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Debt Consolidation Refinance Calculator

Debt Consolidation Refinance Calculator

Calculator developed by
Harry Jensen
, Trusted Mortgage Expert with 45+ Years of Experience
Edited by Michael Jensen

Use our Debt Consolidation Refinance Calculator to determine how much you can save by paying off high cost debt when you refinance your mortgage. Because mortgage rates are usually lower than the rates for other types of loans such as credit cards, you may be able to save money by consolidating all or part of your debt when you refinance. A debt consolidation refinance can be complicated because it involves several loans and different interest rates. Use our calculator to simplify your analysis and understand if this refinance option is right for you.

Watch our Debt Consolidation Refinance Calculator "How To" video

Inputs

The amount of your current monthly mortgage payment
Please Enter Current Mortgage Payment
Your current mortgage balance. You can find this figure on your most recent monthly mortgage statement or by calling your lender
Please Enter Current Mortgage Balance
Estimated value of the property you are refinancing
Please Enter Estimated Value of Property
Total amount of monthly debt you are considering paying off by refinancing. Examples include credit card debt and auto and student loans
Please Enter Existing Debt Amount
Total of monthly payments on existing debt you are considering paying off
Please Enter Monthly Debt Payment
Amount of new mortgage
Please Enter Amount of New (Refinanced) Mortgage
Your new mortgage type. The most common mortgage type is fixed rate
Please Select New Mortgage Type
The current interest rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is approximately 5.750%
Please Select Rate of New Mortgage
The length, in years, of your new mortgage. The most common mortgage term is 30 years
Please Select Mortgage Term (Years)
One-time costs such as lender fees and points, title insurance, appraisal fee and attorney fees (in the South)
Non-Recurring Refinancing Closing Costs
The type of mortgage your looking to obtain
Please Select Mortgage Type
Submit Valid Info to Compare Lenders and Save Money!When you provide valid personal info we may connect you with lenders which enables you to compare mortgage proposals and find the mortgage that is right for you. Click calculator for a version of this calculator that does not require personal info
 
Please Enter Your First & Last Name
Please Enter a Valid First Name
Please Enter a Valid Last Name
 
Please Enter Your Phone Number
Please Enter a Valid Phone
Please Enter Your Email
Please Enter a Valid Email
Your credit score to the best of your knowledge
Please Select Credit Score
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Outputs

The total of your exisiting monthly mortgage payment and monthly debt payment
Monthly mortgage payment based on new mortgage terms
Total interest expense you will pay over the life of your new mortgage based on the terms of your refinancing
Amount of monthly debt you are able to pay-off by refinancing. Based on your existing mortgage balance and the amount of your new mortgage
Depending on your existing mortgage balance, the amount of debt you pay-off, the amount of your new mortgage and closing costs, you may be able to keep some of the proceeds when you refinance. Your property value and LTV ratio also determine your ability to take cash out when you refinance. In some cases, you may be required to contribute money to cover closing costs
Minimum required value of property you are refinancing in order to qualify for your new mortgage amount. Based on a maximum Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio of 80% (the ratio of mortgage amount plus recurring and non-recurring closing costs to the value of the property). Lenders typically require an LTV of 80% or less if you are taking cash out when refinancing your mortgage

Savings from Refinancing

The amount of money you save (or additional expense you incur) per month by refinancing and paying off your existing mortgage and monthly debt
The amount of time it will take you to recover the non-recurring closing costs required to refinance your mortgage based on your savings per month

How Our Debt Consolidation Refinance Calculator Works

With a debt consolidation refinance, you increase your mortgage balance and use the equity in your home to pay off more expensive loans. You may also be able to reduce, or consolidate, the number of loans you have into one mortgage. For example, you may decide to payoff and close multiple credit card accounts with the proceeds from your refinance. When used correctly, a debt consolidation refinance can reduce your total monthly debt expense and lower your average interest rate. Our calculate uses the following key inputs to enable you to evaluate this refinance option:

Existing Debt Balance. This is the total amount of debt you want to consolidate. This can include any type of debt such as credit cards as well as car, personal and student loans. Input the total debt you want to pay off or pay down across all accounts. For example, if you want to pay off $5,000 in credit card debt and a $3,000 personal loan, input $8,000.

