Estimate your monthly PMI, what it costs until removal, and when you can drop it at 20% equity.
Monthly PMI
$165
At 78% of original value.
With 10% down, your loan-to-value is 90%, so you'd pay private mortgage insurance of roughly $165 a month — $1,980 a year. PMI protects the lender, not you, and adds nothing to your equity. On your payment schedule you'd pay about $16,005 total before you can remove it.
By law, you can request PMI cancellation in writing once your balance reaches 80% of the original price — about month 97 (8 years, 1 month in) at your current rate. Servicers must cancel it automatically at 78% (around month 111), but waiting for that costs extra months of premiums. If your home appreciates, a new appraisal can drop PMI even sooner.
Reaching a 20% down payment — $40,000 more than your current $40,000 — eliminates PMI from day one and usually earns a better rate. Whether that's worth it depends on your cash: don't drain your emergency fund to avoid PMI you can remove in a couple of years anyway.
PMI is one line of your payment. The mortgage calculator combines it with principal, interest, taxes and insurance for the complete PITI figure.
Mortgage calculatorWorked scenarios with the full analysis, so you can see how the numbers move before entering your own.
A common first-time-buyer scenario with PMI until 20% equity is reached.
Monthly PMI
$165
With 10% down, your loan-to-value is 90%, so you'd pay private mortgage insurance of roughly $165 a month — $1,980 a year. PMI protects the lender, not you, and adds nothing to your equity. On your payment schedule you'd pay about $16,005 total before you can remove it.
By law, you can request PMI cancellation in writing once your balance reaches 80% of the original price — about month 97 (8 years, 1 month in) at your current rate. Servicers must cancel it automatically at 78% (around month 111), but waiting for that costs extra months of premiums. If your home appreciates, a new appraisal can drop PMI even sooner.
Reaching a 20% down payment — $40,000 more than your current $40,000 — eliminates PMI from day one and usually earns a better rate. Whether that's worth it depends on your cash: don't drain your emergency fund to avoid PMI you can remove in a couple of years anyway.
A low down payment, which means a bigger loan and higher PMI.
Monthly PMI
$238
With 5% down, your loan-to-value is 95%, so you'd pay private mortgage insurance of roughly $238 a month — $2,850 a year. PMI protects the lender, not you, and adds nothing to your equity. On your payment schedule you'd pay about $29,925 total before you can remove it.
By law, you can request PMI cancellation in writing once your balance reaches 80% of the original price — about month 126 (10 years, 6 months in) at your current rate. Servicers must cancel it automatically at 78% (around month 137), but waiting for that costs extra months of premiums. If your home appreciates, a new appraisal can drop PMI even sooner.
Reaching a 20% down payment — $60,000 more than your current $20,000 — eliminates PMI from day one and usually earns a better rate. Whether that's worth it depends on your cash: don't drain your emergency fund to avoid PMI you can remove in a couple of years anyway.
Reaching the 20% threshold, which eliminates PMI entirely.
Monthly PMI
None
At 20% down, your loan-to-value is 80%, at or below the 80% threshold, so no private mortgage insurance is required. You've avoided a cost that adds nothing to your equity, and you'll likely get a slightly better interest rate too.
PMI is one line of your payment. The mortgage calculator combines it with principal, interest, taxes and insurance for the complete PITI figure.
Mortgage calculatorA borrower whose credit puts them at the higher end of the PMI rate range.
Monthly PMI
$295
With 8% down, your loan-to-value is 92%, so you'd pay private mortgage insurance of roughly $295 a month — $3,542 a year. PMI protects the lender, not you, and adds nothing to your equity. On your payment schedule you'd pay about $33,059 total before you can remove it.
By law, you can request PMI cancellation in writing once your balance reaches 80% of the original price — about month 112 (9 years, 4 months in) at your current rate. Servicers must cancel it automatically at 78% (around month 125), but waiting for that costs extra months of premiums. If your home appreciates, a new appraisal can drop PMI even sooner.
Reaching a 20% down payment — $42,000 more than your current $28,000 — eliminates PMI from day one and usually earns a better rate. Whether that's worth it depends on your cash: don't drain your emergency fund to avoid PMI you can remove in a couple of years anyway.
Private mortgage insurance is required on conventional loans when your down payment is under 20%. It protects the lender — not you — against loss if you default. It's an added cost that builds no equity, typically 0.3% to 1.5% of the loan per year depending on your credit score and down payment, added to your monthly mortgage payment.
The lower your down payment and credit score, the higher the PMI rate. It's a real cost of buying with less than 20% down, but it isn't permanent, and for many buyers it's a reasonable price for getting into a home sooner rather than waiting years to save a full 20%.
Under the Homeowners Protection Act, you can request PMI cancellation in writing once your loan balance reaches 80% of the home's original value, and servicers must cancel it automatically at 78%. Waiting for the automatic threshold costs several extra months of premiums, so requesting it as soon as you hit 80% is worth the small effort.
If your home has appreciated, you may be able to drop PMI even earlier based on a new appraisal — many lenders allow removal once your current equity reaches 20–25%, regardless of the original schedule. The appraisal costs a few hundred dollars but often pays for itself within a year. Note that FHA loans handle mortgage insurance differently, and it often can't be removed without refinancing.
Servicers cancel at 78%, but you can request removal at 80% — several months earlier. Waiting wastes premiums.
PMI removal isn't automatic at 80%; you must request it. Watch your balance and ask as soon as you qualify.
Emptying your emergency fund to reach 20% is risky. PMI is removable; a lost safety net isn't easily replaced.
If your home's value rose, a new appraisal may drop PMI early. Many buyers never ask.
FHA mortgage insurance often can't be canceled without refinancing. Know your loan type before relying on removal.
PMI typically costs 0.3% to 1.5% of the loan amount per year, depending on your credit score and down payment. On a $360,000 loan at 0.55%, that's about $165 a month. Lower down payments and credit scores push the rate higher. Enter your details above for an estimate.
You can request cancellation once your loan balance reaches 80% of the home's original value, and servicers must cancel it automatically at 78%. On a typical loan that's several years in. If your home appreciates, a new appraisal may let you remove it even sooner. FHA mortgage insurance often can't be removed without refinancing.
Put 20% or more down, which keeps your loan-to-value at or below 80%. Alternatives include a piggyback loan (an 80-10-10 structure) or lender-paid PMI (a higher rate instead of a monthly premium), though those have their own trade-offs. For most buyers, a 20% down payment is the cleanest way to avoid it.
It can be. PMI is the price of buying with less than 20% down, and if waiting years to save 20% means paying rising rents and home prices, buying sooner with PMI — which you can remove in a couple of years — often comes out ahead. Just don't drain your emergency fund to avoid a cost you can shed later.
No. PMI is pure insurance for the lender — none of it reduces your loan balance or builds equity. That's why removing it as soon as you're eligible is valuable: it's a cost with no benefit to you, and eliminating it lowers your payment without changing anything else.
The next calculations that usually follow this one.
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