How Home Kruncher Works
Home Kruncher is a free set of calculators that shows you the real cost of buying, refinancing, or investing in a home. There is no sign-up, no email, and no credit check. If you have never bought a home before, this page is for you. We explain what every tab does, what each number means, and exactly where to click, all in everyday language.
Tap any button below to jump straight to that part of the guide.
What is on this page
Most tabs share the same numbers. You type your home price and rate once on the Mortgage Calculator, and the Closing Costs, Affordability, Buy vs Rent, Rental ROI, and Summary tabs all update on their own. The HELOC tab stands on its own because it deals with a home you already own, not a new purchase.
Start here: the words you need to know
Brand new to home buying? Read these once and the rest of the site will make sense.
Buying a home comes with its own vocabulary. You do not need to memorize any of it, but a handful of words show up on almost every tab. Here is what each one means in plain language.
A loan you use to buy a home. You pay it back in monthly pieces over many years, usually 15 or 30. If you stop paying, the lender can take the home back.
The cash you pay upfront out of your own pocket. The loan covers the rest of the price. A bigger down payment means you borrow less.
The part of each monthly payment that actually pays down what you borrowed. As principal gets paid, your loan balance shrinks.
The fee the lender charges you to borrow, shown as a yearly rate. In the early years, most of your payment goes to interest, not principal.
What your city or county charges every year for owning the home. The lender usually collects a slice each month and pays it for you.
Coverage that pays to repair or rebuild your home if something goes wrong. Lenders require you to carry it.
Private Mortgage Insurance. An added monthly fee on a conventional loan when your down payment is under 20 percent. It protects the lender, not you, and can usually be removed once you build enough equity.
Homeowners Association fees. Some neighborhoods and most condos charge a monthly amount for shared upkeep like landscaping or amenities.
One-time fees to set up the loan and transfer ownership: appraisal, title, lender charges, and more. They usually run 2 to 5 percent of the loan.
The total cash you bring on the day you buy. It is your down payment plus your closing costs added together.
How many years you take to pay the loan off. A shorter term costs more each month but far less interest over the life of the loan.
The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the money. The APR folds in certain fees too, so it runs a little higher and is the fairer way to compare two loan offers.
The part of the home you truly own. It is the home's value minus what you still owe on the loan. It grows as you pay down the loan and as the home gains value.
The schedule that shows how every payment splits between principal and interest over the years. Early payments are mostly interest, later ones mostly principal.
Your monthly payment is often called PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance. HOA dues and PMI get added on top when they apply. Home Kruncher shows each piece separately so you can see where every dollar goes.
1 Mortgage Calculator Start here
Enter your numbers and see your monthly payment and cash to close right away.
This is the heart of the site. You fill in a few details about the home and the loan, and the page instantly shows what you would pay each month and what cash you would need on closing day. Numbers update as you type, so there is no submit button to press.
How to use it, step by step
- Choose the transaction type: Purchase (buying a home), Refinance (replacing a loan you already have), or Investment (a property you plan to rent out).
- Choose the loan type: Conventional, FHA, VA, or DSCR for investments. Each choice fills in sensible starting numbers for the down payment and rate, which you can change.
- Enter the home price and your down payment (as a dollar amount or a percent).
- Set the interest rate and loan term (commonly 30 years).
- Add property taxes, homeowners insurance, and any HOA dues. If you are not sure, the starting estimates are fine for a first look.
What the results mean
- Monthly payment breakdown: the right side splits your payment into principal and interest, taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI, then shows the total.
- Closing Snapshot: a small card showing the cash you would bring to closing (down payment plus closing costs).
- The chart: a curve over the full loan term showing how interest, principal, taxes, and your remaining balance change year by year.
Right below the Mortgage Calculator tab you will find Closing Costs, Advanced Options, Affordability, and Buying a Fixer-Upper. All four use the numbers you just entered, so you do not have to retype anything.
2 Closing Costs
A line-by-line list of every fee you pay on closing day, with running totals.
