Determining to refinance your mortgage may require a more sophisticated approach than most mortgage calculators provide.

Many years ago when interest rates seemed to be declining almost every day, I attempted to determine the exact point I could benefit from refinancing my home mortgage.  At first I search the internet for a mortgage calculator that could aid me in my decision, but to my disappointment I discovered that they all lacked the sophistication necessary to be of much use.

In fact they were so seriously lacking in their complexity that they were nearly financially ineffectual. So after frustratingly realizing I was not going to find what I needed, I decided to build my own mortgage calculators and in 2005 I transferred them to a browser format making them available to the general public. You can try my mortgage calculators at Mortgage Calculators.

Determining the economic benefits of refinancing depends on many factors, i.e. 1) what is the rate on your existing loan, 2) what is the current rate at which you can refinance, 3) what will it cost you to refinance, 4) how long do you expect to hold the property hence hold the loan, and 5) what is the time value of money. My website RealEstate-Calc.com can help guide you through a step by step approach in the application of these variables.

When creating any financial calculator or model there is a trade off between complexity and simplicity versus effectual and ineffectual and striking the right balance is the key to being a good analyst. “Mathematical modeling”, “manipulation of numeric data” and “displaying numeric results” are all part of an art form! To think otherwise would produce less than superior results.

Most mortgage calculators leave out the ability for the user to adjust for how long they expect to hold the loan and none that I know of allow the user to adjust for the time value of money.  Most do not allow the user to adjust for a mortgage that has already been amortizing for a significant period of time.

These are important variables if you desire more accurate results than the typical mortgage calculator provides.  My mortgage calculators will allow you to adjust for how long you expect to hold a loan (live in the property) and you can adjust for a mortgage that has already been significantly paid down.  You can also consider the effects of making an additional fixed monthly payment to your mortgage.