Buying a house is an experience unlike any other and people have many reasons for doing so. Whether it’s because you’re starting a family and you need the extra space, or you’ve been waiting to buy one for a while and just landed that dream job that allowed you; everyone is a
prospective homeowner at some point in time. That’s why it’s important to find a loan that won’t break your checkbook when that time of month comes around, and that’s exactly what mortgage payment calculators were created for.
With a
mortgage payment calculator you can easily compare projected mortgage payments by entering different loan values. These free, easy to use devices can be found almost anywhere online. They offer a multitude of different benefits including, but not limited to:
- Finding out how much $$$ you qualify for
- Comparing monthly payments for multiple mortgage terms, interest rates, and loan amounts to find the combination that offers the lowest payment
- Realizing how the smallest change to things like interest rate and loan balance can impact the monthly payment
- Deciding whether or not you should refinance
- Calculating the principal and interest you need to pay
- Discovering the largest mortgage you can afford
- Calculating the effect of any pre-payments towards the principal
- Assessing whether renting or buying is a smarter choice
To calculate a mortgage with a standard calculator, you typically must enter the following information: annual interest rate, start date of the mortgage, repayment period or
loan term (in years or months), and the loan amount
Some mortgage rate calculators allow you to include additional information such as:
- Interest rate cap on an interest-only ARM
- Interest rate cap on an ARM
- New rate of interest for refinance loan
- Index rate adjustment
- Lenders' margin tacked on to the index rate
- Time interval between index rate adjustments
- Current index rate
- Title closing fee
- Recording fee
- Title insurance
- Credit report
- Lender fees
- Origination fee
- Discount points
- Months remaining
- Monthly or annual real estate taxes
- Private mortgage insurance (PMI)
- Annual homeowner's insurance
- Price of home
Rather than use a standard calculator, websites offer many specialized calculators as well
Interest-only mortgage calculatorFinds the principal and interest rate payments you must make at the end of the introductory period of an interest-only mortgage.
Balloon mortgage calculatorCalculate the amount of your monthly payments and your outstanding balance when the loan is due and the balloon payment matures.
Amortization calculatorDiscover the length of time needed to pay off their loan w/interest.
Fixed rate v. interest-only mortgage calculatorWith this calculator, borrowers can compare payments on an interest-only home loan with those on a fixed-rate mortgage.
Adjustable rate mortgage calculatorConsumers with an adjustable rate mortgage can find out the amount of their initial monthly payment as well as the effect of future rate adjustments on the former.
Refinance interest savings calculatorDecide whether refinancing their existing mortgage at a lower mortgage rate is profitable by utilizing this calculator, which reveals the potential savings from the new loan's interest and monthly payment.
Monthly versus bi-weekly mortgage payments calculatorFind out how much interest savings can be obtained from making bi-weekly rather than monthly mortgage payments.
Cash-out refinance calculatorFind out the reduction in interest costs and mortgage payments generated by a cash-out refinance when you consolidate consumer debt.
Fixed-rate vs. adjustable-rate mortgage calculatorCompare monthly payments on an adjustable rate mortgage with monthly payments on a fixed rate mortgage.
Mortgage term comparison calculatorCompare interest costs and monthly payments of loans at different repayment periods.
APR mortgage calculatorAllows you to find the annual percentage rate (APR) and compare different loan amounts.