Mortgage Calculator
Enter your home price, down payment, interest rate and term to estimate your full monthly payment: principal & interest plus property tax, insurance and HOA.
Example
A $450,000 home with $90,000 down (20%) at 6.5% over 30 years works out to about $2,275/mo in principal & interest. Adding $4,500/yr property tax and $1,500/yr insurance brings the all-in payment to roughly $2,775/mo, with about $459,000 of total interest over the life of the loan.
How it works
The monthly principal & interest is the standard amortization formula M = P · r · (1 + r)n / ((1 + r)n − 1), where P is the loan amount (price − down payment), r is the monthly rate (annual rate ÷ 12) and n is the number of payments (years × 12). Property tax, insurance and HOA are added on top to show your true monthly outlay.
Good to know
This mortgage calculator turns four inputs — home price, down payment, interest rate and loan term — into an estimate of what you would actually pay each month. Instead of stopping at principal and interest, it folds in property tax, homeowners insurance and any HOA dues so the number you see is closer to the real outlay that lands in your bank statement. It is built for anyone sizing up a purchase: first-time buyers checking affordability, current owners weighing a refinance, or shoppers comparing two listings at different price points.
Reach for it before you tour homes, while you set a budget, or when a rate quote changes and you want to see the ripple effect. Because the principal-and-interest figure follows the exact amortization math for a fixed-rate loan, you can trust that part precisely; the tax and insurance lines are only as accurate as the annual amounts you type in. Try entering figures from a specific listing — many real-estate sites publish the annual property tax — so the estimate reflects that home rather than a generic guess.
When reading the result, treat the breakdown as two layers. The principal-and-interest amount is fixed for the life of a fixed-rate loan, while the tax, insurance and HOA portions can drift over time as assessments, premiums and association fees rise. A useful way to interpret it:
- Principal and interest = the cost of borrowing, locked in for fixed-rate loans.
- Tax, insurance and HOA = recurring ownership costs your lender often collects in escrow, which can change year to year.
One caveat worth remembering: there is no separate field for PMI, the private mortgage insurance lenders typically require when you put down less than 20 percent. If that applies to you, add the expected monthly PMI to the insurance amount so it is captured in the total. Likewise, the lifetime interest figure assumes you keep the loan to term and make no extra payments — paying ahead or refinancing will lower it.
Frequently asked questions
What does this mortgage calculator include?
It estimates your full monthly payment: principal & interest from the loan, plus monthly property tax, homeowners insurance and any HOA fee. The breakdown bars show how much each part contributes.
How accurate is the estimate?
The principal & interest figure is exact for a fixed-rate loan. Tax and insurance are estimates based on the annual amounts you enter — your lender's escrow figures may differ slightly.
Does it include PMI?
There's no separate PMI field — if you put down less than 20% and expect PMI, add the monthly amount to the insurance figure to include it in the total.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser with JavaScript — nothing is sent to a server, so it's private and works offline once loaded.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, completely free with no sign-up and no limits.
People also ask
How much income do I need to afford a mortgage payment?
A common guideline is that total housing costs stay around 28 percent of gross monthly income, and total debt payments under about 36 percent, though lenders set their own thresholds. You can work backward by taking the monthly payment this calculator produces and checking it against those ratios for your income.
What is a good down payment on a house?
Twenty percent is often cited because it usually avoids private mortgage insurance, but many loan programs allow far less, sometimes 3 to 5 percent. A larger down payment lowers the loan amount and the monthly principal and interest, while a smaller one preserves cash but may add PMI and interest cost.
How does the loan term affect my monthly payment?
A longer term such as 30 years spreads the balance over more payments, so each monthly payment is lower but total interest paid is higher. A shorter term like 15 years raises the monthly payment but reduces lifetime interest significantly.
What is the difference between principal and interest in a payment?
Principal is the portion that reduces your loan balance, while interest is the lender's charge for borrowing. Early in a mortgage most of each payment goes to interest, and the share going to principal grows over time.
Does the interest rate or the home price affect my payment more?
Both matter, but rate changes can move the monthly payment sharply because interest compounds over the full term. Even a one-percentage-point rate change on a large balance can shift the payment by hundreds of dollars a month.
What is escrow and why is it added to my mortgage payment?
Escrow is an account your lender uses to collect property tax and homeowners insurance alongside your loan payment, then pays those bills on your behalf. This is why a full monthly housing cost is higher than principal and interest alone.
How is total interest over the life of a loan calculated?
It is the sum of all scheduled monthly payments minus the original loan amount, assuming the loan runs the full term at a fixed rate. Paying extra toward principal or refinancing to a lower rate reduces that total.
Can I lower my monthly mortgage payment after closing?
Common approaches include refinancing to a lower rate or longer term, removing PMI once you reach sufficient equity, or appealing a property tax assessment. Each has trade-offs, so the figures here are estimates rather than guidance.
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