Home and Mortgage Payment Calculator – Find the Best Mortgage – Forbes Advisor

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A mortgage is often a necessary part of buying a home, but it can be difficult to figure out what you’re paying and what you can actually afford. A mortgage calculator can help borrowers estimate their monthly mortgage payments based on the owner’s purchase price, down payment, interest rate, and other monthly expenses.

How to calculate mortgage payments using our calculator

Whether you’re looking for a mortgage or want to set up an amortization schedule for your current loan, a mortgage calculator can give you insight into your monthly payments. Follow these steps to use the Forbes Advisor mortgage calculator:

1. Enter the price of the house and the down payment amount. Start by adding the total purchase price of the house you are looking to buy on the left side of the screen. If you don’t have a specific home in mind, you can experiment with this number to see how many homes you can afford. Likewise, if you are planning to bid on a home, this calculator can help you determine how much you can afford to bid. Then add the down payment you plan to pay either as a percentage of the purchase price or as a specific amount.

2. Enter your interest rate. If you’ve looked for a loan before and were offered a range of interest rates, enter one of those values ​​in the interest rate box to the left. If you are not yet prequalified for an interest rate, you can enter the current average mortgage rate as a starting point.

3. Choose a loan term. To help you calculate your monthly mortgage payment, enter a loan term up to a maximum of 30 years. Keep in mind that if you haven’t yet been approved for a loan term and interest rate, the rate you select here should match the average rate you entered above. For example, if you choose a 15-year term, also use the average 15-year mortgage rate. If, on the contrary, you are trying to strike a balance between low monthly payments and a shorter duration, you can use this part of the calculator to compare your options.

4. Add taxes, insurance and HOA fees. This part of the calculator is optional, but it can help you get a better idea of ​​your potential monthly payments. If you have the information available, plug in your monthly property tax, private mortgage insurance (PMI), home insurance, and homeowners association fee (HOA). If you don’t have these numbers in front of you, some information may be available through your real estate agent or your local appraiser’s website.

5. Check the details of your loan. Once you have entered all the relevant information on the left side of the screen, the calculator will automatically fill out your payment breakdown on the right. This part of the calculator allows you to view your monthly payments as well as your estimated payment month. Go to the Amortization Schedule tab to see how much of your annual installments will go to interest and principal. You can also switch between annual and monthly view to see a breakdown of each monthly payment.

Decode your mortgage costs

If this is your first time shopping for a mortgage, the terminology can be intimidating. It can also be difficult to understand what you are paying for and why. Here’s what to look for when considering your mortgage costs:

• Main. Principal is the amount of money you borrowed on the mortgage. A portion of each payment will go toward repaying that amount, so the number will decrease as you make monthly payments.
• Interest rate. This is basically what the lender charges you for borrowing the money. Your interest rate is expressed as a percentage and can be fixed or variable.
• Property taxes. Property taxes are imposed by your local tax authority. This number can usually be viewed on your registrar’s or appraiser’s website, anywhere you access property maps and other real estate records.
• Home insurance. Home insurance is required to protect you and your lender in the event of damage to your home. If you are considering buying a home, ask the real estate agent if they have information on current insurance costs. Otherwise, contact your local insurance agent for a quote.
• Mortgage insurance. Also called private mortgage insurance, or PMI, it protects the lender in the event of your mortgage default. It typically ranges from 0.58% to 1.86% of your total mortgage amount, and you’ll need to factor that in if your down payment is less than 20%.

How many houses can you afford?

How much home you can afford depends on several factors, including your monthly income, your existing debt service, and how much you’ve saved for a down payment. When determining whether to approve you for a certain mortgage amount, lenders pay close attention to your Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI), which is a comparison of your total monthly debt payment to your monthly income. before tax. In general, your monthly housing costs shouldn’t exceed around 28% of your income, although you can be approved with a higher percentage.

Keep in mind, however, that just because you can afford a paper house doesn’t mean your budget can actually handle the new payments. Beyond the factors your bank takes into account when pre-approving a mortgage amount, think about how much money you’ll have on hand after you’ve made the down payment. It is best to have at least three months of savings deposits in case you run into financial difficulties. Also, calculate how much you expect to pay for maintenance and other house-related expenses each month.

Likewise, when determining how much home you can afford, consider your other financial goals. For example, if you’re planning to retire early, figure out how much money you need to save or invest each month, then figure out how much you’ll have left for a mortgage payment. Ultimately, what home you can afford depends on what you’re comfortable with – just because a bank is pre-approving you for a mortgage doesn’t mean you need to maximize your borrowing power.

Choose the mortgage term that’s right for you

The term of a mortgage is the amount of time you have to pay off your mortgage. In other words, it is the length of time during which a mortgage is amortized. The most common mortgage terms are 15 and 30 years, although other terms also exist and can even go up to 40 years. The length of your mortgage dictates (in part) how much you’ll pay each month – the longer your term, the lower your monthly payment.

That said, interest rates are generally lower for 15-year mortgages than for 30-year mortgages, and you’ll pay more interest over the life of a 30-year loan. To determine the mortgage term that’s right for you, think about how much you can afford to pay each month and how quickly you’d prefer your mortgage to be paid off.

If you can afford to pay more each month but still aren’t sure which term to choose, it’s also worth considering whether you could break even or, perhaps, save on interest by choosing one. lower monthly payment and invest the difference.

How Forbes Advisor Estimates Your Monthly Mortgage Payment

The Forbes Advisor Mortgage Calculator makes it easy to estimate your monthly mortgage payment using your home price, down payment, and other loan details. Based on this information, it also calculates how much of each monthly payment will go towards interest and how much will cover the principal of the loan. You can also see how much you’ll pay in principal and interest each year over the life of your mortgage.

To make these calculations, our tool uses these data:

• House price. This is the amount you plan to spend on a house.
• Deposit amount. The amount of money you will pay sellers on closing. This amount is subtracted from the price of the house to determine how much you will finance with the mortgage.
• Interest rate. If you’ve already started shopping for a mortgage, enter the interest rate offered by the lender. Otherwise, look at the current average mortgage rate to estimate your potential payments.
• Term of the loan. The term of the loan is the term of the mortgage in years. The most popular terms are for 15 and 30 years, but other terms are available.
• Additional monthly fees. In addition to principal and interest, the calculator takes into account costs associated with property taxes, private mortgage insurance (PMI), home insurance, and homeowners association fees.

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