Question 1

How do I calculate my monthly mortgage payment?

Accepted Answer

Enter the home price, down payment, interest rate, and loan term, and the calculator shows your monthly payment including principal, interest, property tax, and insurance.

Question 2

How is a monthly mortgage payment calculated?

Accepted Answer

In plain words, the lender spreads the loan plus interest into equal monthly payments. The formula takes the loan amount multiplied by the monthly interest rate, multiplied by 1 plus the monthly rate raised to the number of payments, all divided by that same power term minus 1. The monthly rate is simply the annual rate divided by 1200, and the number of payments is the term in years multiplied by 12. If the rate is zero, the payment is just the loan divided by the number of months.

Question 3

What is included in the total monthly payment?

Accepted Answer

The main part is principal and interest, which repays the loan itself. Most homeowners also pay property tax and home insurance each month, so this calculator adds the yearly tax and insurance amounts divided by 12, giving you one realistic total monthly figure.

Question 4

How does the down payment affect my mortgage?

Accepted Answer

The loan amount is the home price minus your down payment, so a bigger down payment means a smaller loan, a lower monthly payment, and far less total interest over the term. This calculator also shows your down payment as a percentage of the price, since lenders often price loans differently above and below 20 percent.

Question 5

Why does a shorter term save so much interest?

Accepted Answer

Interest is charged on the outstanding balance every month. A 15 year term has higher monthly payments, but the balance falls much faster, so there is less balance for interest to be charged on. Over the full term, a shorter loan can save a very large amount of total interest compared with a 30 year loan.

Question 6

What does the amortization summary show?

Accepted Answer

It groups your loan year by year: how much principal you paid off that year, how much interest you paid, and the balance still owed at the end of the year. Early on, most of each payment is interest. Later, the balance tips and most of each payment reduces the principal.

Year	Principal paid	Interest paid	Balance
1	$ 3,129.63	$ 18,107.85	$ 276,870.37
2	$ 3,339.23	$ 17,898.26	$ 273,531.14
3	$ 3,562.86	$ 17,674.62	$ 269,968.28
4	$ 3,801.47	$ 17,436.01	$ 266,166.80
5	$ 4,056.07	$ 17,181.42	$ 262,110.74
6	$ 4,327.71	$ 16,909.78	$ 257,783.03
7	$ 4,617.54	$ 16,619.94	$ 253,165.49
8	$ 4,926.79	$ 16,310.70	$ 248,238.70
9	$ 5,256.74	$ 15,980.74	$ 242,981.95
10	$ 5,608.80	$ 15,628.69	$ 237,373.15
11	$ 5,984.43	$ 15,253.06	$ 231,388.72
12	$ 6,385.22	$ 14,852.27	$ 225,003.51
13	$ 6,812.85	$ 14,424.64	$ 218,190.66
14	$ 7,269.12	$ 13,968.37	$ 210,921.54
15	$ 7,755.94	$ 13,481.54	$ 203,165.60
16	$ 8,275.37	$ 12,962.11	$ 194,890.22
17	$ 8,829.59	$ 12,407.89	$ 186,060.63
18	$ 9,420.92	$ 11,816.56	$ 176,639.71
19	$ 10,051.86	$ 11,185.62	$ 166,587.84
20	$ 10,725.05	$ 10,512.43	$ 155,862.79
21	$ 11,443.33	$ 9,794.16	$ 144,419.46
22	$ 12,209.71	$ 9,027.77	$ 132,209.75
23	$ 13,027.42	$ 8,210.07	$ 119,182.33
24	$ 13,899.89	$ 7,337.60	$ 105,282.44
25	$ 14,830.79	$ 6,406.70	$ 90,451.65
26	$ 15,824.04	$ 5,413.45	$ 74,627.62
27	$ 16,883.80	$ 4,353.69	$ 57,743.82
28	$ 18,014.54	$ 3,222.95	$ 39,729.28
29	$ 19,221.01	$ 2,016.48	$ 20,508.27
30	$ 20,508.27	$ 729.21	$ 0.00

Mortgage Calculator

Use Mortgage Calculator

How to use the Mortgage Calculator

Enter price and down payment

Add rate, term and costs

Review payment and schedule

About the Mortgage Calculator

Where it helps most

First-time buyers

Term comparisons

Neighborhood shopping

Rate changes

Using it well

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