Personal financial calculators
Mortgage Payment Calculator
When you're shopping for a house and a mortgage, it's critical to understand what the total monthly payment for your new home will be. A mortgage calculator can help determine your true monthly outlay. Many things factor into calculating your total monthly payment:
First, there's your actual mortgage payment (principal and interest), which depends on:
Home purchase price. The more you spend on a home, the greater your monthly payment will be.
Down payment. The more money you put as a down payment, the lower your monthly payment will be.
Interest. The higher the interest rate, the higher your monthly payment will be.
Loan term (years). This is how many years it will take you to pay off your loan. The most common home loans are 30-year loans. The next most popular are 15-year loans. The shorter the loan term, the higher your monthly payment. However, you will pay far less in interest over the course of the loan because you pay it off more quickly – and you may qualify for a lower interest rate.
And there are other costs of homeownership added to your monthly payment such as insurance and property taxes. Your lender holds this money in an escrow account to pay these additional expenses for you.
Annual property taxes. You'll pay roughly 1/12th of the cost of your annual property taxes each month.
Homeowners insurance. You'll pay roughly 1/12th of the cost of your annual homeowners insurance each month.
Homeowners Association (HOA) dues. This is the money you pay into a homeowners association if the property you're considering has an association. This is typical for condos and townhomes, and for homes in a community with shared spaces, like a pool or community center that's just for residents.
You can run calculations multiple times with a mortgage calculator to see how changing different variables – like the home purchase price or the down payment – will impact your monthly payment.