Mortgage Payoff Calculator

Choose your starting mortgage details

The calculator offers two ways to describe the loan you have. With Current balance you type the unpaid principal from your latest statement, the fixed rate, and either the months remaining or your monthly principal-and-interest payment. This is the most reliable route, because the statement already reflects every payment, extra payment and rate change in the loan's history. With Original loan you enter the original amount, the original term in months, the rate and the months still to go, and the tool reconstructs the payment and estimates today's balance. For a $400,000 loan at 6% over 360 months with 300 payments left, the payment is $2,398.20 and the estimated balance is $372,217.43.

That reconstruction rests on one assumption, which the page shows beside the result: the rate never changed and you made only the scheduled payments, with no extra, missed or deferred ones. If that is false, your true balance differs, and the statement balance is the better input. Enter principal and interest only, because escrow for taxes and insurance, mortgage insurance and servicing fees do not reduce the loan. If a payment barely covers the month's interest the balance would never fall, so the tool says so instead of inventing a payoff date. Every strategy starts from the same balance today, which keeps each comparison like with like.

Before you calculate, gather three figures from your latest statement: the unpaid principal balance, the interest rate, and either the payment of principal and interest or the date the loan ends. If your statement shows one combined amount, subtract the escrow portion first. When your figures disagree with the reconstruction, trust the statement, because it reflects what the servicer has actually applied to the loan.

How extra mortgage payments reduce interest

Interest is charged on the balance you still owe, so principal paid early stops generating interest for the rest of the loan. Each month the ledger runs in a fixed order: interest accrues on the opening balance, the regular payment is applied, then any extra principal, and every amount is capped at what remains. Use this as a payoff mortgage early calculator and a mortgage loan payoff calculator in one: pick a strategy, press Calculate, and read the payments left, the payoff month and the interest saved from today forward.

Take the $372,217.43 balance at 6%. With no extra, 300 payments remain and the remaining interest is $347,243.20. Adding $500 every month ends the loan in 207 payments, leaves $224,937.00 of interest and saves $122,306.21. That is what an accelerated mortgage payoff calculator should show: the extra does not change the required payment, it removes principal sooner.

The ledger makes the mechanism visible. In the first payment of the example, a month of interest at 0.5% on $372,217.43 is $1,861.09, so only $537.11 of the $2,398.20 payment reduces principal. A $10,000 extra principal payment made with payment 1 saves $32,593.85 and ends the loan in 283 payments. The same $10,000 paid with payment 120 saves $13,993.50, and with payment 240 only $3,334.08. The amount is identical; the difference is how many months of interest it avoids.

Monthly, annual and one-time payments

Timing matters as much as the total. The table keeps the same $6,000 a year of extra principal in four different shapes against the same balance, so you can see how earlier money does more work.

A smaller example shows all three types together: a $10,000 balance at 12% with 24 months left, $100 extra monthly, $200 extra in payment 12 and every 12 payments after, and $500 extra in payment 3. The loan ends in 18 payments with $947.09 of interest, saving $350.54.

Choosing between the shapes is mostly about cash flow. A monthly extra is simple to automate: $100 a month ends the example in 274 payments and saves $35,058.14, $250 ends it in 244 payments and saves $75,261.67, and $1,000 ends it in 160 payments and saves $178,927.86. A yearly extra suits irregular income: $3,000 a year starting with payment 1 saves $78,522.17, while the same amount starting with payment 12 saves $72,037.36. The yearly extra is paid in the payment number you choose, from 1 to 12, and then every 12 payments. Every extra is capped at the balance, which is why the last payment is smaller.

Biweekly versus twice-monthly payments

A biweekly plan pays every two weeks, which is 26 payments a year. Paying twice a month is 24. If each payment is half the monthly amount, twice-monthly payments add up to exactly the monthly payment, so they change timing only, while 26 half payments equal 13 monthly payments a year. This calculator models biweekly as 26 half payments with the annual rate divided by 26, interest on the opening balance of each period and a capped final payment.

On the $372,217.43 example the half payment is $1,199.10, the loan ends after 547 biweekly payments (21.04 model years instead of 25), and interest is $283,235.11 against $347,243.20, a saving of $64,008.09. The result is shown as a period count and model years, not a calendar date, because servicers differ: some hold partial payments until a full monthly amount accumulates before crediting them to your loan. Treat the figure as a model of the stated convention, not a prediction of your lender's statement.

