The decision to refinance a loan or mortgage can be a tough one to make. However, with the help of these six handy refinance calculators, you can easily determine if refinancing is right for you.
Realtor’s Refinance Calculator
Realtor.com’s refinance calculator takes the principal balance of the mortgage, the mortgage’s monthly payment, the mortgage’s current interest rate, the new interest rate of the refinanced loan, the term of the new refinanced loan, the closing costs, and the decision to finance the closing costs and calculates what the monthly payment and net interest savings would be. Not only that, but it also calculates the number of months you’ll have until you breakeven on the closing costs. There are helpful bubbles (with question marks inside of them) next to each required field that explains the terminology used.
KnowYourOptions’ Refinance Calculator
The KnowYourOptions.com mortgage refinance calculator is another great resource. When you input your existing mortgage’s information (the first mortgage balance, the estimated home value, the monthly payment, the annual property taxes, the annual property insurance, and the annual Homeowner’s Association fees), your total monthly payment will be calculated. Then, you can put in your refinanced loan information (the projected new term of the loan and the fixed interest rate – the closing cost is used as 1.5 percent in the calculator), click “Calculate Results”, and receive the information for the new mortgage. The calculator will show you how much your monthly payments would be reduced by and how much you’d potentially save each year on payments. You can choose to send your results to an email address, print your results out immediately, or save your results to a .PDF fine.
BankofAmerica’s Refinance Rates & Payment Calculator
The Bank of America refinance calculator is a little bit different. This calculator asks for the zip code your property is in, the property’s value, and the current balance that you owe on your loan in order to display potential refinance rates in your area. The results show the new term of the loan and the estimated interest rate, APR, points, closing cost, and monthly payments. You’ll see refinance rates in three different sections: most popular, fixed-rate, and adjustable-rate.
MSN Money’s Refinancing Calculator
MSN Money has a simple and handy refinancing calculator with fields that are pre-filled with common figures; however, these figures can be changed to fit your situation. The calculator takes your current loan information (the current loan balance, the annual interest rate, and the number of months left to pay off the loan) and the proposed loan’s information (the annual interest rate on the new mortgage, the length of the new term, the loan origination fee, other fees/discount points, and other fees), and then it calculates how much you’ll potentially save if you refinance. The results are shown as a traditional refinance (the costs of refinancing divided by the savings in monthly payments that come from refinancing) and an enhanced refinance (what would happen if you paid large enough monthly payments for a while to have the refinanced loan projected to be paid off at the same time as your current mortgage).
CNN Money’s Refinance Calculator
CNN Money’s refinance calculator allows you to input your current mortgage’s data (the monthly payment, the current interest rate, the number of years/months left on the mortgage, how much you plan to refinance, and how long you plan to remain in the home) and enter information for up to three different refinance options. Then, the calculator displays each loan, in a comparable format, and tells you what the up-front cost, monthly payment, monthly savings (compared to your current loan), breakeven point, and total loan cost (compared to your current loan) is estimated to be for each.
HSH’s Refinance Calculator
The refinance calculator from HSH will display results for three different refinance options: traditional refinance (the costs are paid out-of-pocket), “low-cash-out” refinance (the costs are added to the loan amount), and “no-cost” refinance (the costs are built into the interest rate). Enter your existing loan information (the original loan date, the original rate, the original balance, the original term, and the original monthly payment amount), and the calculator will display some of the information from the refinanced mortgage loan for each option. Next, you’ll be asked the new interest rate and the new term of the traditional refinance and the new interest rate of the”no-cost” refinance. Hit “Calculate” to see your estimated new monthly payments, how long it will take you to reach the breakeven point for a traditional refinance, and any money you’ll save.
These six calculators should give you enough information to help you decide whether refinancing your mortgage is a money-saving proposition in your situation.
