Refinance comparison calculator

How this calculator works

This calculator compares the loan you have with a new one. For the current loan, it finds the principal and interest payment that would pay off your balance over the years you have left at your current rate. For the new loan, it adds any cash out to the balance and uses the new term and the new rate. Both rate fields start empty. Enter your current rate from your mortgage statement and the new rate from your own quote or Loan Estimate.

Monthly savings is the current payment minus the new payment. The break-even month is your closing costs divided by that monthly savings, rounded up. Total interest on each path is every remaining payment added up, minus the amount borrowed.

Limits: the current payment is calculated, not read from your statement, so it can differ a little from what you pay now. Only principal and interest are compared. Taxes and insurance usually do not change with a refinance, so they are left out. Closing costs are treated as paid in cash, not added to the loan. If you take cash out, the new payment includes that extra borrowing, so the two payments are not a like-for-like comparison. The break-even is simple: it ignores what the closing cost money could have earned and any tax effects.

When you apply to refinance, a lender reviews your income, credit, debts and the home's current value from an appraisal. Cash-out refinances often have different requirements than a refinance that only changes the rate or term.

Example: enter a $300,000 balance with 25 years left, your current rate, and the new rate and closing costs from a Loan Estimate with a 30-year term. Then try a 15-year term to see how the payment and total interest change.

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