Monthly Debt Payment. This is the total monthly debt payments for the loans you want to payoff. For example if you want to consolidate a credit card with a $450 monthly bill and a car loan with a $300 monthly payment, input $750.

Current Monthly Mortgage Payment. Input your current mortgage payment. You may be able to reduce your monthly payment when you refinance.

Outstanding Mortgage Balance. This is your current principal mortgage balance. Please input your outstanding loan balance and not your original mortgage amount. You can find your current loan balance on your most recent mortgage statement or by contacting your lender. Please note that you are required to pay off your mortgage completely when you do a debt consolidation refinance. If your loan balance is too high you may not be able to consolidate as much debt as you want.

New Mortgage. This the mortgage amount for your debt consolidation refinance. Your new mortgage must be greater than or equal to your existing mortgage balance plus the total debt you want to payoff in addition to any closing costs you want to finance.

Property Value. Input your estimated property value to understand if your home is worth enough to pay off both your current mortgage as well as other loans when you refinance, as lenders only permit you to borrow so much relative to the value of your home. In other words, you may want to consolidate debt but you have to have enough equity in your property to qualify for the refinance.

Our calculator enables you to understand the following information about a debt consolidation refinance:

Combined Monthly Mortgage and Debt Payment. This is the total monthly expense for the debt you want to consolidate and your mortgage. In other words, this is your monthly debt expense before you refinance. For example, if your current monthly debt expense is $750 and your mortgage payment is $2,750 then your combined mortgage and debt payment is $3,500.

New Monthly Mortgage Payment. This is your new mortgage payment based on your interest rate, loan length and program. In some cases your monthly payment increases with a debt consolidation refinance but your total debt payments should decrease.

Amount of Debt Paid Off. This is the amount of debt you pay off when you refinance based on your existing mortgage balance, new loan amount and closing costs. Your loan proceeds pay off your current mortgage balance first, then closing costs and any remaining funds go to pay off debt. Any proceeds that remain after paying off debt go to the borrower.

Savings from Refinancing. Our calculator compares your combined current monthly mortgage and debt payments to a new single mortgage payment to determine how much money you can save on a monthly basis with a debt consolidation refinance. For example if you replace $3,500 in combined debt and mortgage payments with a new $3,000 mortgage payment, then your monthly savings is $500.

Property Value Needed to Refinance. This is how much your property must be worth to qualify for the refinance. Lenders limit how much you can borrow as a percentage of your property value. If your new mortgage amount is too high relative to how much your home is worth you may exceed the lender’s limit. If your property value is not high enough you may need to reduce your mortgage amount which likely lowers the amount of debt you can consolidate. Our calculator enables you to understand if your property value meets the requirement to obtain the mortgage necessary to pay off your debt.

What Borrowers Should Know About a Debt Consolidation Refinance

1

Reduce Your Monthly Debt Payments

A debt consolidation refinance is an effective way to use the equity in your home to lower your monthly debt payments.  For example, you may have credit card, student or car loans that charge a high interest rate.  With a debt consolidation refinance you can pay off this high interest rate debt with a mortgage with a much lower interest rate.  For example, some credit cards charge an interest rate of 20% or higher as compared to mortgage rates which are usually 5% or less depending on your credit score and other factors.  Lowering the interest rate you pay on your combined debt, including your mortgage, reduces your total monthly debt payments and saves you money.  Our Debt Consolidation Refinance Calculator enables you to determine if you can save money by refinancing your loans into a single mortgage.

2

Check the Equity In Your Home Before You Apply

You must have sufficient equity in your home to qualify for a debt consolidation refinance.  With a debt consolidation refinance your new mortgage is used to pay off both your existing mortgage as well as the debt you want to consolidate.  To qualify for the mortgage, the value of your home must be high enough to support your new mortgage amount while not exceeding the lender's maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio limit.  Loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is the ratio of your mortgage amount to the value of your home.  If your new mortgage amount is $80,000 and the value of your home is $100,000 your LTV ratio is 80% -- $80,000 (mortgage amount) / $100,000 (property value) = 80% (LTV ratio).  Most lenders apply a maximum loan-value (LTV) ratio of 80% for a debt consolidation refinance and some lenders apply a lower LTV ratios for larger mortgage amounts.  Before you apply for a debt consolidation refinance make sure that the value of your home is sufficient to support the mortgage amount you are seeking, otherwise you could exceed the lender's loan-to-value (LTV) ratio limit. 

