Mortgage Calculator

About this calculator

A free mortgage payment calculator that turns a home price into an estimated monthly housing cost. It amortizes the loan at a fixed rate, then adds the recurring escrow pieces of a real payment: property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI when the down payment is under 20%, and HOA dues. It also shows the loan amount and total interest paid over the life of the loan. Everything runs in your browser; the result is an estimate, not a rate lock, pre-approval, or financial advice.

How a mortgage payment is built

Most lenders quote a monthly payment made of four parts, often shortened to PITI: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Principal is the slice that repays what you borrowed; interest is the lender's charge on the balance you still owe; property tax and homeowners insurance are usually collected monthly into an escrow account and paid on your behalf when the bills come due.

Two more pieces can sit on top. PMI — private mortgage insurance — is added when your down payment is under 20% of the price, and HOA dues apply when the property belongs to an association. This calculator includes whichever of these you enter, so the figure reflects the real payment you would make each month, not just principal and interest.

What moves the monthly number most

Four inputs do almost all of the work: home price, down payment, interest rate, and term. Rate has outsized leverage on a long loan — even a half-point difference noticeably changes the monthly payment and changes the total interest by far more, because that rate applies for decades.

A larger down payment shrinks the loan amount and can remove PMI once you cross 20% equity. A longer term lowers the monthly payment but raises the lifetime interest; a shorter term does the reverse. The fastest way to understand your own budget is to move one input at a time and watch which lever changes the payment the most.

How to read the result

Beyond the monthly payment, the estimate shows the loan amount (price minus down payment) and the total interest paid across the full term. That total interest figure is the one that exposes the true cost of a long, low-payment loan — it is easy to ignore when you are focused only on the monthly number.

A common affordability check is the 28/36 guideline: keep housing costs under roughly 28% of gross monthly income and total debt payments under about 36%. Use this estimate to sanity-check a price range before you speak to a lender, then confirm the exact figure with a real quote that includes points, fees, and your locked rate.

By variant

• 30-Year Fixed
• 15-Year Fixed
• FHA Loan

Questions

Is the mortgage calculator free?

Yes. It is free, needs no account, and calculates entirely in your browser — none of the figures you enter are uploaded or stored.

What does the monthly payment include?

Principal and interest from a fixed-rate amortization, plus the property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI, and HOA dues you enter. Together these make up the PITI-plus payment most lenders quote.

When is PMI included?

Private mortgage insurance is added only when your down payment is under 20% of the home price. It is charged as a flat annual percent of the loan amount and is not auto-cancelled in this estimate, so it may run high once you cross 20% equity.

Why might the estimate differ from a lender quote?

The tool uses the rate, taxes, and insurance you enter and assumes a fixed rate for the whole term. It does not model points, lender fees, adjustable rates, or escrow shortfalls, so treat it as a close estimate.