Mortgage & Home Calculators
Everything for financing and paying off a home: estimate your monthly payment, see how each payment splits between principal and interest, and pressure-test what you can afford before you talk to a lender.
Mortgage Calculator
Free mortgage calculator. Estimate your monthly payment with principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and PMI, plus a full amortization schedule.
Home Affordability Calculator
Find out how much house you can afford. Enter your income, debts, and down payment to see your target home price and monthly payment, using the 28/36 rule.
Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Should you rent or buy? Compare the true cost of buying a home against renting and investing the difference, with a year-by-year net-worth break-even.
Mortgage Payoff Calculator
See how extra monthly payments shorten your mortgage and cut total interest. Enter your loan and an extra amount to find your new payoff date and interest saved.
Refinance Calculator
See if refinancing your mortgage is worth it. Compare your current payment to a new loan, find the break-even month on closing costs, and total interest saved.
What you qualify for is not what you can afford
A lender sizes your loan from your paperwork — income, credit, and debt-to-income ratio — and will happily approve the largest payment the rules allow. That ceiling is a limit, not a target. The amount that fits your life is usually well below it, because the approval math never sees your grocery bill, your childcare, your retirement savings, or the repairs an older home will need.
The common starting point is the 28/36 rule: keep your housing payment under 28% of gross monthly income, and all your debt payments combined under 36%. On an $80,000 income that is roughly $1,867 a month for housing and $2,400 for total debt. Use the affordability calculator to work backward from your income to a price you should shop under, then treat that number as the top of your range rather than the middle.
Your real payment is PITI, not just principal and interest
A rate quote shows principal and interest, but the payment that actually leaves your account each month is PITI — Principal, Interest, property Taxes, and homeowners Insurance — plus private mortgage insurance (PMI) if you put down less than 20%, and HOA dues where they apply. Two homes at the same price can carry very different monthly costs once local tax rates and insurance are in, so always budget the full PITI, not the loan payment alone.
PMI is the piece most buyers overlook. It typically runs a few hundred dollars a month until you reach 20% equity, at which point you can request its removal. A larger down payment lowers both your loan and your payment, and crossing that 20% line removes PMI entirely — often the single biggest lever on your monthly cost.
Rate and term decide the lifetime cost
The interest rate and the length of the loan together determine how much the house costs beyond its price. A 30-year term keeps the monthly payment low but stretches interest across three decades; a 15-year term raises the payment but can cut total interest dramatically, because you are borrowing the money for half as long. Neither is universally right — it depends on whether your priority is monthly breathing room or long-run savings.
Run the mortgage calculator with your actual rate and term to see the full amortization schedule: how little of an early payment goes to principal, and how that flips over time. Comparing a 15- and 30-year side by side, or modeling one extra payment a year, shows exactly what each choice costs — before you commit to it for the life of the loan.
Guides & articles
Plain-English explainers to go with the calculators above — every figure tied to its source.
How Much House Can You Afford?
A lender will tell you the biggest loan you qualify for. That’s rarely the amount you should borrow. Here’s how to find a home price that fits your life, not just your file.
What Is PMI, and How Do You Avoid It?
PMI is an extra monthly charge you pay to protect the lender when you put less than 20% down. Here’s what it costs, how to cancel it, and how to avoid it entirely.
15- vs. 30-Year Mortgage: Which Should You Choose?
The 15-year saves hundreds of thousands in interest; the 30-year costs less each month and leaves room to breathe. Here’s the real trade-off on a $400,000 loan.
How to Finance a Home Renovation in 2026: 7 Options Compared
Cash, a HELOC, a cash-out refinance, or a personal loan? Each way to fund a remodel carries a real trade-off in rate, risk, and speed. Here are seven, compared.
HELOC vs. Home Equity Loan vs. Personal Loan for a Remodel
All three can fund a remodel, but they differ on rate, risk, and repayment. Here is how a HELOC, a home equity loan, and a personal loan stack up — and when to pick each.
How Much Does a Kitchen Remodel Cost in 2026 — and How to Pay for It
A kitchen remodel runs from about $15,000 to well past $75,000 depending on scope. Here is what drives the number, what it returns at resale, and how to pay for it.