Why use DeedTally?
A mortgage calculator with no lender relationships, no lead forms, and no financial product to sell you.
Most mortgage calculators are lead generation tools
The major real estate and personal finance platforms earn revenue when you contact a lender through them. The calculator is the hook — your contact information is the product. DeedTally has no lender relationships and earns nothing from your numbers. The calculation is the entire point.
PITI, not just principal and interest
A complete mortgage payment includes principal, interest, property taxes, and insurance — PITI. Many calculators show only the first two because the full number is less appealing in a sales context. DeedTally shows the complete payment, including private mortgage insurance when your down payment falls below 20%.
Amortization shows where your money actually goes
Early mortgage payments are mostly interest, not equity. The full amortization schedule shows month by month how that ratio shifts over the life of the loan. Seeing that, in year one, the majority of your payment goes to the lender rather than your ownership stake is often genuinely clarifying for first-time buyers.
Your financial inputs stay in your browser
Purchase price, income assumptions, and down payment figures are entered entirely client-side and never transmitted. Financial calculators that operate server-side can log your inputs — inputs that may be associated with a session identifier and used for targeted advertising or lead scoring.
Why most mortgage calculators lie to you
The monthly payment figure Google shows you — and the one on Bankrate, NerdWallet, and Zillow — is almost always just principal and interest. Independent testing of 23 popular calculators found that 16 of them underestimate the real monthly payment by $300–$800 by omitting property taxes, homeowners insurance, and PMI. DeedTally shows you the full PITI payment from the start: principal and interest, plus estimated property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI (with the exact month it drops off when you hit 80% LTV), and HOA fees. That's the number your budget needs.
Amortization: where your money actually goes
In the early years of a mortgage, the vast majority of each payment goes to interest, not principal. On a $400,000 30-year loan at 7%, your first payment of roughly $2,661 splits as $2,333 in interest and only $328 in principal — 12% of the payment builds equity. By year 15, the split is closer to 50/50. By year 25, most of each payment is principal. The amortization schedule makes this concrete: every month's breakdown of interest paid, principal paid, and remaining balance, across the full loan term. DeedTally shows monthly and annual views, and lets you export the full schedule to CSV.
Extra payments: the math is better than you think
Adding $200 to your monthly payment on a $400,000 30-year loan at 7% saves approximately $68,000 in interest and pays off the loan 5 years early. The earlier in the loan you make extra payments, the more they save — because every extra dollar of principal you pay today eliminates future interest on that dollar for the remainder of the term. A single $5,000 lump-sum payment made in year 1 saves more than the same $5,000 made in year 15. DeedTally models monthly extra payments, annual lump sums, and one-time payments so you can see exactly what each strategy saves in interest and time.
PMI: when it applies and when it ends
Private mortgage insurance is required by most conventional lenders when your down payment is less than 20% of the home's purchase price — when your loan-to-value ratio exceeds 80%. PMI typically costs 0.5%–1.5% of the loan amount per year, added to your monthly payment. The good news: PMI is not permanent. Under the Homeowners Protection Act, lenders must cancel PMI automatically when your balance reaches 78% of the original purchase price (based on your original amortization schedule). You can also request cancellation at 80% LTV if you can demonstrate your home's current value. DeedTally shows the exact month PMI drops off your payment, and how much you'll save per month when it does.
The full monthly payment — not just the loan payment
Most mortgage calculators, including the ones lenders hand you, show you principal and interest — what’s technically your loan payment. But your actual monthly cost is higher. Property taxes are collected monthly through an escrow account. Homeowners insurance is required and paid the same way. If your down payment was less than 20%, you’re also paying private mortgage insurance until you build enough equity. DeedTally shows you all four components — Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance — so the number you’re budgeting against is what you’ll actually be writing a check for each month.
Why years of payments barely touch the loan balance at first
In the early years of a mortgage, almost all of your monthly payment goes to the lender as interest — not to reducing what you owe. On a $400,000 loan at 7%, your first payment might be around $2,661, but only about $328 of that reduces your balance. The rest is interest. This gradually reverses: as the balance shrinks, less interest accrues each month, and more of each payment goes to principal. The amortization schedule makes this concrete — every month’s breakdown of interest paid, principal paid, and remaining balance, all the way to the final payment.
How much extra payments actually save
Adding even a modest amount to your monthly payment has an outsized impact because every extra dollar reduces your remaining balance, which reduces the interest that accrues on that balance for the rest of the loan. An extra $200 a month on a $400,000 loan at 7% can save around $68,000 in total interest and cut 5 years off the loan. The earlier in the loan you make extra payments, the more they save — because you eliminate more future interest. DeedTally models different scenarios so you can see exactly what any extra payment strategy saves before deciding.
What PMI is and when you stop paying it
If you buy a home with less than 20% down, most lenders require private mortgage insurance — a monthly fee that protects the lender if you default (not you). PMI typically runs 0.5%–1.5% of the loan amount per year. The important thing most people don’t know: PMI isn’t permanent. By law, lenders must automatically cancel it when your balance reaches 78% of the original purchase price. You can also request cancellation at 80% LTV. DeedTally shows you exactly which month PMI drops off and how much your payment decreases when it does.