Mortgage payment calculator.
Your full monthly payment — principal, interest, tax, insurance and HOA — plus lifetime interest.
What goes into the payment
A mortgage payment is usually quoted as "PITI" — principal, interest, taxes and insurance. The principal-and-interest part comes from the loan amount, rate and term using the standard amortisation formula; taxes and insurance are added on top, typically collected monthly into an escrow account. The numbers worth watching: a longer term lowers the monthly payment but sharply increases the total interest, and putting less than 20% down usually means paying private mortgage insurance (PMI) until you build enough equity. This is an estimate for planning — your lender's quote will reflect your exact rate, fees and escrow. To see the upfront cash, use the cash-to-close estimator; to work backwards from income, try affordability.
The amortisation formula
The principal-and-interest portion comes from M = P × [r(1+r)ⁿ] ÷ [(1+r)ⁿ − 1], where P is the amount borrowed, r is the monthly interest rate (the annual rate divided by 12) and n is the total number of monthly payments. A 30-year loan means n = 360.
The payment stays level, but its composition does not. Early on, most of each payment is interest; the principal share grows month by month. That is why overpaying in the first few years removes far more total interest than the same overpayment made later.
A worked example, and what the term costs you
Borrow $350,000 at 6.5% over 30 years and the principal-and-interest payment is about $2,212 a month. Across the full term you repay roughly $446,000 in interest — more than the house cost.
Take the same loan over 15 years and the payment rises to about $3,049, but total interest falls to roughly $199,000. The shorter term costs about $837 more each month and saves around $247,000 overall. That trade — monthly affordability against lifetime cost — is the single biggest decision in the whole mortgage.
Beyond principal and interest
- Taxes and insurance. Usually collected monthly into escrow and added on top of the P&I figure, which is why a lender quote looks higher than a bare amortisation calculation.
- PMI. With less than 20% down, private mortgage insurance is typically charged until you build sufficient equity. It protects the lender, not you.
- HOA dues. Not part of the mortgage at all, but they come out of the same monthly budget.
- Rate type. A fixed rate keeps the payment level; an adjustable one can reset, so the figure here reflects only the current rate.
This is a planning estimate. Your lender's Loan Estimate is the document with the real numbers, including fees this calculator does not model.