Work backward from a payoff target

Choose Target payoff and enter the months you want to be debt-free in. The calculator finds the level payment that clears the balance in that time and subtracts your current payment; the difference is the extra monthly amount. On the $372,217.43 example, finishing in 180 months needs $3,140.98 a month, which is $742.78 above the regular $2,398.20, and cuts interest to $193,159.36.

If your current payment already meets the target, the tool reports that no extra is needed rather than showing a negative amount. For the smaller $10,000 example, a 12-month target needs $888.49 a month, an extra $417.75. Target mode switches the monthly, annual and one-time extras off, because the solver supplies the extra for you.

If you would rather retire the loan in a chosen time, work backward from the number of months. Finishing the $372,217.43 balance in 120 months needs $4,132.38 a month, which is $1,734.17 more than the regular payment and saves $223,575.44 of interest. Check that the monthly amount fits your budget before choosing the term, and remember the calculation assumes you pay the full amount every month.

Estimated principal versus a servicer payoff quote

Repay now answers one question: how much principal would be left if you settled at time zero, and how much future interest would that avoid? In the example, that is $372,217.43 of modelled principal and $347,243.20 of interest avoided. It does not produce installment rows, because nothing is paid over time.

It is not a payoff quote. A real settlement figure adds interest accrued since the last payment and may include discharge or recording fees and a prepayment charge if your contract has one. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains that when you write to ask what it costs to pay off a mortgage, the servicer generally has seven business days to answer, and that you should check your loan allows extra payments and that they are applied to principal. See its page on what your mortgage servicer must do.

Compare payoff, refinancing and keeping cash available

Paying down a mortgage is one use of money among several. Cash used for extra principal is no longer liquid, so it helps to keep an emergency reserve before committing every spare dollar: the emergency fund calculator helps you plan cash reserves. Prepaying also earns a certain return equal to your mortgage rate, which you can set against investing the same money with the mortgage versus investing calculator.

Refinancing replaces the loan rather than shortening it, adds fees and can reset the term, so the savings must be compared on the same date. Use the refinance calculator to compare refinancing costs and remaining debt before replacing your mortgage. To see monthly principal and interest in a full table, open the amortization calculator, or browse mortgage and real estate calculators for the full set of housing tools. If you plan one large payment and want a lower monthly payment instead of a shorter loan, see the mortgage recast calculator. This page offers educational estimates, not personal advice.

A practical comparison prices each option on the same date. Paying $500 a month extra on the example saves $122,306.21 of interest, before taxes, but moves $6,000 a year out of your accessible cash. If your savings would earn less than the mortgage rate, prepaying is a certain return equal to that rate; if you expect more, or you may need the money, the answer changes. Refinancing into a lower rate might cut the payment without shortening the loan, and it adds fees.

Read the schedule and test another scenario

Each schedule lists the payment number, the month when you gave a start month, the regular payment, extra principal, interest, principal and the remaining balance. The last row is a partial payment: with $500 extra the final payment is $124.79, because it is capped at what is owed. Export the schedule as a CSV, change one input and press Calculate again to compare, or start from a new mortgage with the mortgage calculator or the loan payment calculator.

When you test scenarios, change one input at a time and note the payments left, the payoff month and the interest saved. A $300,000 statement balance at 6% with 300 months left has a payment of $1,932.90 and $279,871.26 of remaining interest; adding $500 a month cuts that to 193 payments and $167,572.41, saving $112,298.85. Because the saving depends on the balance as well as the extra, the same $500 saves less on a smaller balance and more on a larger one.

FAQ

How do I calculate mortgage payoff?

Start from your current unpaid principal and model future interest and payments; request a lender quote for the actual settlement amount.

Can I use my original mortgage amount?

Yes, if the fixed-rate loan has followed its regular schedule. Past extra or missed payments make a current statement balance more suitable.

Will extra payments reduce my required monthly payment?

This model keeps scheduled P&I unchanged and shortens the term. A lender recast is a different process.

Are biweekly and twice-monthly payments the same?

No. The model uses 26 half payments a year; twice-monthly produces 24.

Can I choose a date or term to finish sooner?

The existing target mode calculates the extra monthly amount for your chosen remaining term.

Does “repay now” include every fee?

No. It estimates modeled principal and excludes accrued daily interest, discharge fees and prepayment charges.