How to Use

Enter the price of the home, your down payment amount, and the interest rate. Click the “Advanced” button to include estimated costs for property taxes, home insurance, and HOA fees.

Purpose

To provide an estimate of what your total monthly payment might look like.

How to Use This Information

Use the chart to see where your money goes. The “P&I” is the loan payment, while the rest covers taxes and insurance. This helps you plan your monthly budget.

How to Use

Enter the details for the new loan you are considering, including the new loan amount, the new interest rate, and the number of years for the term.

Purpose

To help you compare your current loan against a potential new loan to see if refinancing makes financial sense.

How to Use This Information

Check if the “New Payment” is lower than what you pay now. Also, look at the total interest to see if you save money in the long run.

How to Use

Enter your loan details and the “Extra Monthly Payment” you want to make. Then, use the “Duration” slider to choose how many years you will keep making that extra payment.

Purpose

This calculator shows how much time and interest you save by paying extra. The “Duration” option lets you plan for temporary extra payments, like paying more for just 5 years until you need that money for something else.

How to Use This Information

The “Interest Saved” is money you keep instead of giving to the bank. Use this to see if a short-term sacrifice (like paying extra for just a few years) is worth it for you.

How to Use

Enter your original loan amount, the interest rate, and the loan term. Then, enter the number of months you have already been making payments.

Purpose

To estimate how much you still owe on your loan balance right now versus how much you have paid off.

How to Use This Information

This helps you track your “equity,” which is the part of the house you truly own.

How to Use

Enter your loan details, your annual income, and your tax filing status (like Single or Married). You can also add your estimated property taxes and other deductions.

Purpose

To estimate potential tax savings that might come from owning a home compared to the standard deduction.

How to Use This Information

The “Estimated First Year Tax Savings” is an approximation of money you might save on your income tax bill.

How to Use

Enter your total annual income, your monthly debt payments (like car loans or credit cards), and the amount of cash you have saved for a down payment.

Purpose

To estimate the price range of homes you might be able to buy based on bank guidelines.

How to Use This Information

Use the “Max Pre-Approval” as a rough upper limit. It is usually safer to shop for homes priced lower than this number to keep your budget comfortable.

How to Use

Enter the loan amount and interest rate. Then, add the estimated “Fees” (closing costs) like Origination Fees and Points charged by the lender.

Purpose

To calculate the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), which shows the cost of the loan with fees included.

How to Use This Information

The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on a mortgage helps you see the total yearly cost of borrowing money, not just the interest rate. It includes the interest rate plus other fees, like points, broker fees, and closing costs, rolled into a single yearly percentage. This makes it easier to compare “apples to apples” when looking at different loan offers from different lenders. To use the APR, you look for the loan with the lowest number; generally, the lower the APR, the less you will pay overall for that loan.

How to Use

Enter the loan amount and select the “Interest-Only Period” (how many years you want to pay interest only). Also, enter how many years you plan to keep the loan.

Purpose

To compare the lower initial payments against the higher payments that will start later.

How to Use This Information

This helps you see the risk. While payments are low at first, they will jump up significantly later. Make sure you are prepared for that increase.

How to Use

Enter the interest rate without points, the lower rate with points, and the cost of those points.

Purpose

To determine if it is worth paying an upfront fee (points) to get a lower interest rate on your loan.

How to Use This Information

Look at the “Breakeven” time. If you plan to move before that date, paying for points might not save you money.

Opportunity Cost

Imagine you have to choose between spending your money today to get a slightly cheaper mortgage payment, or keeping that money and putting it in a savings account where it grows bigger all by itself. Opportunity cost is simply the extra money you “miss out on” earning because you paid for points instead of investing it. The calculator compares these two paths to see if the small monthly savings you get from paying points are actually worth giving up the chance to watch your own money grow into a much larger amount over time.

How to Use

Enter the price of the home you want to buy, your down payment amount, and the estimated interest rate.

Purpose

To estimate how much gross annual income a bank typically requires to approve a loan for that home.

How to Use This Information

You can use this result to set goals for your income or to adjust your price range to fit your current earnings.

How to Use

Enter the home price and loan details. Select a “Buydown Type” (like 2-1 Buydown) from the menu to see the different payment stages.

Purpose

To show how a temporary rate reduction lowers your payments for the first few years.

How to Use This Information

The table shows your estimated payments for each year. It also estimates the upfront cost required to fund this temporary savings.

Effective Interest Rate

This rate represents the actual lower payment amount you will make during the buydown years. It is important to know that your Mortgage Rate (the final rate on your loan) does not change. Instead, a specific sum of money is placed into an escrow account, which then pays the difference between your full principal and interest payment and your temporary lower payment. This money offsets your monthly payment obligation, making your cost look and feel like it is calculated at this lower effective rate, until the funds in the escrow account are fully used up.