Mortgage refinance planning

Mortgage Refinance Break-Even Calculator

Compare the payment relief, upfront costs, remaining balances, and longer-term cost of replacing a current fixed-rate mortgage with a new fixed-rate loan.

Use the unpaid principal balance from the current loan.
Leave blank to calculate it from the balance, rate, and remaining term. Exclude escrow, taxes, insurance, HOA dues, and mortgage insurance.
Use the quoted note rate, rather than an advertised rate or the annual percentage rate (APR).
A longer term can lower the payment even when it does not lower the total future cost.
Enter costs paid in cash that you want the break-even calculation to recover. Use net costs after lender credits.
Enter the dollar amount, not the number of points. Keep this at $0 when points are already included above.
Enter refinance costs financed into the new balance. Do not repeat cash-paid costs or enter cash-out proceeds here.

Results will appear after valid values are entered.

Payment and cash-flow break-even

Cash-flow break-even asks how long monthly principal-and- interest savings would take to recover the costs paid in cash. Financed costs stay in the new balance and are handled separately in the holding-period and lifetime comparisons.

Current monthly P&I Calculated or entered payment
New monthly P&I Based on the new modeled loan balance, rate, and term
Monthly payment change Principal and interest only
Cash-flow break-even Based on costs paid upfront

The term comparison will appear with valid inputs.

Interest and lifetime cost

A lower rate can reduce interest while a longer term can add years of payments. Lifetime cost includes all modeled future principal-and-interest payments plus costs paid upfront.

Current remaining interest Through modeled payoff of the current loan
Refinance interest Through payoff of the new modeled loan
New loan amount Current balance plus financed refinance costs
Lifetime cost difference Current loan compared with refinance

What if you keep the loan for a few more years?

Each card compares total modeled payments made through that point, the balance still owed, and upfront refinance costs. This is useful when you may sell, move, or refinance again before either mortgage reaches final payoff.

After 3 years Holding-period comparison
After 5 years Holding-period comparison
After 7 years Holding-period comparison
After 10 years Holding-period comparison

What this estimate leaves out

The model compares a rate-and-term refinance using fixed-rate principal and interest. It does not estimate qualification, property value, cash-out proceeds, taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance, escrow changes, tax effects, opportunity cost, future refinancing, or whether a quoted fee is refundable or would have been paid anyway.

Use a lender's Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure for actual loan terms and costs. If the current loan has a prepayment penalty, include the amount you expect to pay in the upfront refinance-cost field.

For educational purposes only. Results are estimates. Review the Calculator Methodology for shared assumptions, rounding, payoff timing, and privacy-conscious analytics details.