The bracketed term is principal & interest (P = loan amount after down payment, r = monthly rate, n = months). Lenders then add monthly property tax, homeowner's insurance and any HOA dues — together these four make up your true PITI payment, which is what affects loan qualification.
Estimating your true monthly payment
Your mortgage payment is more than principal and interest. Lenders bundle in property taxes and homeowners insurance (and sometimes HOA dues and PMI) — together known as PITI. This calculator shows the full monthly figure and breaks it down so you can see where each dollar goes.
Adjust the down payment to see how it changes both your loan amount and payment, and expand the details to tune tax, insurance and HOA for your area.
Worked example
A $350,000 home with 20% down ($70,000) leaves a $280,000 loan. At 6.5% over 30 years, principal & interest come to about $1,770/month. Add typical property tax (~$290/month at 1% of value), insurance (~$120) and no HOA, and the true PITI payment is roughly $2,180 — about 23% more than the P&I figure alone. That gap is why budgeting on P&I alone gets buyers into trouble.
How the down payment changes everything
A bigger down payment shrinks the loan, the monthly payment, and the total interest — and at 20% down, conventional loans drop private mortgage insurance (PMI), often saving another $100–300/month. Many programs allow far less down (3–5%), which trades a smaller upfront cost for higher monthly costs.
Term and rate: the big levers
On that $280,000 loan, 30 years at 6.5% costs about $357,000 in total interest; a 15-year term at 6% costs about $145,000 — less than half the interest for a payment roughly $590 higher. Even a 0.5% rate improvement saves tens of thousands over the life of the loan, which is why shopping lenders pays. Compare bare-loan scenarios in the loan calculator, or car financing in the auto loan calculator.
Estimates only; not a loan offer. Rates, taxes and insurance vary.
How much house can you afford?
The classic banker's screen is the 28/36 rule: housing costs (payment, taxes, insurance) at or below 28% of gross monthly income, and all debts together below 36%. On a $100,000 salary that's roughly $2,300/month for housing — then work this calculator backwards: fix your rate and term, add your tax and insurance estimates, and drag the price until the total payment ducks under your ceiling. Two honesty checks: budget from take-home pay too (28% of gross can be 40% of net), and leave room for maintenance — owners typically spend another 1–2% of the home's value per year keeping it standing.