Your full FHA payment with upfront and annual mortgage insurance included
| Base Loan Amount | Term | LTV | Annual MIP | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ $726,200 | Over 15 years | ≤ 90% | 0.50% | 11 years |
| ≤ $726,200 | Over 15 years | 90.01% – 95% | 0.50% | Life of loan |
| ≤ $726,200 | Over 15 years | Over 95% | 0.55% | Life of loan |
| ≤ $726,200 | 15 years or less | ≤ 90% | 0.15% | 11 years |
| ≤ $726,200 | 15 years or less | Over 90% | 0.40% | Life of loan |
| Over $726,200 | Over 15 years | ≤ 90% | 0.70% | 11 years |
| Over $726,200 | Over 15 years | 90.01% – 95% | 0.70% | Life of loan |
| Over $726,200 | Over 15 years | Over 95% | 0.75% | Life of loan |
| Over $726,200 | 15 years or less | ≤ 90% | 0.15% | 11 years |
| Over $726,200 | 15 years or less | Over 90% | 0.65% | Life of loan |
Upfront MIP is a separate 1.75% of the base loan on every FHA purchase loan, regardless of term or LTV.
| Area Type | 2025 Limit (1-unit) |
|---|---|
| Standard counties (floor) | $524,225 |
| High-cost areas (ceiling) | $1,209,750 |
These are 2025 limits. Most counties use the floor; expensive metros fall somewhere between the two. Check your county's exact figure on HUD's lookup tool before house hunting.
An FHA loan is a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which is why lenders accept down payments as small as 3.5% and credit scores as low as 580. The trade-off is mortgage insurance, and FHA charges it twice: an upfront premium (UFMIP) of 1.75% that gets rolled into your loan, and an annual premium (MIP) split across your monthly payments. Generic mortgage calculators skip both, which is why their FHA estimates run low. This one includes them.
Base loan = home price − down payment. UFMIP = 1.75% of the base loan, financed, so your total loan = base × 1.0175. Principal and interest comes from the standard amortization formula on that total: M = P × (r/12) ÷ (1 − (1 + r/12)−n). Monthly MIP = base loan × your annual MIP rate ÷ 12, where the rate comes from the 2025 schedule above based on your term and loan-to-value ratio. Add property tax and insurance divided by 12 and you have the real monthly number.
Enter the home price and your down payment as either a percentage or a dollar amount; the two fields stay in sync. Pick your rate and term, and adjust the tax and insurance estimates if you know your local figures. Results update as you type. Keep an eye on the MIP duration box: it tells you whether your mortgage insurance ends after 11 years or sticks around for the life of the loan.
Take a $350,000 home with the minimum 3.5% down ($12,250). The base loan is $337,750, UFMIP adds $5,911, and the total loan lands at $343,661. At 6.5% over 30 years, principal and interest comes to $2,172 a month. The LTV is 96.5%, which puts the annual MIP at 0.55%, or $155 a month, and because that LTV is above 90%, the MIP lasts for the life of the loan. Add $292 in property tax and $125 in insurance, and the full payment is about $2,744 a month.
The FHA minimum is 580 for the 3.5% down payment. Scores from 500 to 579 can still qualify, but you'll need 10% down instead. Individual lenders often set their own floors, commonly 600 to 620, so shopping around matters if your score sits near the cutoff.
Only sometimes. If you put at least 10% down, annual MIP drops off automatically after 11 years. Put down less than 10% and MIP lasts for the life of the loan. The common escape route is refinancing into a conventional loan once you've built about 20% equity, which ends the FHA insurance entirely.
It depends on your credit and down payment. FHA wins for scores below roughly 680 and small down payments, since its rates don't punish weaker credit the way conventional pricing does. With good credit and 5% or more down, conventional usually costs less because PMI cancels at 20% equity while FHA MIP often doesn't.
Partially, and only in one situation: refinancing into another FHA loan within three years. The refund starts at about 80% of what you paid and shrinks by two percentage points each month. Sell the home or refinance into a conventional loan and there's no refund at all.
For a single-family home, the 2025 floor is $524,225 in most counties and the ceiling is $1,209,750 in high-cost areas like much of California and the New York metro. Your county's exact limit sits somewhere between the two. Loans above the local limit have to go conventional or jumbo.