Mortgage Calculator

What this calculator answers

The whole monthly payment on a fixed-rate home loan, not only principal and interest. It adds one-twelfth of the yearly property tax and homeowners insurance, private mortgage insurance (PMI) while it lasts, and HOA dues. It also shows the payment on which PMI stops and what the payment drops to afterward, the total interest, and every payment in a schedule you can download. No rates are fetched or filled in: every number is one you enter.

How to use it

• Home price: the purchase price, in dollars. 400,000, $400,000 and 400k all work.
• Down payment: in dollars or as a percent of the price. Type 10% or $40,000, or use the $ / % switch; the line under the field shows the other form.
• Loan term: in whole years, such as 30 or 15.
• Interest rate: the yearly note rate from page 1 of your Loan Estimate (“Loan Terms”), not the APR.
• Property tax per year: from the tax bill or the listing, in dollars or as a percent of the price.
• Insurance per year: your homeowners insurance premium, from a quote or the policy.
• HOA dues per month: from the listing or the association. Leave it empty if there are none.
• First payment date (optional): adds dates to the schedule and to the end of PMI.
• PMI: choose a yearly rate as a percent of the loan, or dollars per month. A Loan Estimate shows the monthly premium on page 1, under Projected Payments. Then choose when PMI ends: at 78% of the price (automatic), at 80% (if you ask), or at another percentage.

Results update as you type. The Try buttons load the cases worked through below: a 15-year loan, 5% down, 20% down with no PMI, and canceling PMI at 80%. To weigh two quotes, press Save for comparison, change the inputs and save again. Each saved scenario shows how its payment, interest and PMI differ from the first.

What’s included in a monthly mortgage payment (PITI)?

A monthly mortgage payment is usually principal and interest plus one-twelfth of the yearly property tax and homeowners insurance, which together make PITI. The tax and insurance money is often collected into an escrow account, and the servicer pays those bills when they are due. PMI is added when the lender requires it. HOA dues are usually paid to the association, not the servicer, but they are part of what the home costs each month, so the calculator adds them to the total.

How the principal and interest payment is calculated

The payment that repays a loan in equal monthly installments is

• $M$ is the monthly principal and interest payment.
• $P$ is the loan amount: the price minus the down payment.
• $i$ is the monthly rate: the yearly rate as a decimal ÷ 12.
• $n$ is the number of payments: years × 12.

Each month’s interest is the balance times $i$, rounded to the cent; the rest of the payment reduces the balance. The payment is rounded to the nearest cent, so the last payment is adjusted a few cents to leave the balance at exactly $0.00. In a spreadsheet, =PMT(rate/12, years*12, -loan) gives the same payment before rounding.

Worked example: $400,000 home with 10% down

The example on the calculator: a 30-year loan at 6.625%, property tax of $4,600 a year, insurance of $1,980 a year, HOA dues of $40 a month, and PMI of 0.46% of the loan a year that ends at 78%. These are example figures, not current rates or typical costs.

1. Loan: 10% × $400,000 = $40,000 down, so the loan is $400,000 − $40,000 = $360,000, 90% of the price.
2. Principal and interest: i = 6.625% ÷ 12 = 0.00552083 and n = 30 × 12 = 360, so M = $360,000 × 0.00552083 ÷ (1 − 1.00552083^−360) = 2,305.1195, which rounds to $2,305.12.
3. Escrow: tax $4,600 ÷ 12 = $383.33 and insurance $1,980 ÷ 12 = $165.00.
4. PMI: 0.46% × $360,000 ÷ 12 = $138.00 a month.
5. Monthly payment: $2,305.12 + $383.33 + $165.00 + $138.00 = $2,991.45 to the servicer, plus $40.00 of HOA dues = $3,031.45.
6. When PMI ends: 78% of $400,000 is $312,000. The scheduled balance is $312,111.67 after payment 110 and $311,529.67 after payment 111, so PMI is charged through payment 111, 9 years 3 months into the loan. That is 111 × $138.00 = $15,318.00 of PMI, and from payment 112 the monthly payment is $2,893.45.
7. Over 30 years: the first payment is $1,987.50 of interest and $317.62 of principal. Interest totals $469,842.82, and the last payment of principal and interest is $2,304.74.

The payment timeline on the calculator sums this up: $3,031.45 for payments 1–111, $2,893.45 for payments 112–359, and $2,893.07 for the final payment.

When does PMI end, and how much down payment avoids it?

On a conventional loan, PMI ends automatically when the balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the home’s original value, and you can ask to cancel it once the balance is scheduled to reach 80%. Either way, it must end after the midpoint of the term (15 years into a 30-year loan). Both automatic ends apply when you’re current on your payments; if you’re behind, PMI stays until you catch up. A lender may require PMI when you put down less than 20%, so a down payment of 20% or more usually avoids it.

