Mortgage Calculator
Estimate your full monthly mortgage payment, including property taxes, homeowners insurance, PMI and HOA dues. Then see how extra payments change your payoff date.
Results are estimates for planning purposes. Your actual payment depends on your lender, your exact tax and insurance bills, and your loan terms. See our terms of use.
How to use this mortgage calculator
Start with the home price and your down payment. The calculator subtracts one from the other to get your loan amount. Then add the interest rate you've been quoted and choose a loan term. Most buyers choose 30 years, and 15 years is the next most common.
The other fields turn a basic principal-and-interest estimate into the payment you'll actually see each month:
- Property tax: entered as a yearly percentage of the home's price. Rates vary a lot by location, from well under 1% to more than 2% a year. Your county assessor's website or the property listing usually shows the current tax bill. If you know the bill in dollars, divide it by the price to get the percentage.
- Homeowners insurance: your yearly premium. Get a real quote if you can, because premiums depend on the home, the location and the coverage you choose.
- PMI: private mortgage insurance, which lenders usually require on conventional loans when you put down less than 20%. The calculator only adds it in that case.
- HOA dues: monthly fees for a homeowners association, common with condos, townhomes and planned communities.
- Extra principal: any amount you plan to add to each payment. The calculator shows how much sooner you'd be mortgage-free and how much interest you'd save.
What's included in a mortgage payment (PITI)
Lenders often describe a mortgage payment as PITI: principal, interest, taxes and insurance.
- Principal is the part of each payment that reduces your loan balance.
- Interest is what the lender charges for the loan, calculated on your remaining balance each month.
- Taxes and insurance are often collected by your lender each month and held in an escrow account. The lender then pays the bills for you when they're due.
PMI, if you have it, is usually added to the same payment. HOA dues are normally paid directly to the association, but they're still part of your monthly housing cost, so the calculator includes them in the total.
The mortgage payment formula
The principal-and-interest part of a fixed-rate mortgage comes from the standard amortization formula:
M = P × r(1 + r)n ÷ [(1 + r)n − 1]
Here M is the monthly payment, P is the loan amount, r is the monthly interest rate (the annual rate divided by 12) and n is the number of monthly payments.
Example: a $400,000 home with 20% down means a $320,000 loan. At 6.5% for 30 years, r = 0.065 ÷ 12 ≈ 0.005417 and n = 360. That gives a principal-and-interest payment of $2,022.62. Over 30 years you'd pay about $408,142 in interest, more than the amount you borrowed. Add property tax at 1.1% ($366.67 a month) and insurance of $1,800 a year ($150 a month), and the full payment comes to about $2,539.
Why early payments are mostly interest
Interest is charged on the balance you still owe, so at the start of the loan most of your payment goes to the lender rather than to your balance. In the example above, the first payment of $2,022.62 is split into $1,733.33 of interest and just $289.28 of principal. Each month the balance drops a little, so a little less goes to interest and a little more goes to principal. Open the amortization schedule above to watch the balance fall faster year by year.
How extra payments shorten your mortgage
Any extra money you pay goes straight to principal. That reduces the balance that future interest is charged on, so it saves more than the amount you add. In our example, adding $200 a month to the $320,000 loan pays it off in 23 years and 5 months instead of 30. That's 6 years and 7 months sooner, and it saves about $105,000 in interest.
Before you start, confirm that your loan has no prepayment penalty. Also check that your servicer applies extra money to principal rather than holding it as an early payment. Most servicers let you mark extra amounts as "principal only".
15-year vs. 30-year mortgage
A shorter term raises your monthly payment but cuts your total interest sharply. At the same 6.5% rate, the $320,000 loan from our example costs $2,787.54 a month over 15 years, about $765 more than the 30-year payment. Total interest drops from about $408,000 to about $182,000, a saving of roughly $226,000. In practice, 15-year loans usually also come with a lower interest rate, which makes the gap even bigger.
A 30-year loan gives you a lower required payment and more flexibility. Some borrowers take the 30-year loan and make extra payments when they can, which combines a safety cushion with faster payoff.
How PMI works and when it goes away
On a conventional loan with less than 20% down, lenders usually require private mortgage insurance. It protects the lender, not you, if you stop paying. PMI commonly costs roughly 0.3% to 1.5% of the loan amount per year, depending mainly on your credit score and down payment.
PMI isn't permanent. Under the federal Homeowners Protection Act, for most conventional loans on a primary home:
- You can ask to cancel PMI once your balance reaches 80% of the home's original value. Extra payments get you there sooner.
- The lender must cancel it automatically when your balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the original value, as long as you're current on payments.
For example, with 10% down on a $400,000 home at 6.5%, the balance reaches 80% of the original value after about 8 years and is scheduled to reach 78% after about 9 years. FHA loans work differently. They charge a mortgage insurance premium (MIP), which on many FHA loans lasts for the life of the loan.
Ways to lower your monthly payment
- Put 20% down if you can, to avoid PMI entirely.
- Improve your credit score before applying. Even a small rate difference adds up over 30 years.
- Compare several lenders. Within three business days of applying, each lender must give you a standard Loan Estimate, which makes offers easy to compare side by side.
- Consider discount points. You pay an upfront fee, typically 1% of the loan amount per point, in exchange for a lower rate. This pays off if you keep the loan long enough.
- Shop your homeowners insurance and review it each year.
- Check your property tax assessment. If it looks too high, most areas let you appeal it.
Frequently asked questions
How much house can I afford?
A common guideline is the 28/36 rule: keep housing costs under about 28% of your gross monthly income, and all debt payments, housing included, under about 36%. Lenders may approve more than that, but a payment you can comfortably afford leaves room for savings and surprises.
Does this calculator include closing costs?
No. Closing costs, often around 2% to 5% of the loan amount, are paid upfront when you buy and aren't part of the monthly payment. Your Loan Estimate lists them in detail.
Should I enter the interest rate or the APR?
Use the interest rate (also called the note rate) to estimate your payment. The APR also includes certain fees spread over the life of the loan. That makes it useful for comparing offers, but it isn't the rate your payment is calculated on.
Why is my lender's estimate a little different?
Small differences usually come from your actual tax and insurance figures, escrow cushions the lender requires, rounding, or the timing of your first payment. The principal-and-interest amount should match closely when you use the same loan amount, rate and term.
Does this work for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)?
Only for the initial fixed period. After that, an ARM's rate, and therefore its payment, can change. To stress-test an ARM, try a higher rate in the calculator.
Last reviewed: October 2026