DEBT STRATEGY • BUY • MOVE • RESTRUCTURE
Your mortgage rate is only one part of your financial picture. Compare housing, equity, and other debts together—then see how buying your first home, moving to the next one, or restructuring debt could change the whole picture.
Important Planning Disclosure
This calculator is for educational planning only. It does not determine qualification, approval, available loan programs, property eligibility, interest rate, APR, suitability, or whether a debt strategy should be used. Lower required payments can result from longer repayment, higher total interest, closing costs, or converting unsecured debt into debt secured by real estate. First-home scenarios that show a debt as paid separately assume a permitted source other than purchase mortgage proceeds. Move-up scenarios model sale proceeds mathematically and do not determine whether a particular debt payoff, down payment, reserve level, or loan structure is appropriate or available.
START WITH THE DECISION IN FRONT OF YOU
The math is different when you are buying your first home, moving from a home you already own, or restructuring debt without moving. Choose the path that matches your situation.
STEP 1 • TODAY
Use your current rent or other housing payment. We will add the debts competing with that payment next.
STEP 2 • OTHER DEBTS
Add credit cards, auto loans, personal loans, student loans, or other debts. For this first-home comparison, you can indicate whether a debt would remain or be paid separately from another permitted source.
STEP 3 • POSSIBLE HOME
Start with the core financing assumptions. Add property-specific costs for a more complete housing estimate.
STEP 4 • FIRST-HOME DEBT STRATEGY
Complete the prior steps to see the modeled housing assumptions.
A higher housing payment can still produce a smaller change in the household's total monthly obligations if other debts change. This calculator does not decide whether a debt can or should be paid.
Educational estimate only. This is not a mortgage approval, rate quote, Loan Estimate, financial plan, debt-management plan, or commitment to lend.
STEP 1 • THE HOME YOU OWN
A low mortgage rate matters—but so do the equity you have accumulated and the other debts competing for monthly cash flow.
STEP 2 • THE REST OF THE BALANCE SHEET
Add the debts you want in the comparison. Select the ones you want the equity-allocation scenarios to test for payoff. The calculator will not automatically decide which debts should be eliminated.
STEP 3 • THE NEXT HOME
The calculator will use the same property assumptions across each equity-allocation strategy so you can isolate what changes when equity is deployed differently.
STEP 4 • MOVE-UP EQUITY STRATEGY
These scenarios use the same next-home price and rate. Only the allocation of estimated sale proceeds changes.
STRATEGY A
Use all modeled sale proceeds toward the next home and leave other debts unchanged.
STRATEGY B
Use modeled sale proceeds to pay the debts you selected, then apply the remaining proceeds to the next home.
STRATEGY C
Pay the selected debts, preserve your chosen cash reserve, then use the remaining modeled proceeds as the down payment.
Complete the prior steps to compare how the same estimated sale proceeds behave when allocated differently.
Educational planning estimate only. Sale proceeds, financing, mortgage insurance, program eligibility, taxes, and transaction costs vary. No strategy shown is a recommendation or statement of qualification. Paying unsecured debt with home-sale proceeds may improve required monthly cash flow but can also reduce the amount available for down payment or liquidity.
STEP 1 • YOUR HOME TODAY
This path is for homeowners who are not planning to move but want to understand whether their broader debt structure deserves a closer look.
STEP 2 • OTHER DEBTS
Add each debt separately and select the balances you want to test in a modeled first-mortgage restructure.
STEP 3 • TEST THE STRUCTURE
The tool calculates the modeled new loan amount from the current mortgage plus the selected debts and entered costs.
STEP 4 • EXISTING-HOME DEBT STRATEGY
Lower required payments do not automatically mean lower lifetime cost. A refinance can extend repayment, add closing costs, and convert unsecured debt into debt secured by your home. The same-payment scenario above is a modeled behavior choice, not a promised outcome.
Educational estimate only. LTV shown here is arithmetic, not a statement that a loan program allows the modeled leverage. Actual options depend on credit, income, assets, property, occupancy, seasoning, loan program, pricing, underwriting, and other requirements.
WHY THIS TOOL EXISTS
A low mortgage rate can coexist with expensive revolving or installment debt. A higher future mortgage rate can also make a move materially more expensive. The useful comparison is the complete structure: payment, rate, debt balances, term, equity, liquidity, and what happens next.
Replace isolated payment comparisons with a clearer view of the obligations competing for monthly cash flow.
Use the tool to educate homeowners and buyers before assuming a low mortgage rate or high consumer debt automatically determines the next move.
Create a cleaner starting point for discussing mortgage debt in the context of the household's broader liabilities and liquidity.
FROM CALCULATOR TO STRATEGY
Use the calculator to identify what deserves a closer look. Then test the actual financing, equity, qualification, cash, and long-term tradeoffs before acting.