Most refinance pitches sell you the rate. The real question is the break-even: how many months until the closing costs pay back through the monthly savings. If you sell before that, you lost money even though the rate was lower.
All numbers stay in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Educational tool only. Not a quote and not a commitment to lend. Actual rates and closing costs depend on your credit, loan-to-value, property type, and lender. All loans subject to underwriting approval.
The calculator uses the closing-cost estimate you typed in. Actual closing costs depend on the lender, your equity, and how the new loan is structured. A 30-minute strategy call gives you a real quote with verified closing costs so you know exactly how the break-even math holds up.
Schedule My Refi Strategy CallFree 30-minute call. No hard credit pull on the initial call. No obligation.
If the break-even is 18 months and you're planning to move in 12, the refinance loses you money. If you're staying 7+ years, almost any positive-savings refinance pays off.
Refinancing a 30-yr loan you've already paid 8 years on, back into a new 30-yr, restarts you at year zero. Your monthly might drop but your lifetime interest could go up. We model this on the call.
"No-cost refinance" usually means the costs are rolled into the new balance — you're financing the closing costs at the new rate. Sometimes that's smart. Sometimes it isn't. The calculator assumes you pay closing costs at closing.
Conventional wisdom: under 24 months is excellent, 24-48 months is reasonable if you'll stay 5+ years, over 48 months means the refinance probably doesn't make sense. But it depends on your situation — your time horizon in the home, what you'd do with the freed-up monthly cash flow, and whether you're consolidating other debt.
Look at your monthly mortgage statement. The total payment usually includes Principal + Interest + Taxes + Insurance (PITI). For this calculator, you want only the P&I number — the taxes and insurance part is the same whether you refinance or not.
Cash-out is a different calculation because you're also receiving cash. The break-even logic still applies to the rate-and-term portion, but the cash extracted should be evaluated against what you do with it (consolidating high-interest debt? Renovating? Investing?). We model both sides on the strategy call.
Usually one of two reasons: (1) you shortened the term (going from 30 to 15 years raises the payment even at a lower rate), or (2) closing costs are being financed into the new loan. The calculator assumes you keep the same balance and just change the rate/term.
It depends. "No-cost" usually means the lender accepts a slightly higher rate (a lender credit) or rolls the costs into the loan balance. For shorter time horizons (under 2-3 years in the home), no-cost can win. For longer holds, paying the costs upfront usually saves more total dollars.
A 30-minute strategy call covers your current loan, the programs you qualify for, the actual rate/cost combo for your file, and whether the refinance is genuinely the right move.
Book My Refi Strategy CallNo obligation. Licensed in California and 40+ states.
Free 30-minute strategy call. No hard credit pull on the initial call. No obligation. If the numbers do not work for you, we will say so.