{"tool":{"slug":"refinance","name":"Refinance calculator","version":"2026-08-21","canonicalUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/refinance","jsonUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/refinance.json","pageUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/refinance","parameters":[{"key":"balance","label":"Loan balance","unit":"usd","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":300000,"sourceId":null,"help":"What you still owe on the current loan. The default is an example, not a statistic."},{"key":"currentRate","label":"Current rate","unit":"percent","min":0,"max":30,"default":7.5,"sourceId":null,"help":"The rate on your existing loan. The default is an example, not a statistic."},{"key":"yearsLeft","label":"Years left","unit":"years","min":1,"max":40,"default":27,"sourceId":null,"integer":true,"help":"Years until your current loan's scheduled payoff. The default is an example."},{"key":"newRate","label":"New rate","unit":"percent","min":0,"max":30,"default":6.65,"sourceId":"pmms","help":"The rate you are quoted on the new loan. The default is Freddie Mac's 30-year survey average."},{"key":"newTerm","label":"New term","unit":"years","min":1,"max":40,"default":30,"sourceId":null,"integer":true,"help":"Years on the new loan. 30, 20, and 15 are the common choices; longer than your years left restarts the clock."},{"key":"closingRate","label":"Closing costs","unit":"percent","min":0,"max":10,"default":3.5,"sourceId":"closing","help":"Closing costs as a percent of the new loan: lender, title, appraisal, and recording fees. Freddie Mac's published 2% to 5% range is measured against a home's purchase price; applying it to the loan balance is this calculator's simplification. Default is the middle of that range."}]},"inputs":{"balance":300000,"currentRate":7.5,"yearsLeft":27,"newRate":6.65,"newTerm":30,"closingRate":3.5},"result":{"currentPayment":2162.2,"newPayment":1925.89,"monthlySavings":236.31,"closingCosts":10500,"breakEvenMonths":45,"breakEvenDate":"May 2030","monthsLeft":324,"newTermMonths":360,"extraMonths":36,"horizon":{"months":324,"keepCost":700553,"refiPayments":623990,"refiBalanceLeft":62697,"refiCost":697187,"delta":3366},"lifetime":{"keepInterest":400553,"refiInterest":393322,"keepTotal":700553,"refiTotal":703822}},"drivers":[{"key":"newRate","label":"New rate","step":-0.5,"savingsDelta":98.20999999999998,"upfrontDelta":0,"breakEvenDelta":-13,"sentence":"Each half point less on the new rate adds $98 a month of savings and moves the break-even from 45 months to 32 months."},{"key":"closingRate","label":"Closing costs","step":0.5,"savingsDelta":0,"upfrontDelta":1500,"breakEvenDelta":6,"sentence":"Each half point of closing costs adds $1,500 upfront and moves the break-even from 45 months to 51 months."},{"key":"balance","label":"Loan balance","step":25000,"savingsDelta":19.689999999999998,"upfrontDelta":875,"breakEvenDelta":0,"sentence":"Each $25,000 of balance adds $20 a month of savings and $875 of closing costs; the break-even barely moves because both scale with the loan."}],"sensitivity":{"byNewRate":[{"newRate":5.65,"payment":1731.71,"monthlySavings":430.49,"breakEvenMonths":25,"horizonDelta":71759},{"newRate":6.15,"payment":1827.68,"monthlySavings":334.52,"breakEvenMonths":32,"horizonDelta":37940},{"newRate":6.65,"payment":1925.89,"monthlySavings":236.31,"breakEvenMonths":45,"horizonDelta":3366},{"newRate":7.15,"payment":2026.22,"monthlySavings":135.98,"breakEvenMonths":78,"horizonDelta":-31919},{"newRate":7.65,"payment":2128.54,"monthlySavings":33.66,"breakEvenMonths":312,"horizonDelta":-67872}],"byNewTerm":[{"newTerm":15,"payment":2638.12,"monthlySavings":-475.92,"horizonDelta":215191},{"newTerm":20,"payment":2263.29,"monthlySavings":-101.09,"horizonDelta":146863},{"newTerm":30,"payment":1925.89,"monthlySavings":236.31,"horizonDelta":3366}]},"assumptions":[{"key":"balance","label":"Loan balance","value":300000,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"currentRate","label":"Current rate","value":7.5,"unit":"percent","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"yearsLeft","label":"Years left","value":27,"unit":"years","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"newRate","label":"New rate","value":6.65,"unit":"percent","provided":false,"source":{"id":"pmms","name":"Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey","url":"https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms","asOf":"2026-08-20","note":"30-year fixed-rate mortgage average 6.65%; 15-year 5.95%."}},{"key":"newTerm","label":"New term","value":30,"unit":"years","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"closingRate","label":"Closing costs","value":3.5,"unit":"percent","provided":false,"source":{"id":"closing","name":"Freddie Mac, What are closing costs and how much will I pay?","url":"https://myhome.freddiemac.com/blog/homebuying/what-are-closing-costs-and-how-much-will-i-pay","asOf":"2026-02-26","note":"Closing costs typically run 2% to 5% of the home purchase price, paid in addition to the down payment."}}],"sources":[{"id":"pmms","name":"Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey","url":"https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms","asOf":"2026-08-20","note":"30-year fixed-rate mortgage average 6.65%; 15-year 5.95%."},{"id":"closing","name":"Freddie Mac, What are closing costs and how much will I pay?","url":"https://myhome.freddiemac.com/blog/homebuying/what-are-closing-costs-and-how-much-will-i-pay","asOf":"2026-02-26","note":"Closing costs typically run 2% to 5% of the home purchase price, paid in addition to the down payment."}],"warnings":[{"code":"term-reset","message":"The new 30-year term runs 36 months past your current payoff date. Over the 27 years you have left, refinancing still comes out $3,366 ahead, counting closing costs and the $62,697 the new loan would still owe on that date."},{"code":"long-breakeven","message":"Break-even takes 45 months. You have to keep this loan past May 2030 for the refinance to pay for itself; selling or refinancing again before then leaves the closing costs unrecovered."}],"disclaimer":"This compares a fixed-rate refinance against keeping an existing fixed-rate loan, with a published default for the new rate and a closing-cost percentage applied to the loan balance. It is not a rate quote, a loan estimate, or financial advice. Your lender's Loan Estimate is the figure that counts."}