How To Calculate Interest
An Interest-only Mortgage Calculator is what you need to figure out the total amount you’ll be putting down when you take out an interest-only mortgage loan. The calculator will give you a vivid picture of the cost you will pay during the interest-only period as well as during the amortization phase of the loan.
Refinanceor Pretend You Did
Another way to pay off your mortgage early is to trade it in for a better loan with a shorter termlike a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage. Lets see how this would impact our earlier example. If you keep the 30-year mortgage, youll pay more than $158,000 in total interest over the life of the loan. But if you switch to a 15-year mortgage, youll save over $85,000and youll pay off your home in half the time!
Sure, a 15-year mortgage will probably come with a bigger monthly payment. But if it fits within your housing budget, itll totally be worth it! And hey, maybe youve boosted your income or lowered your cost of living since when you first took out your mortgagethen youd definitely be able to handle the bigger payment.
You can refinance a longer-term mortgage into a 15-year loan. Or if you already have a low interest rate, save on the closing costs of a refinance and simply pay on your 30-year mortgage like its a 15-year mortgage. What if you already have a 15-year mortgage? If you can swing it, imagine increasing your payments to pay it off in 10 years!
Understanding Your Mortgage Payment
Monthly mortgage payment = Principal + Interest + Escrow Account Payment
Escrow account = Homeowners Insurance + Property Taxes + PMI
The lump sum due each month to your mortgage lender breaks down into several different items. Most homebuyers have an escrow account, which is the account your lender uses to pay your property tax bill and homeowners insurance. That means the bill you receive each month for your mortgage includes not only the principal and interest payment , but also property taxes, home insurance and, in some cases, private mortgage insurance.
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Finding The Extra Funds
Many homeowners do not consider making additional payments because they believe their budgets will not provide for extra funds. Yet, these same individuals may use credit cards to purchase big-ticket items such as televisions or the latest smart phone. They may not stop to calculate the monthly expense of a morning latte and scone. $6.00 spent every day on the way to work totals $120 monthly. A thorough analysis of the monthly budget can reveal many ways to save money that may be applied to the mortgage.
Tax refunds represent another source of additional funds to make payments on a home loan. Many taxpayers receive sizable refunds. These funds can be dedicated to the loan easily. Other sources can come from financial awards or settlements from insurance companies.
The speed at which a home loan can be retired varies depending on the extra amount paid and when it is applied to the principal. Making larger payments earlier in the term will save the borrower a considerable amount of interest. For example, for a $160,000 loan with 7 percent interest for 30 years, the payment would be $1064.40. Of that, only $131.83 is principal, and $932.57 is interest. If the consumer pays an additional amount equal to the principal, an entire month of the duration of the loan is eliminated.
How Much House Can I Afford
While you may have heard of using the 28/36 rule to calculate affordability, the correctDTI ratio that lenders will use to assess how much house you can afford is 36/43. This ratio says that your monthly mortgage costs should be no more than 36% of your gross monthly income, and your total monthly debt should be no more than 43% of your pre-tax income.
For example, if you make $3,000 a month , you can afford a mortgage with a monthly payment no higher than $1,080 . Your total household expense should not exceed $1,290 a month .
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How To Account For Closing Costs
Once you’ve calculated the total principal and interest expense on your mortgage, factoring in closing costs or fees will be straightforward. Since closing costs are paid in full when you close on the loan, you can simply add them to your overall loan cost without using any long formulas. Some examples of upfront closing costs include the following:
- Mortgage lender fees
- Third-party mortgage fees
- Prepaid mortgage costs
While there may be other categories of upfront fees, the process for calculating them remains the same: Just add them to the total cost of the mortgage loan. Keep in mind that this will exclude any added monthly expenses paid in escrow, like taxes or homeowner’s insurance. Our next section explains how to factor in monthly expenses.
How Much House Can I Afford With A Va Loan
Veterans and active military may qualify for a VA loan, if certain criteria is met. While VA loans require a single upfront funding fee as part of the closing costs, the loan program offers attractive and flexible loan benefits, such as noprivate mortgage insurance premiums and no down payment requirements. VA loan benefits are what make house affordability possible for those who might otherwise not be able to afford a mortgage.
With VA loans, your monthly mortgage payment and recurring monthly debt combined should not exceed 41%. So if you make $3,000 a month , you can afford a house with monthly payments around $1,230 .
Use our VA home loan calculator to estimate how expensive of a house you can afford.
