Refinance Calculator
A refinance is two questions, not one. Moving a $320,000 balance from 7.75% with 27 years left to 6.5% over 25 years takes the payment from $2,360 to $2,201, a saving of $159 a month. It also cuts the total interest, which stretching the term back out to 30 years would reverse.
This estimate does not include property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance or HOA dues. Your actual payment obligation will be greater.
These figures are the arithmetic of the assumptions you entered. BEDRWay is not a lender, does not quote rates, and this is not a loan offer, a pre-qualification or a commitment to lend. A licensed loan officer runs your actual numbers.
On this page
The two questions a refinance actually asks
The first is whether the payment falls. The second is whether the loan costs less. They are not the same question and the answers frequently disagree, which is the whole reason this page shows a signed change in total interest rather than a monthly saving alone.
Every readable refinance calculator on the market discloses lifetime interest on both loans, so this is table stakes rather than a feature. What is worth understanding is the mechanism.
How a lower payment can cost more money
Suppose you are twenty-seven years from clearing a loan and you refinance into a fresh thirty-year term. The rate falls, the balance is spread over three more years, and the payment drops noticeably. You have also signed up for thirty-six more months of interest on a balance that was already most of the way through its most expensive years.
The saving is real and so is the cost. Whether the trade is worth it depends on what the freed-up cash is doing: paying down a card at 24% is a straightforwardly good use of it, and topping up a lifestyle is a straightforwardly expensive one.
The payment that keeps your payoff date
There is a third option almost nobody shows. Take the new rate, apply it over the years you have left rather than a fresh full term, and you capture the rate improvement without restarting the clock. The payment lands between what you pay now and the headline refinance figure.
One calculator in five publishes this column. The reason it matters is that it separates two things the market usually sells together: a better rate, and a longer loan. You can take the first without the second.
What this page assumes, so you can disagree with it
- Closing costs are rolled into the new loan. That is the common arrangement and it is why nothing is due at closing here. It also means you borrow the costs and pay interest on them for the whole term.
- The current loan runs to term. If you were going to sell in three years, the lifetime interest comparison is the wrong frame entirely and the break-even page is the right one.
- No cash comes out. Taking equity out at the same time changes the balance, the pricing tier and often the loan-to-value ceiling.
What is not in the arithmetic
A refinance restarts the escrow account, so there is usually a period where you are funding a new one before the old one is refunded. There may be a prepayment penalty on the loan being retired, which is rare on modern owner-occupied mortgages and not unheard of. And a rate that is not locked is not a rate. None of those change the formula; all of them change the decision.
What the new payment does at other rates and terms
| New rate | Over 15 years | Over 20 years | Over 30 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.500% | $2,664 | $2,243 | $1,851 |
| 6.000% | $2,751 | $2,336 | $1,955 |
| 6.500% | $2,840 | $2,431 | $2,061 |
| 7.000% | $2,930 | $2,527 | $2,169 |
| 7.500% | $3,022 | $2,626 | $2,279 |
This estimate does not include property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance or HOA dues. Your actual payment obligation will be greater.
These figures are the arithmetic of the assumptions you entered. BEDRWay is not a lender, does not quote rates, and this is not a loan offer, a pre-qualification or a commitment to lend. A licensed loan officer runs your actual numbers.
Frequently asked questions
A lower payment always saves money, does it not?
No, and this is the trap. Stretching a loan you are twenty-five years from clearing back out to thirty lowers the payment and can still add tens of thousands in interest. The row above showing the change in total interest is signed for that reason: when it is positive, the cheaper month costs more money.
What is the payment that keeps my payoff date?
It is the new rate applied over the years you have left rather than a fresh full term. It is higher than the headline refinance payment and lower than what you pay now, and it captures the rate improvement without restarting the clock. One calculator in five shows it.
Should the closing costs be rolled into the loan?
This page assumes they are, which is the common arrangement and why the cash due at closing is nil. It also means you borrow them and pay interest on them for the whole term. Paying them in cash instead is what the break-even page measures.
Does the rate on my current loan matter more than the new one?
The gap between them is what matters, along with how long you keep the loan. A one point drop on a large balance you will hold for years is worth real money. The same drop on a balance you will pay off in four years often is not, once costs are counted.
Sources
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, national weekly average mortgage rates, retrieved 2026-08-24
Last updated: August 25, 2026