Rising interest rates make household budgeting more important.
And households with home loans need to work through their options when mortgage rollovers come around.
When you consider 'options' you will be working through various scenarios, and that is where our unique home loan calculator can help. It is essentially two identical calculators, side by side. And that makes it very easy to compare options.
There are many home loan calculators available - in fact we have a set here.
But few allow you to solve for different options. Our full function one does however.
You can click-set it to solve for a number of key things, like:
- the repayment amount, or
- the amount you could borrow, or
- the interest rate you could afford, or
- the term of the loan.
All these answers can be found in the same calculator, a very big advantage.
They are rare, but some home loans (especially revolving credit loans) still come with fees. And some borrowers want to know what the situation would be at an interim point (like at the end of a fixed interest rate period) rather than at the final end of the loan. Our "balloon payment" setting can help with that,
Whether you are having a 'family meeting' to discuss your options, or getting ready to talk to a mortgage broker, or even the bank or other lender, doing some preparatory homework on a good home loan calculator will flush out the alternatives neatly, setting up questions you need help with. Even if you can't get the answers you need working with a calculator, at least you are narrowing down the key questions a professional can help with. And they will appreciate that you "came prepared". All lenders will like that you want to take control of your finances; it shows a responsible approach to money matters.
A home loan calculator isn't a household budgeting tool. It just focuses on one item, even if it is the largest one. Getting this right sets clarity on the rest of your budget.
Rising interest rates do hurt. But there are options to consider. And it is always better to know what you are facing than brushing the implications aside.
You can find our full-function home loan calculator here.
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