Does replacing the loan beat keeping it? Net position over the years you will actually stay, the break-even month, and the do-nothing alternative. Everything updates as you type.
What is still owed on the loan at a point in time. It is also the payoff amount, before any prepayment penalty or per-diem interest.
Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, published Aug 27, 2026. A national average, not your quote.
Insurance that protects the lender when the down payment is under 20%. It is added to the monthly payment and can usually be removed once you reach about 20% equity.
Modeled as paid upfront, not rolled into the loan.
What this counts: every payment made plus the balance still owed at year 5, keeping the current loan against taking the new one, including $9,600 in upfront costs. The new payment is $6,553 a month lower. Break-even arrives in month 3.
Simple calculators divide upfront costs by the monthly saving, which lands on month 2. This one also counts the balance each path leaves you with, which is why its month can differ.
•The new 30-year term resets amortization. Over the full term this path costs $716,631 more, even though the payment falls.
•Costs are modeled as paid upfront, not rolled into the loan.
Bars below the line: the refinance is behind. Bars above: it is ahead. The sign change is the break-even point.
The refinance pulls ahead of keeping the current loan at month 3, inside the 5-year horizon.
Illustrative comparison only. Not advice and not a lender commitment.
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The rest of this suite. Each answers one question.
Refinancing means replacing the mortgage you already have with a new one, usually to get a lower interest rate or to take some of your equity out as cash. Equity is the part of the property you own outright: what it is worth, minus what you still owe. Canadian refinances are capped at 80% of the property's value, and the same 80% limit applies to most US conventional cash-out refinances. Renewal is different. Your term, which is the few years your rate and conditions are locked in for, comes to an end while the loan itself still has years to run, so you sign on for a new term with the same lender or a different one. Either move can carry costs: legal and appraisal work, and a prepayment penalty if you end a term early. This calculator compares the loan you have with the one you are being offered, counts those costs, and shows how many months it takes before the new loan puts you ahead.
Plain-language definitions of every term this calculator uses.
The month a new loan has repaid its own upfront costs, counting both the payments made and the balance still owed on each path. Before it you are behind; every month after it is money ahead.
What a lender charges to end a closed mortgage before its term is up. Canadian lenders charge the greater of three months’ interest and an interest rate differential; US loans rarely carry one. Only the lender’s payout statement is exact.
A prepayment charge priced as the gap between your rate and a current one, applied to the balance for the months left in the term. Which comparison rate the lender uses, posted or discounted, can change the figure several times over.
The point where a mortgage term ends and the balance comes due. You can renew with the current lender or switch to another; a straight switch keeps the same balance and amortization, so it is not a new purchase.
Re-amortizing an existing loan over its remaining term after a lump-sum payment, which lowers the payment without replacing the loan. Lenders treat it as a separate request from a refinance.
What is still owed on the loan at a point in time. It is also the payoff amount, before any prepayment penalty or per-diem interest.
Paying a loan down to zero through equal scheduled payments. Each payment covers that month’s interest first; the remainder reduces the balance.
The number of years the loan is scheduled to run. Shorter terms mean higher payments and less total interest.
Insurance that protects the lender when the down payment is under 20%. It is added to the monthly payment and can usually be removed once you reach about 20% equity.
The lender’s charge for the borrowed money, calculated each month on the remaining balance.