Mortgage Payment Calculator
Estimate your monthly house payments, including interest, taxes, and insurance.
How to Calculate Your Mortgage Payment
Understanding what goes into your monthly mortgage payment is crucial for budgeting a new home purchase. While the sticker price of a home gives you a starting point, your actual monthly obligation (often referred to as PITI) includes several other factors.
1. Principal & Interest (P&I)
This is the core of your mortgage payment. Principal is the money that goes toward paying down the loan balance, while Interest is the cost of borrowing that money from the lender. In the early years of a 30-year mortgage, the majority of this portion goes toward interest.
2. Property Taxes and Insurance
Most lenders require you to pay 1/12th of your annual property taxes and homeowners insurance premiums each month into an escrow account. Our calculator adds these annual costs (divided by 12) to give you a realistic "out-the-door" monthly cost.
How Interest Rates Affect Affordability
Even a small difference in interest rates can have a massive impact on your monthly payment and total loan cost. For example, on a $300,000 loan, the difference between a 6% and a 7% interest rate is roughly $196 per month, which adds up to over $70,000 in extra interest over 30 years.
The Amortization Formula
This calculator uses the standard amortization formula to determine your Principal and Interest payment:
M = P [ i(1 + i)^n ] / [ (1 + i)^n – 1 ]
- M = Total monthly payment
- P = Principal loan amount
- i = Monthly interest rate (Annual Rate / 12)
- n = Number of months (Loan Term Years × 12)
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this calculator include PMI?
This specific tool calculates the standard PITI + HOA. If your down payment is less than 20%, you may also owe Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), which typically costs between 0.5% and 1% of the loan amount annually.
How much house can I afford?
A general rule of thumb is the 28/36 rule: spend no more than 28% of your gross monthly income on housing costs and no more than 36% on total debt.