Mortgage Calculator

Calculate your monthly home loan payments, estimate how much interest you’ll pay over time, and understand the cost of your mortgage insurance, taxes, and other expenses.

To use our mortgage calculator, you’ll need a few pieces of information. If you haven’t found a property yet, you can use estimates. Simply pull up the listing for a comparable home in a neighborhood you like and plug in those numbers to give you an idea of how much you will pay.

You’ll need the following details:

• Home price: The total price of the home.
• Down payment: How much of your own money you plan to spend on the home upfront. 
• Loan term: How long your loan lasts — expressed in years. The most common mortgage terms are 15 and 30 years.
• Credit score: Select your credit range from the dropdown menu to get an estimated interest rate, or input a specific rate.
• Annual interest rate: You can select an amount based on the current interest rate to give you a more realistic idea of your monthly payment.
• ZIP code: Enter your ZIP code to see estimates for property taxes in your area.
• Property taxes: If you know the amount of property taxes you’ll pay annually, you can input that figure in this field. Otherwise, enter your ZIP code to see estimates in your area.
• Homeowners insurance: Homeowners insurance provides you with coverage if your home is damaged or involved in an accident. This is the annual premium you’ll pay. You can usually get a quote in just a few minutes with most insurers.
• HOA fees: If you know what you’ll pay in HOA fees every month, you can input that figure in this field.
• Monthly private mortgage insurance (PMI): If you put down less than 20%, you’ll need to pay for private mortgage insurance. This usually costs $30 to $70 per month for every $100,000 that you borrow.

Keep Reading: How to Apply for a Mortgage

Using a good mortgage calculator is the first step in the home-buying process. Here are the main ways our mortgage calculator can help you in your home search:
 

Determine how much house you can afford

Many people are surprised by how much homeownership costs once you factor in things like insurance, taxes, and other monthly costs. Our calculator can help you hone in on an affordable monthly mortgage payment — including all the extra costs. Then, you can begin to budget accordingly.

Compare mortgage rates for different loan types

When getting a mortgage loan, you can choose from several loan terms. 15-year loans and 30-year loans are the most common options, while 10-year loans and 20-year loans are also available.

Find out which term is best for your budget by adjusting the “Loan Term” section of the calculator. A longer term generally means a lower monthly payment, but a higher interest rate (and thus, more interest paid over time), whereas a shorter term often comes with a higher monthly payment and lower interest rate.

To determine your mortgage payment — or the amount you’ll pay each month, not including taxes and insurance — you’ll need your loan amount, interest rate, and the number of months in your loan term.

The actual formula looks like this:

M = P [ i(1 + i)n ] / [ (1 + i)n – 1]

Here’s what each of these variables stand for:

M = Mortgage Payment

P = Principal (your loan amount)

i = Your monthly interest rate, expressed as a decimal

n = The number of months on your loan term

Here’s how it would break down with a $450,000, 30-year loan with a 6% interest rate (divided by 12 equals .005 per month):

$450,000 [.005(1.005)360 / (1.005)360 - 1]

The equation is a bit complicated, so it’s best to use an automatic mortgage calculator to streamline the calculations.

Once you have an estimate of your monthly payment, you’ll want to get pre-approved for a mortgage. Doing so can help give you a leg up over other buyers — especially in a bidding war.

Make sure to compare several lenders when seeking pre-approval. Mortgage rates can vary widely from one lender to the next, so shopping around ensures you get the absolute best deal and loan for your needs.

Mortgage FAQs

When will mortgage rates go down?

While experts initially predicted rates were going to drop in 2024, it’s now likely that rates will not decline significantly until later this year or early 2025. At the Federal Reserve meeting earlier this month, officials stated that it could take longer than previously expected for inflation to cool, which will delay the reduction of interest rates (currently at a 23-year high).

