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Mortgage Refinance Calculator

The number that decides it is not the rate. It is how long you need to stay to make the closing costs back.

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  • Sent to Samantha only if you choose
  • 5.0 on Google, 123 reviews

Should you refinance?

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yr
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Origination, title, appraisal, recording. Rolling them into the loan does not make them free.
Break-even
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Current payment
$0
New payment
$0
Monthly change
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Closing costs
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Principal and interest only. Stay past the break-even and the refinance pays for itself; a longer new term can still add total interest.

Estimates only, for illustration. Not a loan commitment, an offer of credit, or a rate quote. Actual figures depend on underwriting, credit, income, assets, appraisal and property eligibility. Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154, is an independent mortgage broker and does not lend directly. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Before you refinance

In Samantha's words

Not because somebody called

“I don't think somebody should refinance just because somebody called them and told them they could.”

More than the payment

“That's why ‘Will my payment go down?’ isn't the only refinance question.”

How to use a mortgage refinance calculator

What this calculator answers

One question: how many months a lower payment takes to earn back what the refinance costs. Enter the balance, rate and years left from your statement, the closing costs, and a new rate and term to try. It shows both principal and interest payments, the monthly change and the break-even month.

Then compare the break-even with how long you expect to keep the loan. A cash-out refinance answers a different question; our Cash-Out vs. Home Equity page walks through it.

Break-even formula

Monthly change = current principal and interest − new principal and interest

Break-even months = closing costs ÷ monthly change

If the result is not a whole number, round up: the month the savings pass the cost is the break-even month. The calculator above does this with your own figures.

Refinance terms

  • Current mortgage balance: The principal left on your existing loan, from your statement.
  • Interest rate: The yearly interest rate on the refinance loan, which sets the principal and interest payment and the total interest cost. The APR is a separate figure that also counts certain charges.
  • Loan term: How many years the new loan runs. Starting a new full-length term on a loan with fewer years left can lower the payment and still add total interest.
  • Closing costs: Fees to complete the refinance, such as appraisal, title and lender fees. They are what the break-even earns back.
  • Monthly payment: In this calculator, principal and interest only. Your full payment also includes taxes, insurance and any mortgage insurance.
  • Break-even point: The month when the monthly change has covered the closing costs.
  • Total interest: A figure this calculator does not show. Page 3 of a Loan Estimate gives it as the Total Interest Percentage (TIP).
  • Rate-and-term refinance: A new loan for about the same balance, to change the rate or the term.
  • Cash-out refinance: A new, larger loan that pays off the current one and hands you the difference in cash.

Common questions

If yours is not here, send Samantha your loan details from the calculator.

What’s a good break-even target for refinancing?

Start with how long you expect to keep the loan, then compare the break-even with it. If the break-even comes well before you expect to sell or refinance again, the costs can earn themselves back; if it comes after, they may not. That is the test this calculator runs, and our Refinance Break-Even Review walks through it.

Rolling them in means paying less at closing, but you borrow more, so the payment and the total interest go up. This calculator treats closing costs as paid at closing, which is what the break-even earns back. To see what rolling them in does to the payment, add the costs to the balance and set closing costs to 0; the break-even then no longer applies, because nothing was paid up front.

They pull in opposite directions. A shorter term raises the payment and cuts the total interest; a longer one lowers the payment and usually adds total interest. This calculator shows the payment change and the break-even for the term you pick. For the total interest over each loan, compare the Total Interest Percentage on page 3 of the Loan Estimates.

Most lenders prefer a minimum credit score of 620 for refinancing. The highest loan-to-value (LTV) a lender allows depends on the loan type and on whether you take cash out; a cash-out refinance usually allows less than a rate-and-term refinance.

Yes. The new loan starts its own schedule from payment one, so early payments go mostly to interest again. A new full-length term on a loan with fewer years left can lower the payment and still add total interest; a term close to the years you have left keeps the payoff date about where it is.

It can lower the monthly total, because a mortgage rate can be lower than card or loan rates, but it changes the debt: unsecured balances become debt secured by your home, usually spread over a longer term, with new closing costs. Our Cash-Out vs. Home Equity page compares the ways to borrow against a home.

Some lenders let you refinance a conventional loan soon after closing, others want 6 to 12 months, and FHA and VA streamline refinances have their own waiting periods. Whether it is worth it that soon comes back to the break-even: closing costs this early are hard to earn back if the payment change is small.

Refinancing doesn’t change your property tax amount, but your escrow payment may adjust based on tax reassessments or changes in insurance premiums. In Michigan, taxable value uncaps after a transfer of ownership, and a refinance on its own is not one, so your cap stays in place.

Usually. Most refinances need an appraisal to confirm the home’s value, because the value sets how much you can borrow and whether mortgage insurance applies. Some streamline refinances, such as an FHA streamline or a VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan, can go without one. The lender decides from the loan and the property.

Loan options

Loans to look at next

Cash-Out Refinance

A new, larger first mortgage that pays off the current one and hands you the difference in cash.

About Cash-Out Refinance

Home Equity Loan

A lump sum from your equity as a second loan, keeping your first mortgage and its rate.

About Home Equity Loan

15-Year Fixed Mortgage

A shorter term raises the payment and cuts the total interest, the trade this calculator does not weigh.

About 15-Year Fixed Mortgage

30-Year Fixed Mortgage

Restarting a longer term lowers the payment and can add total interest over the life of the loan.

About 30-Year Fixed Mortgage

What our clients say

5.0 on Google across 123 reviews

★★★★★
Align Lending helped make purchasing my home in Madison Heights a smooth experience. I appreciated the regular updates and clear explanations along the way.
Jason OnwenuAugust 2026
★★★★★
I highly recommend Align Lending to anyone looking for a mortgage broker in Southeast Michigan. The team was knowledgeable, responsive, and easy to work with.
Riley LennonAugust 2026
★★★★★
As a first-time homebuyer in Ferndale, I was unsure of some things. Samantha was awesome. She was extremely helpful and made sure I understood every part of the process.
Peter RosaAugust 2026
Read all reviews on Google

Individual experiences. Results vary.

A lower payment is not the only refinance question

Samantha looks at how long you plan to keep the loan, what the new term does to total interest and what the refinance costs, then tells you whether it makes sense now. Sometimes the answer is not yet.

Schedule a call with SamanthaCompare loan options
  1. 1

    Bring your statement

    The balance, the rate and the years left.

  2. 2

    Weigh the trade-offs

    Payment, term, total interest and the months to break even.

  3. 3

    Decide on your timeline

    Refinance now, wait, or leave the loan alone.

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Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154, is a mortgage broker. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Calculator results are estimates for illustration, based only on the figures you enter. They are not a credit decision, a preapproval, a commitment to lend, an offer of credit, or a rate quote.

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