Mortgage Payment Calculator

Estimate only, not financial, tax, or lending advice. The payment is standard amortization plus the tax, insurance, and PMI figures you type. It is not a pre-approval and not a closing disclosure. The 7 percent rate, 20 percent down payment, and 0.5 percent PMI rate already in the form are placeholders. Replace them with the numbers on your Loan Estimate. Confirm current loan rules with your lender and, for taxes, with a tax professional.

How the monthly payment is calculated

Down payment is a percent of the home price, not a dollar amount. Twenty means 20 percent. Loan amount = price − price × down percent ÷ 100. Principal and interest use the fixed-rate mortgage formula. Let r be the annual rate divided by 12 and then by 100, and let n be the term in years times 12. Payment = loan × (r × (1 + r)^n) ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1). A zero rate makes the principal-and-interest payment the loan divided by the number of months.

Property tax and homeowner's insurance are annual dollars you type, each divided by 12. PMI is included only when the down-payment percent is strictly under 20. In that case the monthly PMI is (loan × PMI rate ÷ 100) ÷ 12, using whatever annual PMI percent you entered. At 20 percent down or more, the PMI line is $0 even if the PMI rate field still shows a number. PITI is principal and interest plus monthly tax plus monthly insurance plus that PMI figure.

Total interest is principal-and-interest payment × term × 12 − loan. It assumes the rate never changes and you make the scheduled payment for the entire term. Tax, insurance, and PMI are not inside the interest total. PMI on the PITI line is the same amount every month for as long as you look at the page. The tool does not cancel PMI after you reach a given equity level, and it does not model extra principal payments that would get you there sooner. Dollar figures round to the nearest dollar.

Worked examples

Example 1: Twenty percent down

Price $400,000, down payment 20 percent, rate 7 percent, term 30 years, property tax $5,000 a year, insurance $1,500 a year. Loan = $320,000. Principal and interest rounds to $2,129. Tax and insurance together are $6,500 ÷ 12, which rounds to $542 on the combined line. Down payment is not under 20, so PMI is $0. PITI rounds to $2,671 a month. Total interest over 30 years of scheduled payments rounds to $446,428. That interest total is large because the example rate is 7 percent on a 30-year balance. Your rate will be the one you lock, not 7.

Example 2: Ten percent down, with PMI

Same price, rate, term, tax, and insurance, with the down payment changed to 10 percent and the PMI rate left at 0.5 percent a year. Loan = $360,000. Principal and interest rounds to $2,395. Monthly PMI = (360,000 × 0.005) ÷ 12 = $150. PITI rounds to $3,087. Total interest on the principal-and-interest portion rounds to $502,232, and that figure still excludes the PMI you would pay while it remains. The 0.5 percent is whatever you typed. A lender quote at a different PMI rate changes the $150 directly. Type the quote.

Example 3: A 15-year term

Return to example 1 and set the term to 15 years. The principal-and-interest payment rises and the total interest falls, because you are paying the same style of loan off in half as many years. The page will show the new payment as soon as you calculate. Tax and insurance per month do not change when the term changes. Only the loan payment and the interest total do. Compare the payment you can carry with the interest you are willing to pay. The page will not choose for you.

When to use this

Use it while you are shopping, to turn a price, a down payment, a rate, and a rough tax and insurance estimate into a monthly number you can compare with your budget. Use it again when a Loan Estimate arrives, with that form's rate, and with tax and insurance figures that match the property. It is the right tool for "what is the payment on this house at this rate." It is the wrong tool for "what will this house cost me to own," because maintenance, utilities, HOA dues, and repairs are absent.

If the house would be a rental, the monthly payment is one input to cash flow, not the whole analysis. The Rental Property Cash Flow calculator takes rent, vacancy, and operating costs as well as the loan. The 1 percent rule is a screening comparison of rent and price. This page does not apply it. How the interest share of a payment changes over the years is explained in How Mortgage Amortization Actually Works. Refinancing an existing loan, and the difference between a cash-out refinance and a HELOC, are separate decisions covered in Should I Refinance My Mortgage and Cash-out refi vs HELOC. If an extra payment might go to a card instead of the loan, that comparison is credit card payoff math. This page calculates the payment on the inputs in the form. It does not decide whether to refinance.

