriting can’t see: childcare, travel, savings goals, a margin for the unexpected. Write both down. The gap between them is your sleep-at-night buffer, and the discipline is refusing to let a bidding war close it.
3. Your cash to close
Down payment plus closing costs plus immediate move-in expenses, minus what stays liquid as an emergency fund. Buyers routinely discover late that the down payment was only most of the story — lender fees, title and escrow, prepaid taxes and insurance all land at signing. The closing-costs calculator roughs out the Washington-specific stack so the final statement isn’t a surprise.
4. Your interest rate — and what one point of rate does to you
Know your quoted rate, and know what your payment becomes if rates move while you shop. Run your target price through the mortgage calculator at the quoted rate, then a point higher and lower. That sensitivity — often hundreds of dollars a month on a Seattle-priced home — tells you how much rate risk you’re carrying between now and a rate lock, and whether a buydown is worth discussing.
5. Months of inventory where you’re shopping
The one market statistic worth tracking: how long the current supply of homes would take to sell at the current pace. Low means competition, escalations, and speed; higher means leverage, inspections, and patience. It varies sharply by neighborhood and price band, so get it for your segment, not the metro. How to read it: months of inventory, explained.
6. The list-to-sale ratio on recent comps
In Seattle’s list-low-review-offers culture, the asking price is a marketing decision, not a value estimate. The ratio of final sale price to list price on the last few comparable sales tells you what homes in that pocket actually go for relative to their asks — and therefore what “priced at $X” really means. Decoder here: why Seattle homes sell over list price.
7. Your earnest money figure
Decide before offer night what deposit you’ll put up — enough to read as serious for the price band, never more than you can stomach losing if things go sideways after you waive contingencies. What’s customary and how it’s protected: how much earnest money is normal in Seattle.
8. Your escalation cap — the true one
If you use an escalation clause, the cap is the number that matters most on offer night, and it must be set in the calm before, not the adrenaline during. It’s the price at which you are genuinely indifferent to losing the house — informed by appraisal risk and your cash reserves, since price above appraised value generally means cash out of pocket. Strategy: escalation clause caps.
9. The monthly cost of everything that isn’t the mortgage
Utilities, maintenance reserve, commute costs at the new address. The maintenance line deserves respect in a region of rain, moss, and aging sewer laterals: a useful habit is reserving a steady amount every month — sized to the home’s age and condition — so the furnace year and the roof year are events, not emergencies. Old-house specifics: knob-and-tube, oil tanks, and sewers.
10. Your walk-away number — and your walk-away conditions
The last number isn’t a dollar figure alone; it’s a commitment: the price, repair finding, or timeline beyond which you’re out. Decide it per-house, in writing, before you offer. Buyers who skip this don’t have a number — the auction sets one for them. Pair it with the pre-offer checklist for Seattle buyers so the homework is done before the deadline pressure starts.
Print-and-fill version: payment ☐ · my max (not the lender’s) ☐ · cash to close ☐ · rate & sensitivity ☐ · months of inventory ☐ · list-to-sale ratio ☐ · earnest money ☐ · escalation cap ☐ · non-mortgage monthly ☐ · walk-away ☐. All ten are illustrative frameworks — your lender, your contract, and your market segment supply the actual values. The full toolbox covers the math.
One number deliberately missing from the ten: what your agent costs — because for too long buyers couldn’t see it clearly. That’s changing. Manaky Homes is a free marketplace where Greater Seattle agents publish their fees side by side; join the waitlist and make it the eleventh number you actually know.
