SwitchWize decision guide
Each option uses the same lump sum in a different way. Compare the interest and fees you pay while you live in the home. Then decide how much a lower monthly payment is worth to you.
What you can expect
Quick answer
If you have a lump sum, an extra payment saves the most interest at your current rate. A recast costs a fee but lowers your monthly payment. A refinance wins only if its lower rate saves more than its closing costs before you move. Enter your loan to see each in dollars.
See current mortgage ratesIf recast
Best when you want a lower monthly payment and like your current rate.
If extra payment
Best when you want to pay the least interest and can keep paying the same amount.
If refinance
Best when the new rate is clearly lower and you will stay long enough to make up closing costs.
Key number to watch
Over 7 years, a refinance rate below about 6.02% costs less than a recast.
Test your situation
Change any number below to match your situation. No login is required. Saved decisions stay on this device, and signed-in users can revisit them across devices.
What you still owe. It is on your monthly mortgage statement.
The rate on your loan now. It is on your monthly statement.
How long until your loan is paid off on its normal schedule. Your statement may show the end date.
The cash you would put toward the loan. Keep enough for emergencies before you use it.
Your best guess. The calculator compares costs over this many years.
Your answer so far
Extra payment costs the least over 7 years, counting interest and fees. It costs about $7,431.80 less than a recast. A recast lowers your payment from $2,025.62 to $1,688.02 a month. An extra payment keeps $2,025.62 a month and ends the loan 7 years 11 months sooner. The refinance payment would be $1,616.51 a month.
See the full breakdownFrom your lender's quote
Copy these from your Loan Estimate or written quote. Nothing leaves your browser.
Ask your servicer (the company you send your payments to) what it charges to recast. The page starts at $0. Enter the fee they quote.
The page starts at a recent average 30-year rate SwitchWize tracks. Replace it with the rate on your Loan Estimate, the form a lender gives you with its offer.
How many years the new loan would last.
The page starts at $6,000 as an example only. Enter the closing costs on your Loan Estimate.
Extra payment costs the least over 7 years, counting interest and fees. It costs about $7,431.80 less than a recast. A recast lowers your payment from $2,025.62 to $1,688.02 a month. An extra payment keeps $2,025.62 a month and ends the loan 7 years 11 months sooner. The refinance payment would be $1,616.51 a month.
Recast
$106,401
interest and fees over 7 years. Payment $1,688.02 a month. Paid off in 25 years. Upfront cash $50,000.
Extra payment
$98,969
interest and fees over 7 years. Payment $2,025.62 a month. Paid off in 17 years 1 month. Upfront cash $50,000.
Refinance
$118,646
interest and fees over 7 years. Payment $1,616.51 a month. Paid off in 30 years. Upfront cash $56,000.
Try a scenario
What could change this
Over 7 years, a refinance rate below about 6.02% costs less than a recast.
How certain: high
Over 7 years, a refinance rate below about 5.60% costs less than an extra payment.
How certain: high
Refinancing does not catch up with a recast within 40 years at these numbers.
How certain: scenario dependent
Check these assumptions
Extra payment costs the least over 7 years, counting interest and fees. It costs about $7,431.80 less than a recast. A recast lowers your payment from $2,025.62 to $1,688.02 a month. An extra payment keeps $2,025.62 a month and ends the loan 7 years 11 months sooner. The refinance payment would be $1,616.51 a month.
Monthly payments: recast $1,688.02, extra payment $2,025.62, refinance $1,616.51.
Time to pay off: recast 25 years, extra payment 17 years 1 month, refinance 30 years.
You do not have to decide everything at once. Pay part now, keep some cash in savings, and check again later.
Educational illustration only. The right amount depends on your needs and timing.
Question 1
Yes: Go to the next question.
No: Skip the refinance. Choose a recast or an extra payment.
Question 2
Yes: A refinance can save the most.
No: Skip the refinance. Choose a recast or an extra payment.
Question 3
Yes: Ask your servicer about a recast.
No: Make an extra payment to save the most interest.
The calculator works out each loan month by month. For each option it adds the interest you pay while you stay to the recast fee or closing costs. Money that lowers what you owe is still yours, so it is not counted as a cost.
The refinance rate starts at a recent average 30-year rate SwitchWize tracks. It is not an offer to you. The other numbers are examples. Replace them with your own.
The starting refinance rate refreshes with the SwitchWize rate system. Sources are reviewed every quarter. Editorial conclusions do not depend on affiliate availability.
On a typical fixed-rate loan the principal and interest payment does not change. The principal part lowers what you owe.
A fee some lenders charge for paying off all or part of a mortgage early. It does not normally apply to small extra principal payments.
Closing costs are the upfront costs you are charged to get your loan. Request Loan Estimates from more than one lender.
Starting value only. Enter the rate on your own Loan Estimate.
You pay a lump sum toward your loan. The lender then works out a new, lower payment over the months you have left. Your rate and end date stay the same. Your servicer may charge a fee.
No. Not every loan can be recast. Ask your servicer whether yours can, the smallest lump sum it takes, and what it charges.
With the same lump sum, the extra payment saves more. Your payment stays higher, so the loan ends sooner. A recast gives you a lower payment instead. The calculator shows both in dollars.
The CFPB says some lenders charge a fee if you pay off all or part of your mortgage early. It says this does not normally apply to small extra payments toward what you owe. Check your loan papers or ask your lender.
The CFPB says the loan payment on a typical fixed-rate mortgage does not change over the life of the loan. So an extra payment ends the loan sooner instead. A recast is how you lower the payment.
When the new rate is low enough that the interest you save is more than the closing costs. You also need to stay long enough. The calculator shows that rate and that number of years.
On the Loan Estimate a lender gives you. The CFPB says closing costs are the upfront costs you are charged to get your loan. It suggests getting Loan Estimates from more than one lender.
No. It counts only the loan payment. Add property tax and insurance yourself if you want your full monthly payment.