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Compare two fixed mortgage offers over your holding period
A lower monthly payment can come with higher upfront costs or slower principal repayment. Enter two written offers for the same principal and compare their costs at the same horizon.
Sources checked:
How to read this tool
U.S. educational comparison of two fixed-rate, fully amortizing monthly loans with cash-paid fees. No adjustable-rate loans, balloon payments, financed fees, approval, advertised APR calculation or lender ranking.
Fictional example
All starting terms are fictional. On a $240,000 loan, one discount point is $2,400. Offer A adds $3,000 in other fees, for $5,400 net upfront costs. Offer B has no points and $2,000 fees minus $1,000 credits, or $1,000. The interest rates are examples, not current quotes.
Calculations and filters run in this page. This tool does not send your entries or save them automatically. Your browser may restore fields. Changing page or language can lose your entries. Downloads stay on your device; keep them private. Do not enter names, account numbers or other identifiers.
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Enter your own figures, then calculate. The filled-in values are a fictional example.
Your scenario
Educational working copy. Not a loan offer, credit score, eligibility decision, application or professional advice.
Use the same borrowing and separate the charges
Enter the same principal for both offers so that a difference is not created simply by borrowing more money. Points equal principal times the entered percentage. Add other nonrefundable loan fees once and subtract only credits applicable to those costs.
Do not put prepaid property insurance, property tax or refundable escrow funding into loan fees: ownership expenses are represented separately. The real Loan Estimate remains the source for terms, credits, lock conditions and items this comparison leaves out.
Read cash outflow and economic cost differently
Every month, interest is computed on opening principal and rounded to cents. The standard payment is rounded to cents, with a final adjustment at the term end. Cash outflow includes principal and interest, mortgage insurance, net upfront fees and common ownership spending.
Cost excludes repaid principal because it has reduced the loan balance. That principal is not automatically spendable cash. Mortgage insurance stays at the entered amount while a loan balance exists; this model does not determine cancellation eligibility or dates.
Test how long you keep the loan
The holding-period table compares one, three, five, ten and your selected number of years, without assuming that a future refinance is available. A loan that ends earlier has no further principal, interest or mortgage-insurance charges; common property expenses continue.
A positive B-minus-A cost means A has a lower modeled cost at that horizon, not that A is suitable for you. Different upfront liquidity needs, taxes, prepayment penalties, investment returns, property sale costs and future changes require separate analysis. The rent-versus-buy tool models sale and opportunity assumptions explicitly.
Official sources
- CFPB — Loan Estimate explainedSources checked: 2026-09-09
- CFPB — points and lender creditsSources checked: 2026-09-09
- CFPB — mortgage interest rate versus APRSources checked: 2026-09-09
- CFPB — principal, interest and total housing paymentSources checked: 2026-09-09