Between the high interest rates, low inventory, and high home prices – which CoreLogic reported rose 5.5% over the past year – prospective homebuyers are experiencing several financial obstacles that could make it nearly impossible for their housing dreams to become a reality. Additionally, many current homeowners are choosing to hold off on selling their properties because of high interest rates and home prices, a phenomenon dubbed “lock-in effect,” according to a Fannie Mae study.

How often do mortgage rates change?

Interest rates tend to change daily, and sometimes rates even change during the day. You can compare current mortgage rates from our partner lenders at any time. You will get an idea of the interest rate, APR, closing costs, and monthly payment, but you should bear in mind that these numbers will change depending on your credit score and other financial details.

Daily changes can usually be measured in hundredths of a percentage point. For example, average rates might be 7.12% on Tuesday and 7.06% on Wednesday. However, sudden and unexpected major events like a public health crisis or bank failure can make rates more volatile.

How can I get the lowest mortgage rate?

You can get the best mortgage rate by making yourself a low-risk borrower and submitting applications with multiple lenders. Here are a few tips:

• Don’t miss payments: If you have credit cards, student loans, auto loans, or other debts, make sure you’re never more than 30 days late. Late payments can knock you down into a lower credit score tier.
• Pay down debt: Reducing the total debt you owe can help in two ways. First, lowering your credit utilization ratio can boost your credit score. Second, it can lower your debt-to-income ratio (DTI).
• Choose a shorter term: The interest rate is often at least 0.5 percentage points lower on a 15-year mortgage than a 30-year mortgage.
• Increase your down payment: Investing more of your own money upfront makes you less likely to walk away from your home and your mortgage.
• Shop around: You won’t know if you’re getting the lowest rate unless you submit applications and get loan estimates from multiple lenders. 
• Negotiate: You may be able to use competing loan estimates to secure a better deal.

What is the difference between an adjustable-rate mortgage and a fixed-rate mortgage?

A fixed-rate mortgage has the same interest rate for the entire loan term. On a 30-year mortgage with a fixed rate of 6%, your interest rate will be 6% for all 30 years.

An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) has a fixed interest rate at the beginning of the loan term. After that, the rate adjusts periodically.

For example, a 5/1 ARM would have the same interest rate every year for the first five years. After that, the rate would adjust once per year for the remaining 25 years of the 30-year term. An ARM’s changes are subject to a floor and a ceiling as well as caps on annual increases.

Fixed-rate mortgages, which tend to be more popular than ARMs, provide predictability and peace of mind. For the average person buying a house, it’s easier to budget for a monthly payment that never changes.

An ARM may be more attractive if you’re taking out a jumbo loan. The initial interest rate on an ARM is often lower than the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Interest rate differences have a bigger impact on your monthly payment the larger your loan is.

On a $1 million 30-year home loan with a $200,000 down payment, the monthly payment would be $6,181 if the interest rate was 7.25%. If an ARM offered a 6.75% interest rate, you could lower your monthly payment to $5,912, a savings of $269 per month or $16,140 over five years.

What is the difference between APR and interest rate?

The interest rate is the percentage of your loan balance you pay annually to borrow money. For example, if your interest rate is 7% and your loan balance is $100,000, you’ll pay $7,000 in interest for one year.

The APR, or annual percentage rate, combines the interest rate and all the other costs associated with the loan. For a mortgage with closing costs, the APR will be higher than the interest rate. Adding to the example above, if your closing costs are $5,000, your APR will be 7.537%.

Read more about the differences in APR and interest rates.

What are discount points and how do they impact my rate?

Paying discount points allows you to lower your mortgage rate by prepaying interest as a lump sum of cash at closing.

For example, you might be able to get an interest rate of 5.875% by paying 3.035 discount points, which would cost $10,623 on a $350,000 loan. On the same loan, your interest rate might be 6.375% if you paid 1.158 discount points, which would cost $4,053.

"With a 15-year mortgage, the monthly payment would be $2,930 on the first loan and $3,025 on the second, a difference of $95."