Why Use Our Mortgage Calculators?
Buying a home is the largest financial commitment most people will ever make. A typical 30-year mortgage on a $400,000 home at 6.75% interest means you will pay roughly $934,000 over the life of the loan — more than double the original purchase price. Small differences in your interest rate, down payment, or loan term can shift your total cost by tens of thousands of dollars. Our calculators let you model those scenarios in seconds so you can walk into a lender's office already knowing what to expect.
Every calculator on this site runs entirely in your browser. No data is collected, no information is stored on our servers, and no login is required. Enter your numbers, adjust the inputs, and see the results instantly. We built these tools because the mortgage industry is full of jargon and complexity, and we believe that clear math — presented in plain language — is the best way to make a confident decision.
How to Choose the Right Calculator
If you are just starting your home search and want to know what you can afford, begin with the home affordability calculator. It uses your income, debts, and down payment to estimate a maximum home price based on the 28/36 debt-to-income guidelines that lenders actually use.
Once you have identified a price range, use the mortgage payment calculator to see your exact monthly payment at different interest rates and loan terms. This tool breaks down principal, interest, taxes, and insurance so you can see where every dollar goes each month.
The amortization schedule calculator shows how your balance decreases over time and how much of each year's payments goes toward interest versus principal. This is especially useful for understanding the impact of extra payments — even an additional $200 per month on a $300,000 loan at 6.75% can cut your payoff time by over 6 years and save more than $80,000 in interest.
Not sure whether to rent or buy? The rent vs buy calculator compares the total cost of renting against buying over your expected time horizon, factoring in home appreciation, investment returns on saved capital, and the tax implications of each path.
Already own a home and wondering if refinancing makes sense? The refinance calculator compares your current loan against a new one and calculates your break-even point — the number of months it takes for your monthly savings to exceed the closing costs of refinancing.
Finally, the down payment calculator helps you figure out how long it will take to save your target amount based on your current savings rate, and shows how different down payment percentages affect your monthly payment and whether you will need PMI.
Understanding Your Mortgage Payment
Most homeowners make a single monthly payment, but that payment is actually composed of four separate costs, commonly called PITI:
Principal is the portion that reduces your loan balance. On a new 30-year mortgage, principal makes up a surprisingly small share of your early payments — on a $280,000 loan at 6.75%, only about $295 of your first $1,817 monthly payment goes toward principal. The rest is interest. This ratio gradually shifts over the loan term until, in the final years, nearly all of each payment is principal.
Interest is the cost of borrowing money. It is calculated monthly on your remaining balance, which is why early payments are interest-heavy. On that same $280,000 loan, you will pay roughly $374,000 in total interest over 30 years — more than the original loan amount.
Taxes are property taxes assessed by your local government, typically 0.5% to 2.5% of your home's assessed value annually. On a $400,000 home in an area with a 1.1% tax rate, that is $4,400 per year or about $367 per month.
Insurance includes homeowners insurance (required by all lenders) and possibly private mortgage insurance (PMI) if your down payment is less than 20%. Homeowners insurance averages $1,400 to $2,500 per year depending on location and coverage, while PMI adds 0.5% to 1.5% of the loan balance annually.
Key Concepts Every Homebuyer Should Know
Pre-approval vs pre-qualification. Pre-qualification is an informal estimate based on self-reported financial information — it carries little weight with sellers. Pre-approval involves a lender verifying your income, assets, and credit through documentation, then issuing a commitment letter for a specific loan amount. In competitive housing markets, sellers may not even consider offers from buyers who are not pre-approved.
PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). Required when you put less than 20% down on a conventional loan, PMI typically costs 0.5% to 1.5% of the loan balance per year. On a $320,000 loan, that is $133 to $400 per month. PMI protects the lender (not you) against default. Under the Homeowners Protection Act, your lender must automatically cancel PMI when your loan balance drops to 78% of the original value, and you can request removal at 80%.
Closing costs. Beyond the down payment, expect to pay 2% to 5% of the home price in closing costs. On a $350,000 home, that is $7,000 to $17,500. These include lender origination fees ($1,000 to $2,000), appraisal ($300 to $600), title insurance ($500 to $1,500), attorney fees, recording fees, and prepaid property taxes and insurance. Some costs are negotiable, and sellers sometimes agree to cover a portion as part of the sale.
The 28/36 rule. Lenders evaluate your ability to pay using debt-to-income (DTI) ratios. The front-end ratio says your total housing cost should not exceed 28% of gross monthly income. The back-end ratio says your total monthly debt payments — housing plus car loans, student loans, credit cards — should not exceed 36%. If you earn $7,500 per month, that means a maximum housing payment of $2,100 and total debt payments of $2,700. FHA loans allow higher DTI ratios (up to 43% or even 50% with compensating factors), which is one reason they are popular with first-time buyers.
Discount points. A mortgage point equals 1% of your loan amount and typically lowers your interest rate by 0.25%. On a $300,000 loan, one point costs $3,000 and might reduce your rate from 6.75% to 6.50%, saving about $50 per month. At that rate, it takes 60 months (5 years) to break even. Points make sense if you plan to stay in the home longer than the break-even period.
Earnest money. When you make an offer on a home, you typically deposit 1% to 3% of the purchase price as earnest money to show the seller you are serious. This deposit is held in escrow and applied to your down payment or closing costs at closing. If you back out of the deal for a reason not covered by your contract's contingencies, you may forfeit the deposit.
Fixed Rate vs Adjustable Rate Mortgages
A fixed-rate mortgage locks your interest rate for the entire loan term. Your principal and interest payment stays exactly the same from month 1 to month 360 on a 30-year loan. This predictability makes budgeting straightforward and protects you if interest rates rise in the future. The trade-off is that fixed rates are typically 0.5% to 1% higher than the initial rate on an adjustable mortgage.
An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) offers a lower initial rate for a fixed period — commonly 5, 7, or 10 years — after which the rate adjusts periodically based on a market index plus a margin. A 5/1 ARM, for example, has a fixed rate for 5 years, then adjusts every year. ARMs have rate caps that limit how much the rate can increase per adjustment period and over the life of the loan, but payments can still rise substantially.
ARMs can be a smart choice if you are confident you will sell or refinance before the adjustment period begins. For example, if you are buying a starter home and plan to move within 5 years, a 5/1 ARM could save you thousands compared to a 30-year fixed. But if your plans change and you stay longer, rising rates could increase your payment by hundreds of dollars per month.
Use our mortgage payment calculator to compare payments at different rates and terms, and our refinance calculator to model the impact of rate changes on your existing loan.
Current Mortgage Rate Environment
Mortgage rates are influenced by the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, inflation expectations, bond market yields, and economic conditions. Rates hit historic lows below 3% in 2020 to 2021 and rose sharply through 2022 to 2023 as the Fed raised interest rates to combat inflation. As of 2025 to 2026, rates have stabilized in the 6% to 7% range for 30-year fixed mortgages, though they can vary by half a percentage point or more depending on your credit score, down payment, and loan type.
Even in a higher-rate environment, buying a home can make financial sense if you plan to stay for several years, have a stable income, and can afford the payments comfortably. The key is running the actual numbers for your specific situation rather than waiting for rates to drop — which may or may not happen — while home prices continue to appreciate in many markets at 3% to 5% per year.