Enhanced Loan Calculator

All loan calculators let you figure your monthly payment. But suppose you want to do more than that? Maybe you know what you can afford to pay each month and want to know how much that will allow you to borrow? Or you want to know how fast you can pay off a loan with a certain monthly payment? Or figure what the mortgage rate would be on a certain loan? This Enhanced Loan Calculator allows you to look at a loan from several different angles. You can use the sliding controls to vary the inputs and see how changing some numbers affects other aspects of the loan. Once you have the numbers you want, click “View report” for a full breakdown of the loan, including total interest payments and an amortization schedule detailing the reduction in loan principle over time.

Enhanced Loan Calculator Overview

There are many different types of mortgages to choose from when you are purchasing a home. It is a good idea to do some research and play around with the numbers to see which mortgage options may be in your best interest. The mortgage that may be right for your friends or family may not be the most beneficial mortgage for you. The bottom line is that you will need to need how the loan amount and mortgage rate are going to affect what the mortgage payment will be on a monthly basis.

Here are some of the things you can do with this calculator:

  • Figure your monthly mortgage payments
  • Determine how much you can borrow, based on a given monthly payment
  • Study how varying the interest rate affects your monthly payments
  • Find out how fast you can pay off your mortgage with a certain monthly payment
  • If considering an ARM, determining how much of an increase in the interest rate would break your budget

Using the Enhanced Loan Calculator

The calculator allows you to figure out any one of four aspects of a mortgage loan – the loan amount, monthly payment, interest rate or length – based on the other three. So, for example, if you can afford $1,300 a month and want to know how much you can borrow on a 30-year mortgage with an interest rate of 4 percent, the calculator will give you your answer: $272,299.

Or if you’ve got a $150,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 4.5 percent and want to know how fast you can pay it off by paying $1,000 a month , the calculator will tell you: 221 months, or just under 18 ½ years.

Here’s another situation: Maybe you can qualify for a $350,000 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) with an initial interest rate of 3 percent. It seems like a good deal, but you’ve concluded the most you could afford to pay is $2,000 a month. How high would the rate have to adjust for your monthly payments to exceed that level? The calculator will tell you: 5.558 percent.

The calculator also allows you to explore a range of values to see how they affect other parts of the loan. For example, suppose you have a $200,000 fixed-rate mortgage at 4 percent, giving you a monthly payment of $954.83. How much more would you have to pay each month to knock 5 years off the loan? ($1,055.67). Three years? ($1,010.42). Seven years? ($1,109.50). The sliding green triangles let you see how varying one figure affects the others, giving you a range of options to work with.

Just choose which factor you want to calculate for, then enter your figures for the other three, or vary them using the sliding scales.

Once you’re done, “View report” will provide an amortization schedule for the loan you’ve calculated.

Looking to buy a home or refinance a mortgage? Click on “Get Free Quote” to obtain personalized rate quotes from lenders.