Closing costs are the one-time fees that come with setting up a loan and transferring the home into your name. They are separate from your down payment. This tab lists each fee on its own line so nothing surprises you at the closing table.
How to use it, step by step
- Review each line item: origination, appraisal, title insurance, recording fees, escrow reserves, and more.
- Turn a line on or off with its toggle if it does not apply to you.
- Type your own number over any default. If your lender quoted a real figure, enter it and that line uses your amount.
What the results mean
- Lender and third-party fees: the charges for the loan itself and the companies involved.
- Prepaids and escrow reserves: money set aside in advance for taxes and insurance.
- Total closing costs: everything added up.
- Cash to close: your down payment plus net closing costs. This is the all-in cash you need on closing day.
The closing cost total here is the same number the Affordability tab uses. Adjust a line item here and your affordability picture updates with it.
3 Advanced Options
Lower your rate, get help covering closing costs, and pay the loan off faster.
This tab holds the levers that can change your deal: buying down your rate, asking the seller or lender for help, and paying more often. Each change instantly updates your monthly payment and your cash to close.
How to use it, step by step
- Discount points or lender credit: type +1 to buy a point, which costs money upfront but lowers your rate. Type -1 to take a lender credit, which raises your rate slightly but hands you cash toward closing costs.
- Seller contribution: enter the percent of the price you want the seller to put toward your closing costs. A card on the tab shows the most each loan type allows (Conventional 3 percent, FHA 6 percent, VA 4 percent).
- Monthly vs bi-weekly payments: switch to paying half your payment every two weeks to see how much interest you save and how many years sooner you finish.
What the results mean
- Your updated numbers: at the bottom of the tab you see the new monthly payment and the new cash to close after the changes you made above.
A point equals 1 percent of your loan amount. On a 300,000 dollar loan, one point is 3,000 dollars. Buying points trades cash now for a lower rate later. A lender credit does the opposite.
4 Affordability
Answers the big question: how much home can I actually afford?
Instead of starting with a home price, this tab starts with you: your income, your monthly debts, and the cash you have saved. It works backward to show the most you could reasonably borrow under common lending rules, across several loan types at once.
How to use it, step by step
- Enter your gross monthly income (what you earn before taxes are taken out).
- Add your monthly debts: car payments, student loans, credit card minimums, and similar. Lenders count these against you.
- Set your interest rate and loan term to match the market you are shopping in.
- Enter your cash available for the down payment. This is money you can actually put down.
- Check the closing-cost figure. It is pulled automatically from your Closing Costs tab, so adjust line items there and it follows.
What the results mean
- DTI (debt-to-income): the share of your income that goes to debt. Lenders watch this closely. A badge labels your chosen limit from Conservative to Aggressive.
- Maximum home price by loan type: side-by-side cards for Conventional, FHA, VA, and more, each showing the priciest home that fits your income, debts, and cash.
- Target price check: type a home price you have in mind and each card tells you whether your income qualifies and whether your cash covers the down payment and closing costs.
Debt-to-income ratio compares your monthly debt payments to your monthly income. If you earn 6,000 dollars a month and owe 1,800 in debts, your DTI is 30 percent. Lower is safer, and most lenders prefer to stay around 43 percent or below once the new house payment is included.
5 Buying a Fixer-Upper
Add a renovation budget on top of the purchase and see the true upfront cost.
If the home needs work, the sticker price is only part of the story. This tab lets you stack a remodeling budget on top of your purchase so you can see the full amount of cash you would need before move-in.
How to use it, step by step
- Turn on the projects you plan to tackle: kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, paint, roof, HVAC, and more.
- Enter your own estimate for each one. Every project you switch on gets a dollar field you can edit.
What the results mean
- Total upfront cost: your down payment, plus closing costs, plus the renovation budget, all in one number.
This tab assumes the renovation is paid in cash upfront, not rolled into the loan. That keeps the number honest about what you would spend out of pocket before you can settle in.
