Your monthly mortgage payment breaks down into a variety of financial components, including your loan amount, interest rate, loan term and other factors. Let’s take a look at what you can expect.
Loan Amount
If you’re buying a home, you’ll want to put in the price of the homes you’re looking at and subtract your down payment. If you’re far enough along, you may be able to also add any costs being built into the balance. For a refinancing (sometimes referred to as a "refi"), include the expected balance after you close.
Interest Rate
While it’s largely dependent on market factors outside of your control, your interest rate has a huge impact on what your monthly mortgage payments will be. Remember, the majority of your mortgage payments at first will go toward paying interest.
When calculating your payment amount, you’ll want to look at the base rate and not the annual percentage rate (APR). You use the lower base mortgage rate because your monthly payment doesn’t reflect closing costs. Knowing APR is still useful, but the context of the overall cost of the loan as opposed to monthly expenses is key.
Loan Term
This is how long you have to pay the loan off. Longer terms, like a 30-year mortgage, mean smaller payments, but more interest paid. Shorter terms, like a 15-year mortgage, have the opposite properties – larger payments, less interest paid.
If you make a down payment of less than 20%, you’ll have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) on a conventional loan. This payment is based on a percentage of the loan amount and protects the lender in case you default. The rate is based on the following:
You can request removal on a one-unit primary residence once you reach 20% equity in most cases.
Certain government-backed options like Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans and those from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have mandatory upfront and annual mortgage insurance or guarantee fee payments that may last for the life of the loan – depending on the loan type and down payment amount or existing equity. Depending on your down payment amount, mortgage insurance premiums may be built into the calculations.
Property Taxes
Since property taxes are often built into your mortgage payment, having a fairly accurate estimate will help you get a better picture of cost. Regardless of whether you have an escrow account, these need to be accounted for as a cost of ownership.
Homeowners Insurance
Mortgage lenders will require you to carry homeowners insurance to protect their investment. If you have an escrow account, the overall premium is split into monthly payments. Even if you don’t, you still need to include this as a homeownership expense.
Homeowners Association (HOA) Fees
These aren’t typically included in your monthly mortgage, even if you have an escrow account. However, it’s important to factor in these monthly and annual fees. The homeowners association (HOA) fees also impact what you can qualify for when you’re looking to purchase or refinance a home.
For example, if your interest rate is 6 percent, you would divide 0.06 by 12 to get a monthly rate of 0.005.You would then multiply this number by the amount of your loan to calculate your loan payment. If your loan amount is $100,000, you would multiply $100,000 by 0.005 for a monthly payment of $500.
Again, “P” represents your principal amount, and “r” is your APR. However, “n” in this equation is the number of payments you'll make over a year. Now for an example. Let's say you get an interest-only personal loan for $10,000 with an APR of 3.5% and a 60-month repayment term.
The rule states that your mortgage should be no more than 28 percent of your total monthly gross income and no more than 36 percent of your total debt. But our chase home affordability calculator can help refine and tailor the estimate of how much house you can afford based on additional factors.
So, to get your monthly loan payment, you must divide your interest rate by 12. Whatever figure you get, multiply it by your principal. A simpler way to look at it is monthly payment = principal x (interest rate / 12).
The formula for calculating mortgage payments is PMT(interest rate/12, number of payments, loan amount). For example, if you're taking out a 10-year loan with a 6% interest rate for $200,000, the Excel formula would be: PMT(. 06/12, 120, 200000). This formula will give you a monthly payment amount of $1,788.76.
On a salary of $36,000 per year, you can afford a house priced around $100,000-$110,000 with a monthly payment of just over $1,000. This assumes you have no other debts you're paying off, but also that you haven't been able to save much for a down payment.
One rule of thumb is that the cost of your home should not exceed three times your income. On a salary of $70k, that would be $210,000. This is only one way to estimate your budget, however, and it assumes that you don't have a lot of other debts.
An individual earning $60,000 a year may buy a home worth ranging from $180,000 to over $300,000. That's because your wage isn't the only factor that affects your house purchase budget. Your credit score, existing debts, mortgage rates, and a variety of other considerations must all be taken into account.
Starting in month one, take the total amount of the loan and multiply it by the interest rate on the loan. Then for a loan with monthly repayments, divide the result by 12 to get your monthly interest. Subtract the interest from the total monthly payment, and the remaining amount is what goes toward principal.
Based on the OneMain personal loan calculator, a $5,000 loan with a 25% APR and a 60-month term length would be $147 per month. The loan terms you receive will depend on your credit profile, including credit history, income, debts and if you secure it with collateral like a car or truck.
Lenders generally want to see that when you add up your principal, interest, taxes and insurance, it totals less than 28% of your gross monthly income. Lenders also generally want to see that those housing costs plus other debt (i.e. auto loans) are less than 36% of your gross monthly income.
Most financial advisors agree that people should spend no more than 28 percent of their gross monthly income on housing expenses, and no more than 36 percent on total debt. The 28/36 percent rule is a tried-and-true home affordability rule of thumb that establishes a baseline for what you can afford to pay every month.
Lenders look at a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio when they consider your application for a mortgage loan. A DTI ratio is your monthly expenses compared to your monthly gross income. Lenders consider monthly housing expenses as a percentage of income and total monthly debt as a percentage of income.
The annual salary needed to afford a $400,000 home is about $127,000. Over the past few years, prospective homeowners have chased a moving target: homeownership. The median sales price of houses sold in the U.S. stood at $417,700 in the fourth quarter of 2023—down from a peak of $479,500 in Q4 2022.
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