3

Replacing Short Term Debt with Long Term Debt

In most cases a debt consolidation refinance lowers your total monthly debt payments but borrowers should be careful before they replace short term debt such as a credit card or car loan with long term debt such as a mortgage.  When you replace short term debt with long term debt you extend the length of the short term debt which usually costs you significantly more money in total interest expense over the life of the loan.  For example, if you use a new 30 year mortgage to consolidate a car loan with five years remaining on the loan term, it effectively takes you 30 years to pay off the car loan because you pay it off when you make payments on your new 30 year mortgage.  So even if your new mortgage rate is significantly lower than the interest rate on the car loan, you usually pay much more in total interest expense over the life of the loan because you have effectively turned a five year car loan into a 30 year loan.  Although in the near-to-medium term you have lowered your monthly debt payments, replacing short term debt with long term debt can cost you much more in the long run.   

4

Consolidating Debt Can Help You Qualify for a Refinance

A debt consolidation refinance usually results in lower total monthly debt payments which improves your debt-to-income ratio when you apply for a mortgage.  Your debt-to-income ratio represents the ratio of your total monthly debt payments, including your mortgage payment as well credit card, auto and student loan payments, to your monthly gross income.  Lenders usually apply a maximum borrower debt-to-income of 43% to 50% to determine what size mortgage you can afford.  With a debt-to-income ratio, the less money you spend on non-housing related debt expenses, the more money you can spend on your monthly mortgage payment and the higher the mortgage you qualify for. So a debt consolidation refinance can have the double benefit of lowering your monthly debt expenses and improving your ability to qualify for a refinance.  Use our calculator to understand if lowering or eliminating your debt payments improves your ability to qualify for a new mortgage with a lower interest rate.

5

Use Your Home as Your Piggybank

A debt consolidation refinance is essentially using your home as a bank. In most cases, your new mortgage balance is higher than your previous balance but you have reduced the number of loans you have outstanding and lowered your average interest rate.  So instead of borrowing money from a personal loan company or credit card company -- and paying a high interest rate -- you access the equity in your home and pay a lower rate.  If you can lower your mortgage rate when you refinance you can save even more money.  Either way, borrowing against your home may make more financial sense then borrowing money from a different type of lender or loan provider.

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Current Refinance Mortgage Rates in Ashburn, Virginia as of March 19, 2024
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Rate data provided by RateUpdate.com. Displayed by ICB, a division of Mortgage Research Center, NMLS #1907, Equal Housing Opportunity. Payments do not include taxes or insurance premiums. Actual payments will be greater with taxes and insurance included. Read through our lender table disclaimer for more information on rates and product details.
While we pride ourselves on the quality and breadth of the FREEandCLEAR mortgage calculators please note that they should be used for informational purposes only. Our calculators rely on assumptions by us and inputs and assumptions provided by you, which may be inaccurate. The outputs from our calculators are estimates only and should not be used as the sole basis for making any financial decisions. Always consult multiple financial professionals when determining the mortgage size and program that is appropriate for you.

More FREEandCLEAR Mortgage Resources

Mortgage Guides

Debt Consolidation Refinance Overview

Review our in-depth overview of a debt-consolidation refinance including key borrower considerations and an informative example of a debt consolidation refinance

Resources

Debt Consolidation and Total Interest Expense

Borrowers should consider total interest expense over the life of their new mortgage when evaluating if a debt consolidation refinance makes sense.  We review when it makes financial sense to do a debt consolidation refinance and when borrowers are better off keeping their existing debt in place even if it has a higher interest rate

Ask a Mortgage Expert

Ask a Mortgage Expert

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Interest Rates

Mortgage Refinance Rates

Compare mortgage refinance rates for top lenders near you.  Comparing rates and fees for multiple lenders is the best way to save money when you refinance

Sources

“What do I need to know if I’m thinking about consolidating my credit card debt?” CFPB. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, June 7 2017. Web.

About the calculator developer

Harry Jensen, Mortgage Expert

Harry is the co-founder of FREEandCLEAR. He is a mortgage expert with over 45 years of industry experience. Over his career, Harry has closed thousands of loans for satisfied borrowers and now offers his advice and insights on FREEandCLEAR.  Harry is a licensed mortgage professional (NMLS #236752). More about Harry

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