What inputs are required for mortgage calculations?
Required: loan amount, interest rate, and loan term in years. Optional: down payment, annual property tax, annual home insurance, and annual HOA fees. All optional fields default to 0 if not provided.
How is the monthly payment calculated?
The monthly mortgage payment (principal + interest) is calculated using the standard amortization formula. Property tax, insurance, and HOA are then divided by 12 and added to get the total monthly payment.
What does the amortization schedule include?
The amortization schedule shows each month's payment broken down into principal payment, interest payment, and remaining balance. This helps visualize how payments shift from mostly interest to mostly principal over time.
Can I compare different loan scenarios?
Yes! Make multiple API calls with different parameters (loan terms, rates, down payments) to compare scenarios. The response includes total interest paid and total loan cost for easy comparison.
Are property taxes and insurance included?
Yes, if you provide annual_propertytax, annual_homeinsurance, and annual_hoa values, they're included in both monthly and annual payment totals. These are optional parameters.
What loan terms are supported?
Loan terms from 1 to 50 years are supported. Common terms are 15 and 30 years. The amortization schedule adjusts to show the full loan duration.
How is the interest ratio calculated?
The interest ratio represents the percentage of your total payments that go toward interest versus principal. A 45% ratio means 45% of total payments are interest.
Does this work for refinancing calculations?
Yes! Use your current loan balance as the amount and compare different rate/term combinations. The total interest saved can help decide if refinancing makes sense.
