What does a mortgage actually cost?
The monthly payment is the number everybody quotes. The total interest, and what a house costs to keep, are the numbers that decide whether it was a good idea.
Three figures, not one
The payment tells you whether you can afford it this month. The total interest tells you what the borrowing cost over the whole term. Upkeep and tax tell you what the house costs whether or not you owe anything on it — and that part does not end when the mortgage does.
A note on rates
A loan rate is quoted per year and charged monthly as a twelfth of it. An investment return compounds. Mixing the two conventions gives a payment that looks plausible and is wrong by a few euros a month, so they are kept apart here.
No tax is modelled. Mortgage interest relief exists in some countries and not others, is capped differently in each, and changes with the budget. Leaving it out is the honest choice for a calculator that does not know where you live — but it means the cost shown here is the cost before any relief you may be entitled to, and that difference can be large.
This calculator will not tell you what you can borrow, either. That is a judgement about you rather than arithmetic on figures you typed, it is the lender's own regulated duty, and Valnivo does not make it.
Try it
Everything you type here stays in this browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is saved, and no account is needed. The same calculator can go on your own site — see the widgets.
About Valnivo
Valnivo is a free financial planning tool that projects your income, spending and savings over 10, 20 and 30 years. It handles money held in several countries and currencies, and it is private by default.
It holds no money, connects to no bank and never asks for banking credentials. Every figure it shows is an illustration built on your own assumptions, not a forecast and not advice. Open the app.