6 Buy vs Rent
A side-by-side look at owning your home versus renting a similar one.
Buying is not always the better money move, and this tab helps you see when it tips in your favor. It compares owning the home you set up on the Mortgage Calculator against renting a comparable place and investing the money you would have spent on a down payment.
How to use it, step by step
- Enter a comparable rent: what it would cost to rent a similar home instead of buying.
- Set how fast rent rises each year and how fast you expect the home to gain value.
- Set an investment return: if you rented, this is the yearly return your saved down payment and monthly savings might earn if invested instead.
What the results mean
- Crossover year: the year buying pulls ahead of renting financially.
- Net worth gap: the total dollar difference between buying and renting over the time period you choose.
This tab pulls your home price, payment, and other figures from the Mortgage Calculator automatically. Change the price there and the comparison here updates on its own.
7 Rental ROI Calculator
For investors. See whether a property pays you back, and how well.
If you are thinking about renting a property out, this tab tells you whether the rent covers the costs and what return you would earn on the cash you put in. ROI stands for return on investment, which is simply your profit measured against what you spent.
How to use it, step by step
- Enter the monthly rent you expect to collect.
- Set a vacancy percentage for the weeks the unit might sit empty between tenants.
- Add a property management fee if someone else will run the rental for you, as a percent of rent.
- Turn on the expenses that apply: property tax, insurance, HOA, repairs, capex reserves, utilities, and any custom line.
What the results mean
- NOI (Net Operating Income): your rent left over each month after expenses, before the mortgage.
- Cash-on-cash ROI: your yearly cash profit divided by the cash you invested, shown as a percent.
On the Mortgage Calculator, set the transaction type to Investment. Then the principal, interest, taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI flow into this ROI so the numbers reflect the loan too.
8 HELOC Calculator
For a home you already own. Borrow against the equity you have built.
A HELOC, or Home Equity Line of Credit, lets you borrow against the value of a home you already own, using your equity as the source. This tab stands on its own and does not use your purchase numbers, because it is about an existing home rather than a new one.
How to use it, step by step
- Enter your home's current value, your remaining mortgage balance, and the maximum combined loan-to-value your lender allows. The tool then shows your available equity and the largest credit line you could open.
- Set how much you want to draw, your interest rate, the draw period, and the repayment period.
- Add any closing costs and annual fees.
What the results mean
- Draw period payment: a lower, interest-only payment while you are still borrowing.
- Repayment period payment: the full payment of principal and interest once the draw period ends.
- Total lifetime cost: what the line of credit costs you across its whole life.
HELOC rates are usually variable, which means your payment can rise over time. Your home is the collateral, so falling behind puts the home at risk. The tab spells out these warnings so you go in with eyes open.
9 Summary
One clean page that pulls your whole deal together.
Once you have set up your numbers, this tab gathers them into a single tidy view. It is the page to look at when you want the big picture without scrolling through every tab.
What you see here
- The full deal at a glance: your monthly payment, the total cash you need, and a breakdown of where that money goes.
- A shareable snapshot: take a screenshot and send it to your agent, your lender, or your partner so everyone is looking at the same numbers.
10 Loan Guide
A plain-English reference for loan types and mortgage terms.
This is not a calculator. It is a reference shelf you can open any time a word or a loan program leaves you unsure. Keep it handy as you work through the other tabs.
What you can look up
- Compare loan programs: down payment minimums, PMI rules, credit score expectations, seller contribution limits, and more, laid out side by side.
- Look up mortgage terms: APR, escrow, PMI, points, and other jargon explained in everyday words.
11 Blog
Longer articles that go deeper than the calculators.
When you want the why behind the numbers, the blog has full-length guides written in the same plain style as the rest of the site.
What you will find
- Browse the articles on topics like first-time buyer checklists, FHA vs Conventional, the true cost of buying, discount points vs lender credits, bi-weekly payments, and rental property ROI.
- Click any card to read the full guide.