Mortgage Recast Calculator
Apply a lump sum to principal, keep your existing interest rate, and see what your required monthly payment becomes. Unlike a refinance, a recast involves no underwriting and no closing costs.
Private by design. Your numbers stay on this device.
Educational estimates only. Not financial, tax, or lending advice.
Updated
What is a mortgage recast?
A recast applies a lump sum to your principal, then re-amortizes the smaller balance over your remaining term at your existing interest rate. Your required monthly payment drops, while your rate and payoff date stay the same.
Unlike a refinance, there is no new loan, new rate, credit check or appraisal. The usual cost is a servicer fee in the low hundreds, against the thousands a refinance costs. A recast also keeps a below-market rate that a refinance would make you give up.
New payment = amortize (balance − lump sum) at your existing rate over the remaining term
Over your 26-year stay
A recast keeps your interest rate and your payoff date, and lowers the required payment by re-amortizing a smaller balance over the time that was already left.
- Keep current
- Monthly payment
- $2,767
- Net cost over your stay
- $687,691
- vs keeping your mortgage
- —
- Break-even, ours
- —
- Break-even, conventional
- —
- Recast
- Monthly payment
- $2,422
- Net cost over your stay
- $630,490
- vs keeping your mortgage
- +$57,201
- Break-even, ours
- Ahead from month 1
- Break-even, conventional
- 12 years 2 months
Why two break-even figures? The conventional figure counts only the monthly payment saving against the cash you pay upfront. Ours also counts what you still owe when you sell, which is why the two disagree.
Compared over
the 26 years you expect to stay
Two break-even figures. The conventional figure counts only the monthly payment saving against the cash you pay upfront. Ours also counts what you still owe when you sell, which is why the two disagree.
| Leave it alone | Change your current loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Measure | Keep current | Recast |
| Interest rateThe rate on the new or largest loan in this scenario. | 6.875% | 6.875% |
| Starting loan balance | $320,000 | $270,000Low |
| Starting LTV (loan-to-value) | 71.1% | 60.0% |
| Principal & interest | $2,204 | $1,860Low |
| Extra principalVoluntary principal on top of the scheduled payment. Part of what you pay each month, so it belongs in the all-in figure. | — | — |
| PMI | — | — |
| Property tax + insuranceIdentical across every scenario for the same home, but a real part of the monthly bill. | $563 | $563 |
| Monthly HOA dues | — | — |
| All-in monthly payment | $2,767 | $2,423Low |
| Total closing costs | NoneLow | $250 |
| Cash you have to put inClosing costs paid in cash, plus any lump sum or one-time payment this option needs upfront. | NoneLow | $50,250 |
| Monthly commitment on topMoney you have to keep finding every month beyond the required payment: voluntary extra principal, or the same money invested instead. The required payment itself is the all-in figure above. | NoneLow | NoneLow |
| Cash received | None | None |
| Interest over 26 years | $367,691 | $310,240Low |
| Balance left after 26 yearsWhat you would still owe when you expect to sell or refinance again. | $0Low | $0Low |
| Equity after 26 yearsHome value less the balance owed. Uses your assumed appreciation rate, which is 0% unless you change it. It is never used to remove mortgage insurance early. | $450,000Low | $450,000Low |
| Invested balance after 26 yearsOnly the growth on this account is credited against net cost. The contributions are money you paid in, so counting the whole balance would count them twice. | — | — |
| Net cost over your planned stayCash closing costs + payments made + balance still owed − cash received. Excludes property tax, insurance and HOA, which are identical across scenarios. | $687,691 | $630,490Low |
| Savings vs keeping your mortgageThis is not the same as interest saved: it also counts the balance you still owe at the end of your stay and any cash you paid upfront. The row above reconciles the two. | Baseline | +$57,201Low |
| Why that differs from interest saved | — | $57,451 less interest, plus $50,000 of balance you no longer owe, less $50,250 paid in cash at closing — leaving you $57,201 better off. |
| Break-even point, ours“Ahead from month 1” means there was no upfront cost to recover. “Never recovers” means the costs are never paid back. | — | Ahead from month 1 |
| Break-even point, conventionalUpfront cash divided by the monthly payment saving. This is the number most people mean by break-even, and it flatters a refinance: it ignores the principal you stop paying down when the term restarts. The equity-adjusted figure above is the one to rank on. | — | 12 years 2 months |
| Time to payoff | 26 yearsLow | 26 yearsLow |
| Total interest, full term | $367,691 | $310,240Low |
| Lifetime cost (interest + costs) | $367,691 | $310,490Low |
How to read this: “Low” marks the lowest figure among the scenarios shown and is not a recommendation. Net cost counts payments made plus the balance still owed at the end of your stay, minus cash received, which is what makes loans of different sizes and terms comparable.
Full amortization schedule
Every payment, month by month: how much goes to interest, how much retires principal, and what you still owe afterwards. The last money column is the all-in cost (principal, interest, any extra you send, mortgage insurance, property tax, homeowners insurance and HOA dues), which is what leaves your account. Switch to the annual view for a year-by-year summary. Printing and the CSV both follow whichever view you are in, so a year-by-year download gives a year-by-year file, which opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.
