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San Diego County · Tool

Will refinancing actually save you money?

Enter your current loan and a new rate quote. We'll show your monthly savings, the break-even month on closing costs, and how much interest you save — or lose — over the life of the loan.

Your Current Loan

Existing

The mortgage you have today.

$
7.25%
Current P&I Payment
$4,229
28 years remaining · $800,730 interest left

Proposed New Loan

Refinance

The loan you're considering.

6.000%
$
$
New P&I Payment
$3,837
New balance: $629,500 · 30-yr fixed
Monthly Savings
$392/mo
Lower payment starting month 1. Annual savings: $4,704
Break-Even Point
24 months
You recoup $9,500 in closing costs by Nov 2028
Lifetime Interest
−$71,430
Change in total interest paid across the remaining loan life

Break-Even Timeline

Cumulative savings minus closing costs, month by month. You break even where the line crosses zero.

Month 0 Month 30 Month 60
Cumulative net savings Break-even

Side-by-Side

What changes with the refinance.

MetricCurrentNew
Rate7.250%6.000%
Balance$620,000$629,500
Monthly P&I$4,229$3,837
Years remaining2830
Total remaining interest$800,730$729,300

Refinance makes sense.

You break even in 24 months and save $392/month after that. If you plan to stay in the home past the break-even point, this is a clear win.

Assumptions We're Making

These are the defaults baked into the calculation. Change any value on the left to override.

Closing Costs
$9,500
Typical San Diego refinance closing costs on a conforming loan (appraisal, title, escrow, lender fees).
Rate Shown
Par rate
No discount points. Quoted APR will differ slightly based on fees you finance vs pay.
Loan Type
30-yr Fixed
Full rate-and-term refi. For streamline (VA IRRRL, FHA) costs are typically lower.
Tax & Insurance
Not shown
Unchanged by a refi. We focus on principal & interest — the only piece that actually moves.

How to Read the Numbers

A refinance has three answers, and all three matter:

  1. 1. Monthly savings. Your new P&I minus your current P&I. Positive means your payment drops — the amount you stop sending to the bank each month.
  2. 2. Break-even point. Closing costs divided by monthly savings. This is how many months you need to keep the new loan before you've recouped the cost of getting it. Sell before then and you lost money.
  3. 3. Lifetime interest change. The big one people forget. Resetting a 28-years-left loan to a new 30-year term can add total interest even though the monthly payment drops. This number tells you the truth.

Watch Out For This

The biggest mistake we see: refinancing purely on monthly savings without checking lifetime interest.

  • If you're five years into a 30-year loan and refinance into another 30-year, you've just turned a 25-years-remaining loan back into 30. That extra five years of interest often erases the rate-drop savings.
  • Fix: refinance into a 20-year or 15-year term. Payment might stay similar, but you finish on the original timeline — or sooner — with much less total interest.
  • Alternative: take the 30-year refi for the flexibility, then voluntarily pay at the 25-year amortization level. Same math, but you can drop back to the lower required payment if cash flow tightens.

The Rule of Thumb

Refinancing generally makes sense when:

  • New rate is at least 0.75%–1.0% lower than your current rate (the classic threshold, though it depends on balance)
  • Your break-even falls within the time you actually plan to stay in the home (or keep the loan)
  • You're not extending the loan past the point where total interest goes up meaningfully
  • Your credit and equity position haven't gotten worse since you took the original loan

For VA loans, the IRRRL streamline skips most of the underwriting and closing costs. For FHA loans, the FHA Streamline works the same way. If you qualify for either, the break-even math gets dramatically better.

What This Calculator Doesn't Cover

  • Discount points — paying cash upfront to buy the rate down
  • Rate locks and float-down options that change your quoted rate before funding
  • Mortgage insurance changes (removing PMI on conventional, or FHA MIP rules)
  • Tax deductibility differences (itemizers only, and only for acquisition debt up to $750K)
  • Cash-out tax treatment and the restriction that cash-out proceeds spent outside the home don't keep interest deductible
  • Second liens, HELOCs, or subordination costs if you have a second mortgage

Use this as a fast filter. If the numbers look good, get a real Loan Estimate from a lender — it has the actual APR, fees, and cash-to-close for your exact file.