About MortgageCalcTool

MortgageCalcTool publishes free mortgage calculators and plain-English explanations of how home financing costs are actually assembled. We are not a lender, a broker or a lead generator, and we do not sell your information — because we never ask for it.

Why the site exists

Most mortgage calculators return a principal-and-interest figure that is 20% to 30% below the payment a buyer will actually make, because they leave out property taxes, homeowners insurance and mortgage insurance. Buyers then shop for houses using a number that does not exist. Every tool here defaults to the full payment, shows each component separately, and explains the formula behind it.

How our calculators work

Principal and interest use the standard fixed-rate amortization formula, M = P × r / (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ), where P is the financed amount, r is the annual rate divided by 12, and n is the term in months. Property taxes are applied as an annual percentage of the purchase price divided by 12. Homeowners insurance and HOA dues are taken directly from your inputs. Private mortgage insurance is estimated at approximately 0.6% of the loan per year when the down payment is under 20%, which sits in the middle of typical borrower-paid coverage pricing. Program-specific costs — FHA upfront and annual MIP, VA funding fees — are documented on their own pages with the published rate schedules rather than buried in the tool.

All calculations run in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted to us or stored.

Sources and review

• Program rules for FHA loans come from HUD's Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 and current mortgagee letters.
• VA funding fee tables and entitlement rules come from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Lender's Handbook (VA Pamphlet 26-7).
• PMI cancellation rights follow the federal Homeowners Protection Act, and conforming loan limits follow the annual FHFA announcement.
• Regional tax and insurance ranges are based on published county millage rates and state insurance department rate filings, and are presented as ranges rather than quotes.

Pages are re-checked whenever federal program figures change — typically at least annually — and any page that contains a rate, fee or limit carries an explicit review date.

Corrections

If a number here disagrees with your loan estimate, we want to know. Send the page, the figure and the source you are comparing against through our contact page and we will verify it and update or clarify the page.

How the site is funded

MortgageCalcTool is free to use. We intend to support it with display advertising. Ads, when present, are labelled and kept out of the calculators themselves, and they never influence what our guides say. We do not accept payment from lenders for favourable coverage and we do not sell borrower leads.

Not financial advice

Everything on this site is general educational information. Your actual loan terms depend on underwriting, your credit profile, the property, and the lender's pricing on the day you lock. Confirm any figure with a licensed loan officer before making a financial decision.