PMI, taxes, and the pieces people forget

Private mortgage insurance is a lender's requirement on many conventional loans with a small down payment. This page's rule is mechanical: under 20 percent down, apply the annual PMI percent you typed. At 20 or above, apply none. Real loans vary. FHA mortgage insurance, VA funding fees, and lender-paid mortgage insurance do not follow that switch. If your quote is one of those products, the PMI line on this page is the wrong model. Enter the monthly mortgage-insurance dollar amount by adjusting the insurance field only if you understand you are mixing it with hazard insurance. Cleaner: leave PMI at the quoted rate when the under-20 rule matches your loan, and ignore the PMI line when it does not.

Property tax in the form is an annual dollar estimate. Tax bills change after reassessments and rate changes. The page divides this year's estimate by 12 forever. Insurance premiums change too. Neither is inflated. Points paid at closing to lower the rate are not amortized here. If you pay points, use the rate you get after the points, and remember the points themselves are cash at closing that never appears in PITI. Closing costs are also absent. Ask for them on the Loan Estimate rather than applying a rule of thumb from a web page.

Interest on a mortgage may or may not be deductible on your taxes, depending on law and on your return. This calculator does not compute a tax deduction and does not reduce the payment by a tax benefit. Plan with the full PITI. Treat any tax effect as a separate conversation with a tax professional, using the current rules.

Common mistakes

• Typing the down payment in dollars into a percent field. 40000 in the down-payment box is a 40,000 percent down payment, not $40,000. Twenty percent is 20.
• Leaving the placeholder rate. Seven percent is not today's rate. It is a filled-in example. The payment is sensitive to the rate. Use yours.
• Expecting PMI to disappear in the interest total. PMI is a monthly add-on when the down payment is under 20. Total interest ignores it, and the page never drops it in a future year.
• Putting HOA dues in the tax box without noting it. The math will add them, and you will forget they are in there. Keep HOA as its own number outside this form, or remember you mixed it in.
• Comparing a 15-year payment with a 30-year payment and looking only at the monthly. The shorter term costs more per month and less interest in total. Read both lines.
• Using an adjustable-rate loan's start rate as if it lasted the full term. The formula holds the rate constant. An ARM will not.
• Treating the result as what you can afford. Affordability includes the rest of your budget, taxes you already pay, and reserves. The page does not know your income.

Limitations

Fixed rate, fully amortizing, taxes and insurance constant, PMI either on for the displayed payment or off, no HOA, no points, no closing costs, no extra payments, no biweekly plan, and no mortgage-interest deduction. Term is in years and can be a decimal because the formula multiplies by 12, but 15 and 30 are the usual entries. Rounding is to the nearest dollar, so a lender's penny-perfect payment can differ by a dollar. The legal rules for when PMI must be cancelled are set by law and by the loan program, and they change in their details. This tool's only PMI rule is the 20 percent switch described above. For the cancellation rules on a loan you already have, read the disclosure or ask the servicer.

FAQ

Why is PITI higher than the principal and interest line?

PITI adds monthly tax, monthly insurance, and PMI if the down payment is under 20 percent. Principal and interest is only the loan payment. When people say "the mortgage," they sometimes mean one and sometimes the other. This page shows both.

I entered 20 percent down. Why is PMI zero while the rate still says 0.5?

PMI is applied only when the down-payment percent is under 20. At 20 or above, the rate in the box is ignored. Under 20, that rate is applied to the loan. Use the rate from your quote, not the 0.5 placeholder, whenever the down payment is under 20.

Does total interest include tax, insurance, and PMI?

No. Total interest is the scheduled principal-and-interest payments minus the original loan. Escrow and PMI stay on the monthly lines and are not added into that lifetime interest figure. The page also does not drop PMI in a later year.

Will this match my closing disclosure?

It will be close when the price, down payment, rate, term, tax, insurance, and mortgage insurance match a fixed-rate fully amortizing loan. Fees, an interest-only period, or a different insurance product will diverge. The disclosure is the contract. This is the estimate.

Related calculators

• Rental Property Cash Flow if the payment has to be covered by rent
• Auto Loan Calculator
• Credit Card Payoff Calculator
• How Mortgage Amortization Actually Works
• Should I Refinance My Mortgage
• Cash-out refinance vs HELOC
• The 1 percent rule for rental property if rent has to cover the payment
• Credit card payoff math if an extra payment might go to a card instead