Mortgage calculator with taxes and insurance and extra payments

Mortgage Payoff Calculator Uses

With this mortgage payoff calculator, estimate how quickly you can pay off your home. By calculating the impact of extra payments, you can learn how to save money on the total amount of interest you’ll pay over the life of the loan.

Planning to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early?

Use the "Extra payments" functionality to find out how you can shorten your loan term and save money on interest by paying extra toward your loan's principal each month, every year, or in a one-time payment.

Understand Your Mortgage Payment

Your mortgage payment is defined as your principal and interest payment in this mortgage payoff calculator. When you pay extra on your principal balance, you reduce the amount of your loan and save money on interest.

Keep in mind that you may pay for other costs in your monthly payment, such as homeowners’ insurance, property taxes, and private mortgage insurance (PMI). For a breakdown of your mortgage payment costs, try our free mortgage calculator.

Accelerate Your Mortgage Payment Plan

Get creative and find more ways to make additional payments on your mortgage loan. Making extra payments on the principal balance of your mortgage will help you pay off your mortgage debt faster and save thousands of dollars in interest. Use our free budgeting tool, EveryDollar, to see how extra mortgage payments fit into your budget.

Calculate Different Scenarios

See how early you’ll pay off your mortgage and how much interest you’ll save.

Let’s say your remaining balance on your home is $200,000. Your current principal and interest payment is $993 every month on a 30-year fixed-rate loan. You decide to make an additional $300 payment toward principal every month to pay off your home faster. By adding $300 to your monthly payment, you’ll save just over $64,000 in interest and pay off your home over 11 years sooner.

Consider another example. You have a remaining balance of $350,000 on your current home on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. You decide to increase your monthly payment by $1,000. With that additional principal payment every month, you could pay off your home nearly 16 years faster and save almost $156,000 in interest.

How to calculate a mortgage payment

Under "Home price," enter the price (if you're buying) or the current value (if you're refinancing). NerdWallet also has a refinancing calculator.

Under "Down payment," enter the amount of your down payment (if you’re buying) or the amount of equity you have (if refinancing). A down payment is the cash you pay upfront for a home, and home equity is the value of the home, minus what you owe.

On desktop, under "Interest rate" (to the right), enter the rate. Under "Loan term," click the plus and minus signs to adjust the length of the mortgage in years.

On mobile devices, tap "Refine Results" to find the field to enter the rate and use the plus and minus signs to select the "Loan term."

The mortgage calculator lets you click "Compare common loan types" to view a comparison of different loan terms. Click "Amortization" to see how the principal balance, principal paid (equity) and total interest paid change year by year. On mobile devices, scroll down to see "Amortization."

Formula for calculating a mortgage payment

The mortgage payment calculation looks like this: M = P [ i(1 + i)^n ] / [ (1 + i)^n – 1]

The variables are as follows:

• M = monthly mortgage payment

• P = the principal amount

• i = your monthly interest rate. Your lender likely lists interest rates as an annual figure, so you’ll need to divide by 12, for each month of the year. So, if your rate is 5%, then the monthly rate will look like this: 0.05/12 = 0.004167.

• n = the number of payments over the life of the loan. If you take out a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, this means: n = 30 years x 12 months per year, or 360 payments.

How a mortgage calculator helps you

Determining what your monthly house payment will be is an important part of figuring out how much house you can afford. That monthly payment is likely to be the biggest part of your cost of living.

Using NerdWallet’s mortgage calculator lets you estimate your mortgage payment when you buy a home or refinance. You can change loan details in the calculator to run scenarios. The calculator can help you decide:

• The home loan term length that’s right for you. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage lower your monthly payment, but you’ll pay more interest over the life of the loan. A 15-year fixed-rate mortgage reduce the total interest you'll pay, but your monthly payment will be higher. c

• If an ARM is a good option. Adjustable-rate mortgages start with a "teaser" interest rate, and then the loan rate changes — higher or lower — over time. A 5/1 ARM can be a good choice, particularly if you plan on being in a home for just a few years. You’ll want to be aware of how much your monthly mortgage payment can change when the introductory rate expires, especially if interest rates are trending higher.

• If you’re buying too much home. The mortgage payment calculator can give you a reality check on how much you can expect to pay each month, especially when considering all the costs, including taxes, insurance and private mortgage insurance.

• If you’re putting enough money down. With minimum down payments commonly as low as 3%, it's easier than ever to put just a little money down. The mortgage payment calculator can help you decide what the best down payment may be for you.

How lenders decide how much you can afford to borrow

Mortgage lenders are required to assess your ability to repay the amount you want to borrow. A lot of factors go into that assessment, and the main one is debt-to-income ratio.

Your debt-to-income ratio is the percentage of pretax income that goes toward monthly debt payments, including the mortgage, car payments, student loans, minimum credit card payments and child support. Lenders look most favorably on debt-to-income ratios of 36% or less — or a maximum of $1,800 a month on an income of $5,000 a month before taxes.

Typical costs included in a mortgage payment

If your mortgage payment included just principal and interest, you could use a bare-bones mortgage calculator. But most mortgage payments include other charges as well. Here are the key components of the monthly mortgage payment:

• Principal: This is the amount you borrow. Each mortgage payment reduces the principal you owe.

• Interest: What the lender charges you to lend you the money. Interest rates are expressed as an annual percentage.

• Property taxes: The annual tax assessed by a government authority on your home and land. You pay about one-twelfth of your annual tax bill with each mortgage payment, and the servicer saves them in an escrow account. When the taxes are due, the loan servicer pays them.

• Homeowners insurance: Your policy covers damage and financial losses from fire, storms, theft, a tree falling on your house and other bad things. As with property taxes, you pay roughly one-twelfth of your annual premium each month, and the servicer pays the bill when it's due.

• Mortgage insurance: If your down payment is less than 20% of the home’s purchase price, you’ll likely pay mortgage insurance. It protects the lender’s interest in case a borrower defaults on a mortgage. Once the equity in your property increases to 20%, the mortgage insurance is canceled, unless you have an FHA loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration.

Typically, when you belong to a homeowners association, the dues are billed directly, and it's not added to the monthly mortgage payment. Because HOA dues can be easy to forget, they're included in NerdWallet's mortgage calculator.

Reducing monthly mortgage payments

The mortgage calculator lets you test scenarios to see how you can reduce the monthly payments:

• Extend the term (the number of years it will take to pay off the loan). With a longer term, your payment will be lower but you’ll pay more interest over the years. Review your amortization schedule to see the impact of extending your loan.

• Buy less house. Taking out a smaller loan means a smaller monthly mortgage payment.

• Avoid paying PMI. With a down payment of 20% or more, you won’t have to pay private mortgage insurance. Similarly, keeping at least 20% equity in the home lets you avoid PMI when you refinance.

• Get a lower interest rate. Making a larger down payment can not only let you avoid PMI, but reduce your interest rate, too. That means a lower monthly mortgage payment.

Monthly mortgage payments can go up

Your monthly payment can go up over time if:

• Property taxes or homeowners insurance premiums rise. These costs are included in most mortgage payments.

• You incur a late payment fee from your mortgage loan servicer.

• You have an adjustable-rate mortgage and the rate rises at the adjustment period.

How much will an extra payment affect my mortgage?

What happens if I pay an extra $250 a month on my mortgage?

Is it better to put lump sum on mortgage or extra monthly?

What happens if I pay an extra $200 a month on my 30