Loan Calculators Help System

Instructions for using the Fixed Rate and Adjustable Rate Loan Calculators

Basic Loan Parameters
Loan Amount

Enter the dollar amount borrowed. For instance, an Eighty Thousand dollar loan would be entered as 80000.00.

Interest Rate

Enter the annual interest rate for the loan. For instance, an 8 1/2 percent loan would be entered as 8.5. For adjustable rate mortgages, enter the starting interest rate of the loan.

Loan Term

Enter the length of the mortgage in years and months. For instance, a 30-year loan is 30 years and 0 months, a 10 1/2 year loan is 10 years and 6 months.

Payment

Enter the periodic payment for the loan. For instance, if your monthly principal and interest payment is $705.15, then enter 705.15. Notice that this is only principal and interest. It does not include taxes and insurance.

First Payment Date

Enter the date that your first payment is due. The date should be in the MM/DD/YYYY format. If your first payment is due September 1, 2025, then enter 09/01/2025.

Loan Description

Enter descriptive information about the mortgage. For example: Home Mortgage - 1st National Bank.

Fixed/Adjustable

Enter either F for a fixed rate loan, or A for an adjustable rate loan.

Start Date

Enter a starting date. For reports, this date is the first date of the mortgage on the report. For Mortgage comparisons, enter the first date of the mortgage to start comparing.

Additional Principal Options
Additional Principal

Enter the amount of extra principal payment to be applied to the current month. This amount is subtracted from the outstanding loan balance and affects the amount of interest owed on the loan.

Additional Principal - Whole Loan

Enter the amount of additional money to apply to the principal for each payment. The amount will be applied starting at the specified payment number in the Starting At Payment# field. For example, if you want eighty dollars applied to every month, enter 80.

Starting At Payment#

Enter the starting payment number for applying additional principal for each payment. The additional principal will be applied starting at this payment and continuing through the last payment or until the loan is paid off.

Payoff Date

Enter the date in MM/DD/YYYY format that you wish to pay the loan off.

Starting Payment # (Payoff)

Enter the first payment number to apply extra principal. The extra principal is applied starting at this payment and continuing until the loan is paid off on the date you specify. For instance, if you want to pay off your loan on Jan 1, 2030, and your next payment is due on 01/01/2025, enter the payment # that corresponds to that date.

Adjustable Rate Options
Adjustable Rate

Enter the interest rate for each year. If the year is in the future then enter the maximum rate allowed for that year.

Maximum Loan % Increase

Enter the maximum number of percentage points that your loan can increase over the initial percentage over the life of the loan. For instance, if your loan starts out at 5%, and can go no higher than 10%, then enter 5.

Maximum Annual % Increase

Enter the maximum number of percentage points that your loan can increase over last year's percentage. Most adjustable rate loans are capped at 2 percent. Example, if this year's rate is 7 percent, and the cap is 2 percent, then next year is limited to 9 percent, and the year after that to 11 percent (assuming we're not over the Maximum Loan % Increase).

Payment Charts
Payment Chart - Rate

Use this screen to see a payment chart where the payment is affected by changes in the interest rate.

Payment Chart - Year

Use this screen to see a payment chart where the payment is affected by changes in the term of the loan.

$ Increment for Payment Chart

Enter dollar amount the mortgage should increase by on the left hand side of the payment chart.

Year Decrement

Enter number of years mortgage should vary for top side of mortgage chart.

Rate Increment

Enter percentage amount to vary initial interest rate for top side of mortgage chart.

Diff (Y/N)

Enter Y to see the difference between the payment in the first column and payments in the columns to the right. Enter N to see payments in all columns.

Amortization by Year

The amortization chart at the bottom of the Mortgage screen can display 12 payments per screen. If you wish to display only data with the same year as the top entry, then enter Y. Otherwise enter N.

Affordability Options
Affordability Chart

Use this menu to see how much mortgage payment or loan amount you can afford.

Annual Gross Income

Enter your annual gross income. Gross income includes salary plus miscellaneous income. Example: $50,000.00 dollars a year. This amount is multiplied by a percentage to estimate the maximum monthly outlay for housing.

$ Increment

Enter dollar amount the Annual Gross Income should increase by on the left hand side of the chart.

Maximum PITI - Percentage of Monthly Income

This percentage is used by the Affordability Chart to determine the maximum monthly housing expense. This percentage is multiplied by the monthly gross income. The resulting number is the maximum monthly housing expense, including P&I, taxes, and insurance (PITI). For example, if your gross annual income is $48,000, your monthly gross income is $48,000 / 12 = $4000.00. If a percentage of 28 is used, your maximum monthly housing expense would be $4000 * 28% = $1,120.00. The house expense includes principal & interest, taxes, and insurance.

Maximum Debt Payment, Percentage of Monthly Income

This percentage is used by the Affordability Chart to determine the maximum monthly debt amount. This percentage is multiplied by the monthly gross income. For example, if your gross annual income is $48,000, your monthly gross income is $48,000 / 12 = $4000.00. If a percentage of 36 is used, your allowable monthly debt would be $4000 * 36% = $1,440.00. This amount includes debt obligations only, such as house payment, auto payment, credit card bills. It does not include normal living expenses such as food and utility bills.

Percentage of Maximum PITI for P&I

This percentage is used by the Affordability Chart to determine the principal & interest portion of a house payment. For example, if $1000 is the maximum house payment, and 80 is used, $1000 * 80% = $800.00. $800 represents the principal and interest portion of $1000. The other $200 is for taxes and insurance.

Comparing Mortgages
Comparing Mortgages

Choose this menu option to compare 2 mortgages. Enter the loan parameters for both and click on the appropriate buttons.

# of Payments to Compare

Enter the number of payments to compare. For example, if you wanting to compare only 3 years of payments, then enter 36.

General Help
Computing Missing Variables

Use this screen to compute either a Payment, Loan Amount, Interest Rate, or Loan Term. Simply leave the unknown value blank and click on Recalculate.

Saving and Reloading Loans

You may save amortizations by using your browser's Save As menu. Choose a filename and save the file to disk. You may then open the file in your browser by using the Open menu. Simply choose the file that you saved to disk. If you bookmark this file, then it is a simple task to rechoose this file via bookmark. After the file is loaded, to see any changes you make, press the Recalculate button, and then use Save As again to resave the file.

Print

Use the Print command of your browser to print any page.

Help Usage

Press the Help icon at any point to see this file.

Data Design Group
Designed by: Data Design Group, Inc.