Common questions
How does break-even work?
Upfront fees ÷ monthly savings = months until the refinance has paid for itself. Break even in 16 months and keep the loan for years afterward, and the refi was worth it; sell or refinance again before break-even and you paid the fees for nothing.
What is the term-reset trap?
A new 30-year loan restarts front-loaded interest. Your payment can drop while your lifetime interest goes up, because you're paying for more months than you had left, so the honest comparison is total cost: remaining payments on the old loan versus all payments on the new one plus fees. This calculator shows both, side by side, and warns you when the payment drop and the lifetime cost disagree.
What is the keep-your-payoff-date row?
It re-runs the new rate over the exact number of months you have left, instead of a fresh 30 years. That isolates the pure rate benefit (the interest you save from the lower rate alone) with almost the same payment and no reset. If the lifetime line looks bad, this row is usually the smarter move.
How do cash-out and rolling in the costs change it?
Cash-out is new borrowing, not a cost, so it's excluded from the fee numerator, but it raises your balance and can push your loan-to-value back above 80%, which re-triggers PMI. Rolling the fees into the loan does the same. This calculator re-checks PMI at the new balance and value rather than carrying over your old status, and folds PMI into your monthly savings when it applies.
When does refinancing clearly make sense?
When the monthly savings are real, you’ll keep the loan well past break-even, and the lifetime line isn’t deeply negative, or when you’re deliberately buying a lower payment and know its cost. The numbers here give you both views plus the same-payoff alternative; the decision depends on how long you’ll stay.