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Lump Sum Debt Reduction Calculator
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This free lump sum debt reduction calculator can be used to figure out how much money you might be able to save, and the number of months that are eliminated, by making a one-time, lump sum payment. The calculator uses the current debt owed, annual interest rate on debt, monthly payment, and the lump sum, to calculate both the dollars and time saved by making this one-time payment.
How To Account For Taxes And Recurring Expenses
Accounting for recurring charges like PMI and HOA fees requires a little more work, but even these aren’t very difficult to calculate. You can find the total cost of recurring expenses by adding them together and multiplying them by the number of monthly payments . This will give you the lifetime cost of monthly charges that exclude the cost of your loan.
The reverse is true for annual charges like taxes or insurance, which are usually charged in a lump sum, paid once per year. If you want to know how much these expenses cost per month, you can divide them by 12 and add the result to your mortgage payment. Most mortgage lenders use this method to determine your monthly mortgage escrow costs. Lenders collect these additional payments in an escrow account, typically on a monthly basis, in order to make sure you don’t fall short of your annual tax and insurance obligations.
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Pitfalls Of Paying Off Your Mortgage Early
Many homeowners think that they should pay off their mortgage early to get out of debt, but does it always make sense?
You do not want to pay off your mortgage and end up low on cash. It’s much easier to take cash out of a checking account when needed than it is to refinance by pulling it out of your home loan.
Ask yourself if you’ll need liquid cash in the near future. If the answer is yes, you’re better off putting your extra money in savings â not toward your mortgage.
Always have a small savings buffer to help you pay for immediate expenses.
How Does Amortization Affect Mortgage Interest
Your amortization period is the length of time that it will take for you to pay off your mortgage fully if you only make your required regularly scheduled mortgage payments. The longer you owe money, the more time there is for interest to be charged. Thats why a longer amortization period will result in a higher total interest paid compared to a shorter amortization period. On the other hand, a shorter amortization requires larger mortgage payments in order to pay off the mortgage faster. While this will save you money, you will need to be able to afford these larger payments.
In Canada, the most common amortization period is 25 years. Coincidently, its also themaximum amortization limit allowed for insured mortgages, such as mortgages that haveCMHC insurance. However, you can always choose to have a shorter or longer amortization period. How will your amortization affect your mortgage interest?
Lets take a look at a mortgage with a principal balance of $500,000 and a fixed mortgage rate of 2.50%. We will compare 15-year, 20-year, 25-year, and 30-year amortizations to see how much interest you will have to pay over the lifetime of your mortgage loan.
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How Much Will The Monthly Payment On A $150000 Mortgage Be +
It depends on which point in the amortization schedule you currently are at. You are only required to take care of the interest during the initial phase in an interest-only loan. Once that phase elapses, you begin to bear the cost of the loan principal. It is possible to know how much you’ll be paying at any point in these two phases. Using the interest-only calculator on this page, you’ll get a fair idea of what to expect monthly.
How Much Should I Spend On A House
An affordability calculator is a great first step to determine how much house you can afford, but ultimately you have the final say in what you’re comfortable spending on your next home. When deciding how much to spend on a house, take into consideration your monthly spending habits and personal savings goals. You want to have some cash reserved in your savings account after purchasing a home. Typically, a cash reserve should include three month’s worth of house payments and enough money to cover other monthly debts. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to start planning out your housing budget:
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Formula For Calculating A Mortgage Payment
The mortgage payment calculation looks like this: M = P /
The variables are as follows:
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M = monthly mortgage payment
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P = the principal amount
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i = your monthly interest rate. Your lender likely lists interest rates as an annual figure, so youll need to divide by 12, for each month of the year. So, if your rate is 5%, then the monthly rate will look like this: 0.05/12 = 0.004167.
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n = the number of payments over the life of the loan. If you take out a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, this means: n = 30 years x 12 months per year, or 360 payments.
Important Notes Regarding The Mortgage Balance Calculator
There is a difference between your mortgage balance and your mortgage payoff amount. If you are looking to pay off your mortgage, your mortgage balance may not provide you with the relevant information needed. The payoff amount will be higher than your mortgage balance. This is because of additional fees required by the lender to close out the mortgage.
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Also remember this mortgage balance calculator only works with fixed-rate mortgages. Fixed-rate mortgages have fixed interest rates â meaning the interest rate stays the same over the course of the loan term. Adjustable-rate mortgages, on the other hand, have interest rates that are periodically adjusted.
There are, however, additional ways to find your mortgage balance. The Mortgage Balance Calculator isn’t the only way. Try one of these methods too . . .
