I already broke down how mortgages actually work, PITI, fixed vs. adjustable rates, and why a single percentage point can cost you close to $100,000, in a separate piece. This is the tool version, plug in your real numbers and see exactly where you land instead of doing the math by hand or trusting a generic online estimate.

Short version: enter your home price, down payment, rate, and term, and you’ll get your full estimated monthly payment, principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and PMI if it applies. The calculator also shows you exactly when PMI drops off based on your actual amortization schedule, and runs a side-by-side comparison showing what a half-point higher or lower rate would cost you over the life of the loan.

How to Use It

Start with the home price you’re considering and how much you’re putting down. If you don’t have exact tax and insurance figures yet, a reasonable estimate is fine, you can always come back and refine it once you have real numbers from a specific property or a lender’s quote.

The rate field matters more than any other input. Even a small difference here moves your total interest by tens of thousands of dollars over a 30-year loan, which is exactly what the comparison table further down shows you using your own numbers.

What PITI Actually Means Once You’re Looking at Real Numbers

PITI, Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance, sounds abstract until you see it broken into actual dollars for your specific loan. The calculator splits your estimated payment into all four pieces so you can see where your money is actually going, not just the single combined number most listings advertise.

Principal and interest together form your base loan payment, this is what actually pays down the loan and compensates the lender for lending it to you. Taxes and insurance get collected monthly and held in escrow by your lender, then paid out when they’re actually due, so you’re not stuck with two enormous annual bills. If you’re financing with less than 20% down, PMI gets added on top, more on that below.

When PMI Actually Drops Off

Most PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) explainers give you a rough rule of thumb. This calculator runs your actual numbers through a real amortization schedule to tell you approximately how many years until you hit 20% equity, the point where PMI can come off and your payment drops.

Two ways to get there faster than the default schedule: making extra principal payments accelerates the timeline meaningfully, and if your home’s value has risen since purchase, you may hit 20% equity sooner than the loan schedule alone suggests, worth getting a new appraisal if you suspect that’s the case rather than waiting out the original estimate.

One note on accuracy: PMI rates vary by lender, loan type, and credit profile, typically somewhere between 0.5% and 1.5% of the loan amount annually. This calculator uses a reasonable mid-range estimate, your actual PMI quote from a specific lender will be more precise than this tool’s estimate.

Once You Know Your Numbers

If the payment this calculator shows feels tight relative to your income, it’s worth working through How Much House Can You Afford before you go further into the process, that piece covers the income-to-payment ratios lenders actually use, which is a different (and often more conservative) number than the maximum a lender might approve you for.

If you’re still deciding between a fixed rate and an adjustable rate, Fixed vs. Adjustable-Rate Mortgage goes deeper on that tradeoff specifically. And once you’ve got a real number in mind, the next real question is whether buying makes sense for your situation at all right now, Renting vs. Buying in 2026 walks through that decision honestly.