After you sign a contract, you will be expected to hand your real-estate agent a check that, when added to your earnest-money deposit, will come to 10 percent of the purchase price. That figure is very negotiable. The down payment may and often does exceed the earnest money, but the earnest money is always applied to the down payment. You will require verification of the earnest-money deposit to assure you paid the deposit. If you have only $10,000 instead of the $20,000 that is 10 percent of a $200,000 house, the sellers may be amenable to accepting that amount. That check is the down payment and is held in escrow until the closing.