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Put one home price through up to four loans side by side, on a fixed rate or an ARM. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Using your saved numbers ·
Every loan you tick, side by side on the same numbers.
Worth a look right now: builder lenders are starting ARMs well under fixed rates. The caps are the guardrails, the most the rate can rise at each adjustment and over the life of the loan, so you know the worst case before you sign.
As of Oct 29, 2026, Freddie Mac
Enter an illustrative interest rate provided by a lender. Rates shown in builder advertisements may have eligibility requirements, fees, and restrictions. This calculator does not reproduce or verify a builder’s financing offer.
7.24% is the 30-year fixed average for the week of Oct 29, 2026 (Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey), refreshed each week when Freddie Mac publishes. The 3.99% scenario is an illustrative builder promotional rate based on Mike’s experience with Maricopa new-build incentives. It is not a current rate quote or guaranteed offer, and it is not a market average. It only applies when you choose it. Either one fills the Interest rate box below, and you can type your own.
An ARM holds a low rate for a set stretch, then adjusts on a schedule. Where it pays off in Maricopa is a new build, and how long you’re keeping the house decides the rest.
Mortgage insurance (called PMI on conventional loans, MIP on FHA) is in each loan’s monthly payment below.
Enter a home price to see the payments.
Swipe sideways to see the other columns →
I am a REALTOR®, not a licensed mortgage loan originator. This is an illustrative mortgage calculation for planning and comparison, using the loan term and interest rate you enter. It is not an advertised financing offer, a loan offer, a rate quote, a commitment to lend or mortgage advice. Every rate here is a number you typed or a starting value you can change; none is fetched from a lender, and none reflects a rate available to you today. The interest rate shown is an assumption, not an APR. Interest rate, APR, down payment, repayment terms, payment schedule, payment amounts and fees depend on lender-approved terms: contact a licensed mortgage lender for actual financing disclosures.
Bring me the numbers before you decide. I’ll get you to the lender who should be pricing your scenario.
A bigger down payment does not remove FHA mortgage insurance. FHA charges 1.75% up front plus an annual MIP no matter how much you put down — putting 10% or more down only shortens that annual MIP to 11 years instead of the life of the loan. Conventional at 20% down has no mortgage insurance at all. The calculator above puts your own numbers side by side so you can see what that actually costs.
And two more that most buyers never get told about: VA and USDA both allow zero down. VA has no monthly mortgage insurance at all; USDA is limited by the address, not the town. Tick whichever apply to you in the calculator above.
Every FHA loan carries an upfront mortgage insurance premium of 1.75% of the base loan, normally financed into the loan, plus an annual MIP collected monthly. That annual MIP is charged whether you put down 3.5% or 25%.
What your down payment changes is how long you pay it:
That 10% line is a hard edge. 9.9% down and 10.1% down are two very different loans.
Conventional PMI applies when you put down less than 20%. It is not permanent. For eligible borrower-paid PMI, you can request cancellation at 80% of original value, subject to payment-history and other requirements. Automatic termination generally occurs when the scheduled balance reaches 78%, provided payments are current.
At 20% down or more there is no mortgage insurance at all, upfront or monthly.
So the crossover is the real question: FHA often wins on rate and on qualifying, conventional often wins on what you pay after year one. The calculator above is there to show you which one wins for your numbers.
A VA-backed purchase loan allows zero down and charges no monthly mortgage insurance at all — not for a term, not for the life of the loan, never. What it charges instead is a one-time funding fee, normally financed into the loan, running from 1.25% to 3.3% depending on your down payment and whether you have used the benefit before. Veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability pay no funding fee.
The catch is not cost, it is eligibility: you need a Certificate of Eligibility. Seller concessions are also capped at 4% of the home’s reasonable value on a VA loan, which matters in a market where builders are paying concessions. send me your service dates and I’ll check your eligibility with you. VA funding-fee rates effective Apr 7, 2023; VA page last updated Jan 15, 2026.
A USDA guaranteed loan is 100% financing based on appraised value, with a 1% upfront guarantee fee and a 0.35% annual fee that runs for the life of the loan. Household income must sit within 115% of the area median, and seller contributions are capped at 6% of the sales price.
The part that catches people out is geography. Eligibility is decided address by address on the USDA map, so two homes a few streets apart can differ, and the boundaries get redrawn. Do not assume a subdivision qualifies because a neighboring one did — send me the address and I’ll check it against the USDA map, and ask Mike which local builders are currently inside the lines. USDA Guaranteed Loan Program overview, Jan 2026.
New-build incentives in Maricopa are frequently tied to the builder’s preferred lender, and the headline rate is often available only on an FHA loan. That can genuinely be the better deal — a large enough rate buy-down can outrun the mortgage insurance. It can also quietly cost more over the years you actually plan to stay. Run both. Use the same price and the same taxes in each column, change only the loan.
Real numbers depend on credit, debt-to-income, loan limits, property type, occupancy, appraisal and the pricing your lender is offering that day. Mortgage insurance rates, FHA program rules and cancellation rules change. Bring me the numbers before you make a decision or write an offer — call or text 520-842-5300 and I will get you to the right lender for your scenario, make sure the builder incentive you are offered is the best one going, and represent you from there. A licensed lender confirms every figure.
