Mortgage Calculator

A mortgage payment is more than principal and interest — taxes, insurance and HOA dues ride along in most real payments. Enter the home price, down payment, rate and term, add the yearly tax and insurance figures if you have them, and see the full monthly picture plus the total interest cost.

Results

Assumptions: Fixed interest rate for the whole term; taxes and insurance are estimates you supply and are spread evenly by month.

Formula

The fixed-rate payment spreads the loan evenly across every month:
Payment = L × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n)
where L is the loan amount, r the monthly rate (annual rate ÷ 12), and n the number of monthly payments.

How to use this calculator

  1. Enter the home price and your down payment — the difference is the loan amount.
  2. Enter the annual interest rate and the term in years.
  3. Optionally add yearly property tax, yearly insurance and monthly HOA to see the true monthly total.
  4. Press Calculate for the payment breakdown and total interest.
Mortgage Calculator — how the calculation works, illustrated$
Mortgage Calculator — how the calculation works, illustrated

Worked example

A $300,000 home with $60,000 down, 6% rate, 30-year term.

  1. Loan amount: 300,000 − 60,000 = $240,000.
  2. Monthly rate: 6% ÷ 12 = 0.5%; payments: 360.
  3. Payment = 240,000 × 0.005 ÷ (1 − 1.005⁻³⁶⁰) ≈ $1,438.92.

Result: Principal and interest come to about $1,438.92 a month, with roughly $278,011 of interest paid over 30 years.

Frequently asked questions

What is included in a typical mortgage payment?

Principal, interest, property taxes and homeowners insurance (often called PITI), plus HOA dues and mortgage insurance where they apply. Lenders usually collect tax and insurance monthly into an escrow account.

How much does the rate really matter?

Enormously over 30 years. On a $240,000 loan, 6% costs about $278,000 of interest; at 7% the same loan costs about $334,000 — roughly $56,000 more for a single percentage point.

Is a 15-year mortgage better than a 30-year?

It builds equity faster and pays far less interest, but the monthly payment is much higher. The right choice depends on cash flow and what you would do with the difference.

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