20% of home price
How the Mortgage Calculator Works
This calculator estimates your total monthly mortgage payment using the standard loan amortization formula. It takes your home price minus your down payment to find the loan amount, then spreads that amount across equal monthly payments over your chosen loan term at your given interest rate. Each payment is split between interest, charged on the remaining balance, and principal, which reduces the balance. Property taxes, home insurance, and HOA fees are then added on top to give you the total monthly payment you would actually pay.
What to Enter
- Home Price: the purchase price of the home.
- Down Payment: the amount you plan to pay upfront. The hint below this field shows it as a percentage of the home price.
- Loan Term: how many years you have to repay the loan. Shorter terms mean higher monthly payments but less total interest.
- Interest Rate: your annual interest rate. Even small differences in rate can have a large effect on total interest over a 30-year term.
- Property Tax and Home Insurance: enter your estimated annual costs. Many lenders collect these monthly through an escrow account along with your principal and interest payment.
- HOA Fees: if your property is part of a homeowners association, enter the monthly fee. Leave this at zero if it does not apply.
Reading the Amortization Schedule
The amortization table below shows a yearly summary of how much you pay toward principal and interest each year, along with your remaining loan balance at the end of that year. Click any year to expand it and see the month-by-month breakdown. Notice how the portion of each payment going toward interest decreases over time while the portion going toward principal increases, even though your total principal and interest payment stays the same.
Amortization Schedule
Click a year to see the monthly breakdown of principal, interest, and remaining balance.
| Year | Total Payments | Principal Paid | Interest Paid | Ending Balance |
|---|
Amounts are rounded for display. The final payment in each schedule is adjusted slightly to bring the balance to exactly zero.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your monthly principal and interest payment is calculated using the loan amount, your interest rate, and the loan term. The calculator applies the standard amortization formula, which spreads the loan amount across equal monthly payments so the balance reaches zero at the end of the term. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, and HOA fees are added separately to give you your total monthly payment.
PITI stands for Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance, the four components that typically make up a monthly mortgage payment. This calculator includes all four, plus optional HOA fees, so the total shown reflects what you would actually pay each month.
A larger down payment reduces the amount you need to borrow, which lowers both your monthly principal and interest payment and the total interest you pay over the life of the loan. Putting down at least 20 percent can also help you avoid private mortgage insurance on conventional loans, though this calculator does not include PMI in its results.
A 15-year mortgage typically has a lower interest rate and a much lower total interest cost, but a higher monthly payment. A 30-year mortgage spreads payments out further, lowering your monthly payment but increasing the total interest paid over time. Try both terms in the calculator to compare the monthly payment difference against the total interest difference.
An amortization schedule shows how each monthly payment is split between principal and interest over the life of the loan, and how your remaining balance decreases over time. Early payments go mostly toward interest, while later payments go mostly toward principal. The amortization table below breaks this down year by year, with each year expandable to show the monthly detail.
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