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How Much Interest Will I Pay On My Mortgage
The exact amount of interest youll pay depends on the mortgage rate youre on. This can change over time. For example, you might be locked into a low mortgage rate for a time, but if interest rates rise during this period, you could end up paying a higher mortgage interest rate when you come to remortgage, or if you move onto your lenders standard variable rate.
Our mortgage calculator shows you how much you would pay each month and over your mortgage term, assuming the rate remains the same over the mortgage term. If your mortgage rate changes, you can use the calculator again to show what your payments would be on your new rate, as well as the total amount youll pay over the mortgage term.
You can see the impact paying a higher or lower interest rate would have on your mortgage payments by using our interest rate calculator.
What Is An Amortization Schedule
A mortgage amortization schedule is a table that lists each regular payment on a mortgage over time. A portion of each payment is applied toward the principal balance and interest, and the mortgage loan amortization schedule details how much will go toward each component of your mortgage payment. Initially, most of your payment goes toward the interest rather than the principal. The loan amortization schedule will show as the term of your loan progresses, a larger share of your payment goes toward paying down the principal until the loan is paid in full at the end of your term.
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Factors That Impact Affordability
When it comes to calculating affordability, your income, debts and down payment are primary factors. How much house you can afford is also dependent on the interest rate you get, because alower interest ratecould significantly lower your monthly mortgage payment. While your personal savings goals or spending habits can impact your affordability,getting pre-qualified for a home loancan help you determine a sensible housing budget.
How Much House Can I Afford With An Fha Loan
With a FHA loan, your debt-to-income limits are typically based on a 31/43 rule of affordability. This means your monthly payments should be no more than 31% of your pre-tax income, and your monthly debts should be less than 43% of your pre-tax income. However, these limits can be higher under certain circumstances.
If you make $3,000 a month , your DTI with an FHA loan should be no more than $1,290 â which means you can afford a house with a monthly payment that is no more than $900 .
FHA loans typically allow for a lower down payment and credit score ifcertain requirements are met. The lowest down payment is 3.5% for credit scores that are 580 or higher. If your credit score is between 500-579, you may still qualify for an FHA loan with a 10% down payment. Keep in mind that generally, the lower your credit score, the higher your interest rate will be, which may impact how much house you can afford.
FHA loans are restricted to a maximum loan size depending on the location of the property. Additionally, FHA loans require an upfront mortgage insurance premium to be paid as part of closing costs as well as an annual mortgage insurance premium included in your monthly mortgage payment â both of which may impact your affordability.
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Most Affordable Markets For Homebuyers
According to 2020 data fromZillow Research, record low mortgage rates have helped to boost affordability for potential homeowners. The table below shows the top 10 most affordable markets to live in for December 2020 and is based on a typical home value of no more than $300,000 . The market and share of income spent on a mortgage may fluctuate based on the current mortgage rate, the typical local homeowner’s income and the typical local home value.
How Much Of The Mortgage Payment Is Interest +
In an Interest-only Mortgage, During the initial period, you’ll be required to pay interest only. That changes during the amortization phase, where the borrower must make a payment on both interest and loan principal. However, the mortgage calculator keeps you abreast of whatever expenses you’ll be making even before you take the loan.
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Fixed & Variable Rates
The standard variable rate is the basic interest rate lenders use for mortgages. Each lender sets their default SVR. Its the default rate mortgages revert to after the introductory period of a loan, which is usually 2 to 5 years. SVR mortgages usually have higher interest rates than other mortgage options.
Standard variable rates move based on fluctuations in the Bank of England base rate. When rates reset higher, borrowers must be prepared to make higher monthly payments. To avoid reverting to the SVR, borrowers would remortgage to a new deal with a favourable rate.
In recent years, standard variable rates have been on the rise. Because of this, many consumers find fixed-rate mortgage options more attractive. According to the Bank of England, since 2016, fixed-rate options are more preferred by borrowers, especially first-time homebuyers.
In the third quarter of 2020, 91.2% of all mortgages used fixed-rate loans. The average fixed-rate mortgage was priced at 1.91%. In contrast, the average variable rate mortgage was priced at 1.85%, bringing the overall market average to 1.91%.
What is a Fixed Rate?
The UK government provides subsidy programs in Help to Buy and Help to Buy London. These government schemes offer mortgage deposit assistance. However, few lenders in the UK provide loans which have fixed rates extending beyond 5 years.
Which Loans Structures Do Most Buyers Prefer?
Only 1 in 50 mortgages come with a fixed rate longer than 5 years.
