The cost of a loan depends on the type of loan, the lender, the market environment, your credit history and income. Before shopping for loans, it’s important to check your credit score, as this will help you narrow down your search to lenders that offer loans to borrowers within your credit profile. That said, to secure the best interest rates, you’ll need to have good to excellent credit (a FICO score of 740 and above).

Before shopping for any loan, it’s a good idea to use a loan calculator. A calculator can help you narrow your search for a home or car by showing you how much you can afford to pay each month. It can help you compare loan costs and see how differences in interest rates can affect your payments, especially with mortgages. An interest rate calculator, on the other hand, can help you determine how big of a payment you should be making each month to reduce how much you pay on interest. Using a calculator when borrowing money is crucial to make good financial decisions.

Calculators for loan types
Here are some details about the most common types of loans and the loan calculators that can help you in the process.

Mortgage
Quick mortgage calculator gives you a monthly payment estimate after you input the home price, your down payment, the interest rate and length of the loan term. Use the calculator to price different scenarios. You might discover you need to adjust your down payment to keep your monthly payments affordable. You can also see the loan amortization schedule, or how your debt is reduced over time with monthly principal and interest payments. If you want to pay off a mortgage before the loan term is over, you can use the calculator to figure out how much more you must pay each month to achieve your goal.

Other mortgage calculators can answer a variety of questions: What is your DTI, or debt-to-income ratio? That’s a percentage that lenders look at to gauge your debt load. Should you take out a 15-year mortgage or a 30-year? Fixed interest rate or variable?

It’s critical to nail down the numbers before buying a home because a mortgage is a loan that is secured by the home itself. If you fail to make the monthly payments, the lender can foreclose and take your home.

Home equity loan
Home equity loans, sometimes called second mortgages, are for homeowners who want to borrow some of their equity to pay for home improvements, a dream vacation, college tuition or some other expense. A home equity loan is a one-time, lump-sum loan, repaid at a fixed rate, usually over five to 20 years. Quick home equity calculator helps you determine how much you might be able to borrow based on your credit score and your LTV, or loan-to-value ratio, which is the difference between what your home is worth and how much you owe on it.

Home equity line of credit (HELOC)
A HELOC is a home equity loan that works more like a credit card. You are given a line of credit that can be reused as you repay the loan. The interest rate is usually variable and tied to an index such as the prime rate. Our home equity calculators can answer a variety of questions, such as:
Should you borrow from home equity?
If so, how much could you comfortably borrow?
Are you better off taking out a lump-sum equity loan or a HELOC?
How long will it take to repay the loan?
Auto loan
An auto loan is a secured loan used to buy a car. The auto loan calculator lets you estimate monthly payments, see how much total interest you’ll pay and the loan amortization schedule. The calculator doesn’t account for costs such as taxes, documentation fees and auto registration. Plan on adding about 10 percent to your estimate.

Student loan
A student loan is an unsecured loan from either the federal government or a private lender. Borrowers must qualify for private student loans. If you don't have an established credit history, you may not find the best loan.