Guides
Written to explain how this site’s calculators work. Not a review by a licensed mortgage professional, and not a recommendation to borrow.
How mortgage payments are calculated
What the scheduled principal and interest payment represents, and what this calculator adds on top of it.
What affects monthly mortgage costs?
The inputs that change the monthly total in this calculator, and the ones that do not change the scheduled payment.
How down payments affect mortgages
How a larger or smaller down payment changes the loan, the monthly payment, and mortgage insurance in this estimate.
Understanding PMI
How this calculator models conventional mortgage insurance, including when it stops the charge in the schedule.
15-year versus 30-year mortgages
How term length changes the scheduled payment, the number of rows in the schedule, and total interest in this model.
How extra mortgage payments work
How extra principal, biweekly drafts, and twice-monthly drafts are applied in this calculator.
How this refinance comparison works
What the refinance calculator holds constant, and what a lower payment does not prove.
How this auto loan payment is built
What the monthly auto loan estimate includes, and what a lower payment does not prove.
How much house can I afford?
How the affordability calculator turns gross income, debts, and optional cash into a planning price.
Understanding debt-to-income ratios
How this site splits a housing ratio from a total-obligation ratio, and what those figures are not.
Closing costs when refinancing
How the refinance calculator treats cash due, financed costs, credits, and escrow.
How an adjustable-rate scenario works
What the ARM calculator changes after the fixed period, and what it refuses to forecast.
60-month versus 72-month auto financing
Why a longer auto loan can lower the payment and raise the interest on the same vehicle.
Understanding positive and negative trade-in equity
How a trade allowance and a payoff change the amount financed, and why that equity is counted once.
How down payments affect auto financing
How cash down changes the amount financed, separately from a trade-in.
What APR means on a car loan
How this calculator turns an APR you enter into a monthly interest charge.
How extra principal payments affect auto loans
What an extra principal payment changes on this auto loan schedule, and what it does not change.
How rental cash flow is estimated
How this site turns rent, vacancy, operating expenses, and a fixed-rate loan into monthly cash flow.
How compound interest is estimated
How this site posts a rate you enter and adds contributions to project a balance.
How retirement savings are projected
How this site projects a balance to a retirement age and then applies a withdrawal you enter.
How extra payments change a mortgage payoff
How this site applies extra principal to a fixed monthly mortgage and moves the payoff date.
How debt payoff order is compared
How this site compares a highest-rate payoff order with a smallest-balance payoff order.