To find the right mortgage for your financial situation, use our mortgage calculator as a guide to figure out your estimated monthly payments, interest and principal rates, and the length of the mortgage.

Generally, a mortgage payment consists of PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance. Principal is the monthly payback of the loan amount; Interest is the monthly payment of the cost to borrow the principal amount; Taxes consist of Real Estate taxes, which is paid to a local government agency; and Insurance deals with Homeowners insurance and any mortgage insurance (paid to protect the mortgage company). Buyers should also be aware that there are many types of mortgages, two of the most popular mortgages are: fixed and adjustable. Fixed mortgages have fixed interest rates and terms (e.g., 15 or 30 years). Principal payment and interest won’t change during the term, and both the interest rate and term are determined at the beginning of the mortgage. Adjustable mortgage rates, or ARM, are different from fixed mortgages in that the interest rate will go up or down depending on the current interest rate levels. The same can be said about the monthly principal and interest payments.