For those making their first journey into home ownership, learning as much as you can about the costs of owning a home is critical. Too often those new to ownership assume that if they can cover the mortgage, they will be fine throughout the loan.
In fact, as any good first mortgage payment calculator will highlight, there are a lot of costs that go into owning a home. Additionally, there are variables that need to be considered that can have a dramatic impact on how much anyone will pay on interest throughout the term of the loan.
What to Consider
The most important factors or variables that a first mortgage payment calculator will include are the term (the length of the loan), the amount of the loan and the interest rate. Typically, the payment is calculated from these factors, but some may have the option to input the payment to find the desired interest rate or loan amount.
What to Experiment With
One of the benefits of using an online, free first mortgage payment calculator is the option to play around with the different variables to see how it impacts the cost of the loan and your financial obligations.
While a 30-year fixed loan will have higher interest rates, it will also have a lower monthly mortgage rate than a 15-year fixed loan. However, if the full amount paid in interest is compared between the two on the calculator, the benefits of a 15-year fixed are easy to see.
Additional variables to experiment with include the down payment and the interest rate. Remember, boosting your credit score to 760 will provide the best interest rate, while a larger down payment always decreases the amount of interest paid over the term of the loan.
For more information on the mortgage loans offered at Guaranteed Rate, or to use our free online first mortgage payment calculator, visit us online.
