Mortgage Calculator

A quoted mortgage payment is usually principal and interest only. What leaves your account each month typically also includes property tax and homeowners insurance — collected into an escrow account by your servicer — plus PMI if you put down less than 20%, and HOA fees if the property has an association. The breakdown above separates all of these so you can see which part is the loan and which part is everything else.

Federal law requires your servicer to terminate PMI automatically once your loan balance reaches 78% of the original value of the home, provided you are current on payments. You can also request cancellation at 80%, in writing. Both rights come from the Homeowners Protection Act (12 U.S.C. §4902). Note that both thresholds are measured against the ORIGINAL purchase price or appraised value, not against what the home is worth now — so a rising market does not by itself remove PMI under the automatic rule.

More than most people expect, because every extra dollar goes entirely to principal and therefore stops accruing interest for the entire remaining term. Enter an amount in the "Extra payment" field and the schedule recalculates: you will see both the interest saved and how many months earlier the loan closes. The effect is largest in the early years, when the balance — and so the interest charge — is at its highest.

A 15-year term costs far less in total interest and usually carries a slightly lower rate, but the monthly payment is substantially higher — not half as much again, but close to it. The 30-year payment is lower and leaves more monthly room for emergencies, retirement contributions or a higher-return investment. Change the term field to compare the two directly; the total interest figure is where the difference shows up most starkly.

Because the level payment is rounded to the cent. That rounding leaves a tiny surplus or shortfall each month, and after hundreds of payments it adds up to a few dollars. Lenders adjust the final payment to clear the balance exactly rather than adding another month, so the loan always closes on its contracted term. This calculator does the same thing, which is why the schedule ends at exactly zero.

You can use it to see what a new loan would cost by entering the new balance and rate, but it will not tell you whether refinancing is worth it — that depends on closing costs and how long you stay. The refinance calculator compares the two loans and works out the break-even point.