Mortgage Calculator

Mortgage Calculator components

A mortgage payment is more than the loan itself. Lenders bundle your principal and interest with escrowed property taxes and homeowner's insurance (the classic "PITI"), and many homes add HOA dues and upkeep on top. This calculator separates every piece, so you can see what the loan costs, what the house costs, and where your money actually goes each month.

• Home price — the purchase price of the property.
• Down payment — what you pay upfront, in dollars or as a percentage. Below 20% down, most US lenders add private mortgage insurance (PMI) until you reach 20% equity.
• Loan term & rate — 30 years is the US standard; 15-year loans carry lower rates and far less total interest, with a higher monthly payment.
• Property taxes — vary enormously by location, from under 0.4% of value per year to over 2%. Enter yours as a percentage of the home price or a fixed yearly amount.
• Insurance, HOA, other costs — insurance is required by lenders; HOA dues apply to many condos and planned communities; "other" is a good place for maintenance (a common rule of thumb is 1% of the home's value per year).
• Extra payments — optional amounts added to principal. Even $200 a month can cut years off a 30-year mortgage (see the payoff date move when you try it).

The mortgage formula

Costs of owning a home

The mortgage is only the largest bill, not the only one. Budget for property taxes and insurance (both tend to rise over time), routine maintenance, occasional big repairs (roof, HVAC, appliances), and HOA dues where they apply. A common planning figure is to keep total housing costs — everything in the breakdown table above — under about 28% of gross income, the classic front-end ratio lenders watch.

Paying off your mortgage early

Extra payments attack principal directly, so every following month's interest is smaller. On the default example on this page ($280,000 at 6.5% for 30 years), adding $200 a month clears the loan about 7 years early and saves roughly $101,000 of interest. The strategies: a fixed extra amount monthly, one extra payment a year, or rounding the payment up. The drawbacks to weigh: prepayment penalties (rare on modern US mortgages, but check), losing liquidity, and the opportunity cost if investments would earn more than your mortgage rate. The schedule below shows exactly how your balance falls with your chosen extra payments.

Worked example

You buy a $350,000 home with 20% down ($70,000), borrowing $280,000 at 6.5% for 30 years starting October 2026. Principal & interest is $1,769.79 a month; total interest over the loan is $357,124.57; the payoff date is October 2056. Add the default taxes (1.1% = $320.83/month), insurance ($100/month) and other costs ($250/month) and the true monthly cost of the home is about $2,440.62 — the number your budget actually feels.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter the home price and your down payment (dollars or percentage — use the toggle).
2. Choose the loan term and enter the interest rate from your lender's quote.
3. Set the start date so the payoff date and schedule line up with your closing.
4. Leave taxes & costs included to see the full monthly cost of owning, not just the loan.
5. Open “More options” to model extra payments and watch the payoff date and total interest move.

15-year vs 30-year: the real trade-off

A 15-year mortgage on $280,000 at a typical lower rate (say 5.75%) costs about $2,325 a month — roughly $555 more than the 30-year — but total interest falls from about $357,125 to about $138,545. If the higher payment fits your budget safely, the shorter term is one of the largest savings most households ever make. If it doesn't fit, a 30-year loan plus voluntary extra payments gives you flexibility with much of the same benefit. Model both with this calculator, and estimate how much home your income supports with the Loan Eligibility Calculator.

Frequently asked questions