MyCalx

This is your bottom line projected net benefit. It represents the ending benefit from the purchase of the property for each option used. This should be one of the most important guides that you can use to determine which of the options makes the most financial sense.

You can use this to calculate maintenance based on the purchase price

Use the percentage rate to calculate the expected annual cost of maintenance

If the property is a condo or coop or has any other partially tax deducible monthly fee, enter the percentage of deductibility here

This number is calculated as a guide. It's 1/12th (monthly portion) of 10% of the sales price. Ex. $250,000 x 10% = $25,000 / 12 = $2,083.33

This should be set to reflect the cost of renting this or a comparable home and represents the actual housing or shelter value that you derive from the property

Use the lookup function to find the average for your state then enter whatever number you would like to use

The lookup list provides the average annual rate of appreciation since 1975 using the FHFA index. You can use this for reference and then still adjust the rate of appreciation to match your own expectations.

By comparing not just payments or costs but total cost over the time period you anticipate, you're using the best and only truly accurate basis for decision making. Please note that on this version of the calculator, future ARM loan adjustments are not accounted for.

This is the percentage of your total gross monthly income used to pay the total of your housing and recurring monthly debt obligations

This is the percentage of your gross monthly income that will be used towards paying the total monthly housing obligation

If there is a 4th borrower, their total usable annual income can be entered here

If there is a 3rd borrower, their total usable annual income can be entered here

Any other useable annual income can be entered here

Certain types of income such as self employment, commissions, bonus, etc., must be averaged for 2 years. It's often a requirement that this type of income has been received from the same source for each of the prior consecutive years

Enter the amount of the compensation per period and the number of periods per year that it is received and the annual amount will be calculated automatically

Any other useable annual income can be entered here

Enter the amount of the compensation per period and the number of periods per year that it is received and the annual amount will be calculated automatically

In this section, list any and all monthly recurring debts

If you are paid a fixed annual salary, enter that amount here - you can still add additional income for bonus, commissions, overtime, etc., below

The income to qualify figure is specific to the total monthly loan payment. The total level of regular recurring monthly debts still has to be accounted for dependent on the allowable debt ratio or actual income. Maximum allowable debt ratios vary from program to program and based on many other criteria. Please consult with me for further analysis.

This is the total recognized balance of your reserve funds divided by the total monthly housing expense to determine the number of months available as reserves

This only includes your liquid assets, not the reserve funds

Retirement and brokerage accounts are discounted by 30 or 40%. This is to allow for any sudden change in market value. Any brokerage or retirement assets that you intend to use should be cashed in ASAP in order to assure the full value available. In most instances, it will be easiest to combine all of your assets into one easily verifiable account - however, you must be careful to fully document all transfers

Enter the current balances from any other liquid accounts or assets that you have an intend to use for this transaction

Enter the balance or combined balance from checking and savings - be sure to subtract any recent payouts from these accounts such as the deposit indicated above

Enter the total net proceeds from the calculation performed above (if applicable).

If you've already paid a deposit for this purchase, indicate the amount here - be careful not to double count this if it just came out of a checking or savings account, etc.

This is for any 3rd lien mortgage loans, mechanics or tax liens or can be used for any other fee or expense that will be associated with the sale of the property

Enter the percentage or approximate percentage of the sales price that any transfer taxes, fees, legal expenses, etc., will cost

Payoff balances will typically be higher than the principal balance as any unpaid interest will be added.

Enter the real estate agents sales commission percentage

Payoff balances will typically be higher than the principal balance as any unpaid interest will be added.

This is the total of closing costs and pre-paid expenses less any seller or lender credits. You will likely still need to have cash reserves in order to qualify for your loan.

Just as with seller credits, some loan programs will support the possibility of a lender credit towards your closing cost. In most instances, this can result in a higher interest rate.

It's possible to negotiate for a seller to provide a credit towards closing costs. It can however be viewed as an effective sales price reduction by appraisers and hence, will not always be supported in their valuation of the property. Still, smart buyers can make this work well when their home is price despite the credit is well supported by comparable sales.

This is the total of closing costs and pre-paid expenses.

Enter the number of months of condo fee, etc., that you will have to pay in advance at the time of closing. This will vary depending on the policies of the condo/coop board, etc.

On most transactions, you will establish an escrow account that will be maintained for the payment of your taxes and insurance. Though collected by the lender, this is your money and any funds remaining in the account upon sale or refinance will be refunded to you.

You will need to purchase and pay for your first year of homeowners insurance

Real estate taxes are usually pre-paid. This means that you will typically reimburse the seller for any taxes they have already paid for that are really applicable to when you will now own the home

When you close a loan, you will pay one day of pre-paid interest for each day remaining in the month. This takes the place of what would have been your first payment and your first real, regular payment will be made the second month after you close.

The total cost used to calculate the annual percentage rate includes the cost of per diem interest.