Want that conversation? I will connect you with a lender who will price both scenarios properly — Josh Baratta is one of the loan officers I work with, and this comparison is exactly the conversation he is good at. Reach out here, see my lending partners on the buyers page, or bring me the numbers you get from any lender and I will read them with you.
Eligibility for VA and USDA loans is decided by those agencies, not by this page and not by me. VA eligibility runs through a Certificate of Eligibility; USDA eligibility depends on the property address and your household income and is checked on the USDA eligibility map. Program fees and rules change — every figure on this page is dated where it is stated.
No. FHA charges a 1.75% upfront mortgage insurance premium and an annual MIP regardless of down payment. Putting 10% or more down shortens the annual MIP to 11 years instead of the life of the loan; it does not eliminate it. A conventional loan at 20% down has no mortgage insurance at all.
For eligible borrower-paid PMI, you can request cancellation at 80% of original value, subject to payment-history and other requirements. Automatic termination generally occurs when the scheduled balance reaches 78%, provided payments are current. At 20% down or more, PMI never applies.
Not always. FHA often carries a lower note rate and is easier to qualify for, which can make it cheaper month to month. Conventional frequently costs less over five to ten years once mortgage insurance is included, especially with 10 to 20 percent down. The outcome depends on the rate spread, the down payment and how long the buyer stays in the home.
Builders fund rate buy-downs through an affiliated lender, so the promotional pricing is generally not portable to an outside lender. A buyer may use any lender, but may lose the incentive. The incentive should be priced against the loan terms rather than assumed to be the better deal.
No. The calculator produces estimates for planning and comparison only. It is not a loan offer, rate quote or commitment to lend. All rates are entered by the user and none are fetched from a lender. Start with Mike Millet at 520-842-5300: he will point you to a lender who prices your scenario properly and represent you with the builder, and a licensed lender then issues the written loan estimate.
Yes. A VA-backed purchase loan allows 100% financing with no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance. What it does carry is a one-time funding fee — 1.25% to 3.3% of the loan depending on your down payment and whether you have used the benefit before — and that fee is normally financed into the loan. Veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability are exempt from it entirely. You need a Certificate of Eligibility, which you can request through va.gov. VA funding-fee rates effective Apr 7, 2023; VA page last updated Jan 15, 2026.
It depends on the exact address, not on the town. A USDA guaranteed loan requires the property to sit inside an eligible rural area, and those boundaries are drawn address by address on the USDA eligibility map. Household income also has to be within 115% of the area median. Some newer communities in and around Maricopa have fallen inside eligible boundaries and others have not, and the lines get redrawn — so check the specific address rather than assuming. USDA is zero down, with a 1% upfront guarantee fee and a 0.35% annual fee that runs for the life of the loan, per the USDA Guaranteed Loan Program overview, Jan 2026.
Usually whichever one asks for the least at the closing table, which is what the cash-to-close row on this page is for. VA and USDA both allow zero down, which is why they are flagged. If you qualify for neither, FHA asks a minimum of 3.5% with a 580 credit score, and some conventional programs go as low as 3% although 5% is more typical. Closing costs sit on top of the down payment either way — and a seller or builder credit can absorb part of them, so there is a field for that above.
The margin is the lender’s markup over the index. Your rate at every adjustment is the index plus that margin, and the margin is a set number written into your note at closing.. it’s the same figure at the first adjustment and at the last one. What moves is the index, not the margin, and that’s the most reassuring true thing about an ARM. So if you know your margin and your caps, you already know the worst month you could ever have. Per the CFPB, your rate is “the new index plus a set margin, subject to any caps”; FHA’s rule says the lender adds “a specific margin to the current index figure” (24 CFR 203.49(d)(2)).
Then the adjustment never reaches you. You pay the start rate for the whole time you own the loan and you walk away at the locked payment. That is the whole case for an ARM, and it’s why the first question on the calculator is how long you plan to keep the home. Two cautions worth saying plainly: there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to sell or refinance on your schedule, since values and your own situation can both move, and a refinance has its own closing costs. Run your timeline past me at 520-842-5300 before you lean on it.
Not automatically. An ARM is a tool, and the test is whether the ceiling fits your budget, not whether you’ve bought before. Set the calculator to ARM and look at the worst-case tile: that is the highest payment the loan can ever charge you, and the caps are what make it knowable. If you could carry that number, the low start rate is real money. If it would break you, the ARM isn’t your tool.. and that’s the actual test. The CFPB puts the same warning more bluntly: don’t assume you’ll be able to sell or refinance before the rate changes.
More free tools: all of Mike’s calculators · seller net sheet · what it costs to sell.
Built by Mike Millet
REALTOR® · Maricopa, Arizona
I am an Arizona native and an Army Veteran, and most of my buyers are relocating here from out of state. I built this because the FHA mortgage-insurance rules catch almost everyone out, and you should see that before a lender tells you. More about me, or ask me anything.