How this mortgage calculator works
Enter four numbers — the purchase price, your down payment, the mortgage term and the interest rate — and the calculator instantly shows your monthly payment, the total cost of the loan and a complete amortization schedule. No compound-interest tables, no spreadsheet formulas: change any number and watch the payment update.
For the full picture of what the home will really cost each month, open the advanced options and add:
- Property tax — the annual county tax, typically collected monthly with your mortgage payment;
- Property insurance — homeowner’s insurance, required by every lender;
- HOA fees — monthly homeowners-association dues, if your community charges them;
- PMI — private mortgage insurance, charged on conventional loans until you own 20% of the home. The calculator shows the exact date your PMI payments end.
Plan the whole loan, not just one payment
The amortization schedule breaks every payment into principal and interest, so you can see how much of the loan you will actually own after five, ten or twenty years. Compare a 15-year term against a 30-year one, test how a bigger down payment removes PMI from day one, and check mortgage rates in your state before you talk to a lender. A mortgage is a commitment of up to 30 years — a few minutes with a calculator is the cheapest insurance against an uncomfortable one.