The cost of each full point is 1% of the second loan amount

This is not a Good Faith Estimate. Closing costs are estimated here based only on an average percentage. A formal GFE will be provided once a loan program decision and intent to proceed are made.

If the cost of the single premium or upfront mortgage insurance is not being financed, the total cost will show here

Each full point is 1% of the loan amount.

This is not a Good Faith Estimate. Closing costs are estimated here based only on an average percentage. A formal GFE will be provided once a loan program decision and intent to proceed are made.

The total estimated monthly payment includes principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and if any, mortgage insurance and monthly fees

Condos, coops, PUD's and Home Owner's Association properties all usually have a monthly fee that will be accounted for here- although these are not typically paid to or collected by your lender, they are factored into qualification and as such, are appropriate to include in your total monthly obligation.

This will vary based on many factors such as loan to value, loan amount, loan type, credit scores, etc., but will typically range between 0.3 and 0.95. If you're uncertain, use the higher end of that range or consult with me for further guidance

Hazard or Homeowners insurance is needed on most properties. The typical exceptions would be condos and coops yet even these can require an HO6 policy which insures the interior of the unit which is sometimes excluded on master project policies. The cost will vary by region dependent on the frequency of damaging weather or floods, etc. but the cost of 2.9 or $2.90 per thousand dollars of loan amount is a good base factor.

This is 1/12th of your annual real estate tax expense and will typically be added to your total monthly payment

This is the total of your loan payments, it does not include taxes, insurance, etc. Please see below for those totals

The weighted average interest rate calculation allows you to see the effective rate of interest when you have two loans being used rather than one. This weights each loan amount appropriately as a percentage of the total amount financed and illustrates the effective cost as a single interest rate. As the actual total amount of interest paid each year will decline on fully amortizing loans, this calculation is based on the starting loan amount and the actual rate. As this is applied consistently to all options, it provides an accurate basis for comparative purposes.

In most instances, this should equal 100%.

Click the box if you are using an interest only loan. The new payment will be calculated. Just be sure that your rate reflects any increase that these loans will often carry

APR is a well intentioned yet flawed attempt at providing a single figure by which you can compare loan options by expressing the total cost of the financing (certain closing costs and the interest expense) as a single interest rate. This would be fine if you had your loan for the full term, yet it's not at all accurate especially over the first several years of the loan. It's calculated by subtracting the closing costs from the loan amount and then using the payment to calculate a presumed rate. Thus, the APR is never the real interest rate. It's the total cost of the loan expressed as an interest rate. Use the TPR (True Percentage Rate) calculator elsewhere in these calculators to get a clearer picture of how this should really work.

Discount Points are pre-paid interest that serve to lower the interest rate of your loan. Each point is equal to 1% of the loan amount and on average, will lower the rate by approximately .25%

Here you can vary the term of each second loan

A second loan can sometimes be used simultaneously with a first mortgage to avoid the need for any mortgage insurance. This was popular and readily available previously yet has become much more difficult to obtain. If you are using a second loan, be sure that the combination of your down payment, 1st loan and 2nd loan all add up to 100% of the purchase price.

This is the amount of principal paid and the amount by which the payment would be reduced if you use an interest only (IO) loan.

Click the box if you are using an interest only loan. The new payment will be calculated. Just be sure that your rate reflects any increase that this option will often carry and be sure that it's available for your scenario/loan type/loan to value, etc.

Exceeding certain thresholds here can increase the cost or exclude the availability. Tiers usually run in 5% increments Ex. 90 to 90.499 % loan to value.

If you are adding the cost of upfront mortgage insurance to the loan amount, the new total loan amount will be shown here

By clicking the box, the cost of the single premium or upfront mortgage insurance will be added to the loan amount

Though rarely used, there are some PMI programs that allow a single premium (dollar amount cost) as an alternative to monthly fees. This can sometimes be financed by adding it to the loan amount. Be aware that this can negatively impact the maximum loan to value available depending on the program guidelines, credit scores, property type and other considerations. Click the check box to include this cost in the loan amount. This is either or on conventional loans - there will either be monthly MI or single premium, not both.

You can adjust the rate for each loan

Discount Points are pre-paid interest that serve to lower the interest rate of your loan. Each point is equal to 1% of the loan amount and on average, will lower the rate by approximately .25%

You can change the term of each loan to compare the various options Ex., 30, 20, 15, 10

If you're using only one loan, be sure that this number and your down payment percentage adds up to 100% Ex. 20% down, 80% Loan to value = 100% CLTV is combined loan to value and it represents both the first and any second loan being used.

Use these spaces to add a label to each column/scenario that will print or email with the final calculations

Enter the percentage of the purchase price that you intend to use as a down payment

Enter the annual real estate tax amount

You can enter different numbers to compare properties or use the same value to compare different financing, etc.

Enter name & address in these spaces or any other reference you choose

These calculators are designed to provide maximum insight and analysis in a convenient side by side format for selecting the best property or loan option. It makes it easy to thoroughly compare everything from various down payments, to loan terms, to points, to rates and much more.