Figuring out how to calculate a mortgage payment can be fairly frustrating for someone that’s never done it. Learning how will prevent a lot of future hassle.
When you are in the market to buy a new home, you are most likely trying to find ways to figure out your monthly expenses and how much money you will need to put away each month in order to efficiently afford your mortgage.
If you are considering a mortgage with Scotiabank, Bestmortgagerates4u.ca’s Scotiabank mortgage rates calculator helps you easily estimate your monthly expenses and also helps you budget for other foreseen expenses.
You’ll need to know a few details to use a mortgage calculator. You’ll require the asking price of the new home, the amount of the down payment, the amortization period in which you’ll pay off the mortgage, the frequency of payments, and the mortgage rate. Once you collect all of this information, you’ll be able to figure out a more accurate calculation of your mortgage. A payment calculator also shows you all how different variables will have an effect on your mortgage payments. Some of these variables are the frequency of payment, amortization period, and down payment amount,
Impact Of Mortgage Payment Frequency
You will want to see what the difference will be between choosing accelerated biweekly or monthly mortgage payments as you develop your monthly budget. The best way to see the effect of adjusting the frequency of your payments is by comparing the total interest paid on the mortgage with the two situations.
Suppose the home you want to buy is $500,000 and you make a down payment of 5 percent. The overall mortgage cost will be $492,100 (because you will have to pay $17,100 in mortgage insurance) and you have selected an amortization period of 25 years.
When you qualify for the current five-year fixed rate of 4.49 percent with Scotiabank and make the applicable monthly payments, you will be paying interest of $324,172 over the duration of the mortgage (this assumes that your interest rate stays the same amount over the entire amortization period).
However, you must pay $275,076 in interest if you make regular bi-weekly payments. This translates to savings of $49,096. You will also be able to pay off your mortgage three years earlier. Therefore, the accelerated bi-weekly option provides you with the most savings if your budget allows for monthly or accelerated bi-weekly payments.
Impact Of A Lower Mortgage Rate
The fastest and most efficient way to reduce your mortgage payment and the overall amount of interest paid is to get the best mortgage rate you can find. By lowering your mortgage payments, you will be able to allocate more funds to other expenses or savings. Let’s use the same example from above (a $500,000 home with a 5 percent down payment and a 25-year amortization period) to look at the impact of mortgage rates, but instead, compare how the lowest rate on the market would affect your monthly payment.
With the five-year fixed rate of 4.49 percent from Scotiabank, your monthly mortgage payment will be $2,721 and over 25 years you will pay $324,172 in total interest. However, if you manage to get the lowest fixed rate on the market for five years (2.14 percent as of November 16), the monthly payment will be $2,117 and the total interest amount you pay will be $143,059. As a result, you’ll save a monthly amount of $604 and an interest amount of $181,113.
This example emphasizes the importance of shopping around for comparisons on mortgage rates. It is important to keep in mind that the posted rate of a bank is usually much higher than the rate for which you are going to qualify. When you call Scotiabank looking around for rates, you will, in most cases, be offered a lower rate that is closer to that of the best current market rate.
Consider getting a mortgage broker to help you go through your comparison shopping. A mortgage broker will assist you in finding the lowest rates on the market by kind of acting like an intermediary between you and potential lenders. He or she can compare several different prices at once and even pass on volume discounts to you.
The Bottom Line
The calculation of your monthly expenses is incredibly important and will show you an estimated cost of owning a home. Mortgage payment calculators are very convenient and can also assist you in budgeting by estimating the amount needed for legal fees, land transfer taxes and title insurance. You should always make sure to utilize mortgage payment calculators and consider the above methods to reduce mortgage payments to best suit all of your home-buying needs.
Have more questions? Check out our FAQ page to get all your mortgage rate answers.