| Month | Payment date | Beginning balance | Payment | Principal | Interest | Extra principal | Ending balance | Cumulative interest | Mortgage insurance | Taxes & insurance | HOA | Total monthly cost | LTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 01, 2026 | $320,000.00 | $2,204.15 | $370.82 | $1,833.33 | — | $319,629.18 | $1,833.33 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 71.0% |
| 2 | Feb 01, 2026 | $319,629.18 | $2,204.15 | $372.94 | $1,831.21 | — | $319,256.24 | $3,664.54 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 71.0% |
| 3 | Mar 01, 2026 | $319,256.24 | $2,204.15 | $375.08 | $1,829.07 | — | $318,881.16 | $5,493.61 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.9% |
| 4 | Apr 01, 2026 | $318,881.16 | $2,204.15 | $377.23 | $1,826.92 | — | $318,503.93 | $7,320.53 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.8% |
| 5 | May 01, 2026 | $318,503.93 | $2,204.15 | $379.39 | $1,824.76 | — | $318,124.54 | $9,145.29 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.7% |
| 6 | Jun 01, 2026 | $318,124.54 | $2,204.15 | $381.56 | $1,822.59 | — | $317,742.98 | $10,967.88 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.6% |
| 7 | Jul 01, 2026 | $317,742.98 | $2,204.15 | $383.75 | $1,820.40 | — | $317,359.23 | $12,788.28 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.5% |
| 8 | Aug 01, 2026 | $317,359.23 | $2,204.15 | $385.95 | $1,818.20 | — | $316,973.28 | $14,606.48 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.4% |
| 9 | Sep 01, 2026 | $316,973.28 | $2,204.15 | $388.16 | $1,815.99 | — | $316,585.12 | $16,422.47 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.3% |
| 10 | Oct 01, 2026 | $316,585.12 | $2,204.15 | $390.38 | $1,813.77 | — | $316,194.74 | $18,236.24 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.3% |
| 11 | Nov 01, 2026 | $316,194.74 | $2,204.15 | $392.62 | $1,811.53 | — | $315,802.12 | $20,047.77 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.2% |
| 12 | Dec 01, 2026 | $315,802.12 | $2,204.15 | $394.87 | $1,809.28 | — | $315,407.25 | $21,857.05 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.1% |
Showing 1–12 of 312 payments
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Educational estimates only. Not financial, tax, or lending advice. Want every option side by side instead? Open the full comparison.
Recast vs refinance
They solve different problems, and only a recast keeps your rate.
| Recast | Refinance | |
|---|---|---|
| Interest rate | Unchanged | New rate, good or bad |
| Payoff date | Unchanged | Reset to the new term |
| Typical cost | A servicer fee, often $150–$500 | Full closing costs, 2%–5% of the loan |
| Underwriting | None | Full application and appraisal |
| Requires a lump sum | Yes | No |
| Lowers the required payment | Yes | Usually, depending on rate and term |
| Available on any loan | No. It varies by servicer and loan type | Widely available |
Fees and eligibility vary by servicer. Confirm with yours before planning around a recast.
The decision usually comes down to your current rate. If it is at or above market, a refinance can lower the rate and the payment together. If it is below market, as many mortgages written in 2020 and 2021 are, refinancing means giving up that rate on the whole balance, while a recast lowers the payment without touching it.
Recast vs refinance, costed side by side on one set of figures
Recast vs extra payments
Both send money to principal, with opposite results.
People often confuse the two:
- Extra payments shorten the loan. Your required payment stays the same, so you finish sooner and pay less total interest, but your monthly obligation never falls.
- A recast lowers the required payment. The payoff date stays the same, so you free up monthly cash flow rather than finishing early.
Choose by what you need. Extra payments suit a goal of being done sooner while keeping the option to stop. A recast suits a goal of a permanently lower monthly obligation, which matters most with variable income or a tight budget.
You can also combine them: recast to lower the required payment, then keep paying the old, higher amount voluntarily. You get the interest savings and a lower required payment to fall back on if a month goes badly.
Whether you can recast
Check this first, because it is the biggest practical constraint.
Servicers offer recasts at their discretion, and borrowers have no right to one. Common requirements:
- A minimum lump sum, frequently $5,000 or more and sometimes set as a percentage of the balance.
- A processing fee, commonly in the low hundreds.
- A current loan, which usually means a history of on-time payments.
- An eligible loan type. Government-backed loans such as FHA and VA frequently are not eligible, and many jumbo and portfolio products exclude recasts too.
Ask your servicer directly, and ask for the fee and the minimum in writing before sending a lump sum. Money sent as an extra principal payment does not trigger a recast on its own. The recast is a separate request, and if you get the order wrong the payment reduction never happens.
Mortgage recast questions
- What does it cost to recast a mortgage?
- A servicing fee, commonly a few hundred dollars, and nothing else: no appraisal, title work or origination. That cost difference is why a recast can be worth doing at a rate a refinance could never justify. Enter your servicer's fee above and it is charged against the result.
- What is a mortgage recast?
- A recast applies a lump sum to your principal, then re-amortizes the smaller balance over your remaining term at your existing interest rate. Your required monthly payment falls, but the rate and the payoff date stay the same. There is no new loan and no underwriting.
- How is a recast different from refinancing?
- A refinance replaces the loan entirely, with a new rate, new term, full underwriting and full closing costs, often thousands of dollars. A recast keeps the existing loan and typically costs a servicer fee in the low hundreds. Crucially, a recast preserves a below-market rate that a refinance would give away.
- Can every mortgage be recast?
- No. Availability varies by servicer and loan type. Many require a minimum lump sum, charge a processing fee, and require the loan to be current. Government-backed loans such as FHA and VA frequently are not eligible, and neither are most jumbo and portfolio products. Confirm with your servicer before planning around a recast.
- Should I recast or just make extra payments?
- If your goal is to reduce the required monthly payment, recast. Extra payments alone will not do it. If your goal is to pay the loan off sooner and you value the flexibility of stopping any time, extra payments do that without a fee. Recasting also frees up cash flow permanently, which matters more if your income is variable.