These rules come from the Homeowners Protection Act and apply to loans on a single-family primary residence that closed on or after July 29, 1999. The original value is the lower of the contract price and the appraisal at purchase; a rise in the home’s market value doesn’t count toward the 78% date. The calculator uses the price you enter as that value, and it follows the original schedule, as the automatic rule does. FHA and VA loans and lender-paid mortgage insurance follow other rules.

To cancel at 80%, you have to ask in writing, have a good payment history, have no second mortgage or other junior lien, and possibly show that the home’s value hasn’t fallen below the original value. In the example, the balance is scheduled to reach 80% ($320,000) with payment 96. Choosing 80% in the calculator (Cancel PMI at 80%) charges PMI through payment 96, for a total of $13,248.00, which is $2,070.00 less than waiting for the automatic end.

A larger down payment means a smaller loan, a smaller premium and an earlier end. For the example home at the same rate, with PMI at 0.46% of the loan and ending at 78%:

The calculator charges any PMI rate you enter and never decides from the down payment whether your lender requires it. With 20% down and PMI left at 0.46%, it would charge PMI through payment 27, because the loan starts at 80% of the price, above the 78% line. Set PMI to None if your loan has none. A loan that starts at or below the threshold is charged no PMI, and the result says so.

Entering property tax as a percentage or a dollar amount

Either form gives the same payment. In the example, 1.15% of $400,000 is $4,600 a year, so typing 1.15% or $4,600 both give $383.33 a month. The line under the field shows the other form, so you can check a listing’s percentage against the tax bill.

Enter the yearly amount. If your bill comes in two halves, add them. If you type a figure that looks like a monthly amount (less than 0.1% of the price), a note shows it divided by 12 and asks whether you meant the monthly figure. Tax bills can change from year to year, for example when the home’s value goes up, and the escrow part of the payment changes with them.

15-year vs. 30-year mortgage: payment and total interest

For the example loan at the same 6.625%, a 15-year term raises principal and interest from $2,305.12 to $3,160.78 a month and cuts the total interest from $469,842.82 to $208,939.68. Because the balance falls faster, PMI also ends sooner, after payment 37 instead of payment 111.

The Term table under the results shows 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years (and your own term) for your inputs. Every row there uses one rate. If a lender quotes a different rate for the shorter term, enter that rate and use Save for comparison instead.

Reading the result

• Monthly payment is the first month’s total, with HOA dues. The line under it says when PMI ends and what the payment becomes.
• The breakdown bar shows each part and its share of the total.
• PMI ends after, Total PMI and Payment once PMI ends give the payment number (with its month when you enter a first payment date), the PMI paid until then and the lower payment that follows. When you choose 78%, Total PMI also gives the total if you asked to cancel at 80%.
• How the payment changes lists each run of payments with the same total, including the slightly different final payment.
• The amortization schedule has principal, interest, the balance and the loan-to-value (LTV) after each payment, then PMI, escrow (tax and insurance) and the payment the servicer collects, every month or by year. Download either view as a CSV file.
• The charts show the balance falling toward the PMI line, and how each year’s payments split between principal, interest, PMI and escrow.
• What if repeats the calculation for other terms, for rates up to 1 percentage point either side of yours, and for down payments from 3% to 25%. In the example, a rate 0.5 point lower (6.125%) cuts principal and interest by $117.72, to $2,187.40.

What this estimate leaves out

• Cash to close: the down payment is used, but closing costs and the escrow deposit collected at closing are not.
• Costs of owning the home that no lender collects: repairs, maintenance and utilities.
• Other mortgage insurance: FHA mortgage insurance premiums and the VA funding fee follow their own rules, which this calculator doesn’t model.
• Rate changes: the rate is fixed for the whole term, so an adjustable-rate loan’s later payments aren’t shown.
• Changes in escrow: tax, insurance and HOA dues stay as entered, although taxes and premiums can change from year to year.

The result is an educational estimate, not a loan offer or lending advice. Your Loan Estimate shows the lender’s own figures.

Common mistakes

• Entering the APR as the rate. The APR adds points and fees to the interest rate, so it is usually higher. The payment is worked out from the note rate on page 1 of the Loan Estimate.
• Entering the price as the loan. Here the calculator subtracts the down payment for you. In a spreadsheet or another loan calculator, use the loan amount.
• Comparing principal and interest alone. Two quotes with the same principal and interest can differ in PMI and escrow. Compare the Estimated Total Monthly Payment on page 1 of each Loan Estimate.
• Putting a monthly figure in a yearly field. Tax and insurance are per year and HOA dues are per month; the calculator shows a note when an entry looks off by a factor of 12.
• Counting on today’s market value to end PMI. The 78% and 80% rules use the original value, so a rise in your home’s value doesn’t move those dates. Some servicers have their own rules for that, so ask yours.
• Leaving PMI at None with less than 20% down. If the Loan Estimate shows mortgage insurance, the payment is higher than principal, interest and escrow alone.