Online Calculator Glossary
Amortization Period
Enter, in years, the term of your loan. A 30-year mortgage will result in lower monthly payments, but higher interest costs over the life of your loan than a 15-year mortgage.
Amount You Will Save Annually Toward Down Payment
Enter the amount of money you feel your household can save annually and later apply toward a down payment on the purchase of a home. This variable, combined with the amount you enter for gross annual household income, helps our calculators determine an estimated annual rate of savings for your household.
Annual Home Price Appreciation Assumption
Enter a reasonable rate of annual home price growth over the next several years. You may want to consult a local lender, real estate agent, or home builder to gain a better of understanding of how home prices fluctuate in your area. As a proxy, the National Association of Realtors (http://nar.realtor.com) reports that the median home price rose 6.2 percent in 1997.
Annual Interest Rate
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of interest paid on a home mortgage loan.
Current Gross Annual Household Income
Enter the amount of money your household currently earns annually before taxes and other items are deducted. This variable, combined with the amount you plan on saving annually toward a down payment, helps our calculators determine an estimated annual rate of savings for your household.
Current Savings For Down Payment
Enter how much money you currently have saved for the purchase of a home. Your savings will limit the size of home you can buy. However, by going with PrivateMI and making a smaller down payment, you can increase your purchasing power.
Down Payment
Enter, in years, the term of your loan. A 30-year mortgage will result in lower monthly payments, but higher interest costs over the life of your loan than a 15-year mortgage.
Expected Annual Increases In Income
Enter how much you anticipate your gross annual household income will grow each year over the next several years. As a proxy, the federal government reports that the median household income, adjusted for inflation, grew 1.9 % in 1997.
Financed Single Premium
One-time premium covering the whole term of the loan that is included in the total loan amount.
Gross Monthly Income
Enter the amount of money your household earns each month before taxes and other items are deducted.
Homeowners Insurance As a % of Home Value
We've provided a default value of 0.5 percent. However, depending on where you live, the cost of homeowners' insurance could be higher or lower. Contact an insurance agent or a lender, real estate agent, or home builder to get a more accurate estimate of homeowners' insurance costs in your area.
Mortgage Amount
Enter the initial amount of your first mortgage.
Other Monthly Debt Payments
Enter the total of all other monthly obligations, such as car loans, student loans, credit card debt, etc. This figure should only include debt, not living expenses, such as utility payments.
Piggyback Loan
A loan in which the buyer takes a first mortgage to finance part of the value of the property and a second mortgage to finance another part of the value. For example, a buyer could put 10% down, then take out a first mortgage for 80% of the home's value and second mortgage for the remaining 10% of its value. The two mortgages together are called a piggyback loan.
Points Paid To Lender And Other Costs
We've entered a default value of 2 percent. This includes title insurance, prepaid interest, property valuation (appraisal), underwriting and processing fees, prepaid homeowners' insurance, and prepaid property taxes. If you choose to "buy down" your interest rate to reduce monthly payments, you will want to adjust this variable. For example, if you pay the lender one point, you might want to enter 3 percent. Also, if property taxes are greater than 2.5 percent of home value in your area, you may want to increase this variable. Consult a lender for guidance.
Property Taxes As % Of Home Value
We've provided a default value of 2.5 percent. However, depending on where you live, your property taxes as a percent of home value could be much less or much greater. Contact a lender, real estate agent, or home builder to get a more accurate estimate of property tax costs in your area.
Original Value
Enter the lesser of the sales price or the appraised value of the property at the time of closing.
Sale Price Of The Home You'd Like To Buy
Enter the price of a home you'd like to buy. The amount of cash you will need to close and the length of time you will have to wait to accumulate that cash will grow if you are looking to buy a more expensive home.