FHA Loan Calculator — Payment & MIP Estimate

Upfront MIP vs annual MIP

Every FHA loan carries two separate mortgage insurance charges, and mixing them up is one of the most common mistakes in DIY FHA math. The upfront MIP is a one-time charge of 1.75% of your loan amount, paid at closing or, far more commonly, rolled directly into the loan balance.

The annual MIP is a separate, ongoing charge, typically ranging from 0.15% to 0.75% of the loan amount per year, divided into 12 monthly installments and added to your regular mortgage payment for as long as it applies. Most 30-year FHA borrowers land around 0.50% to 0.55%.

On a $300,000 loan at the common 0.55% rate, that works out to roughly $137.50 a month in MIP alone — before principal, interest, taxes or insurance even enter the picture. It's a real cost, not a rounding error, which is exactly why this calculator builds it in rather than treating it as an afterthought.

When MIP goes away — or doesn't

This is the detail that surprises the most FHA borrowers after closing. If you put down at least 10%, annual MIP automatically cancels after 11 years, regardless of how much equity you've built by then.

If you put down less than 10%, which most FHA borrowers do given the program's low down payment appeal, MIP simply doesn't cancel — it runs for the entire life of the loan unless you refinance out of FHA entirely.

This is a meaningfully different rule than conventional PMI, which cancels automatically once you hit 78% loan-to-value regardless of your original down payment. HUD's own FHA insurance program page has the full official rules on premium structure.

FHA down payment and credit requirements

FHA's headline feature is a 3.5% minimum down payment for borrowers with a credit score of 580 or higher. Borrowers with a score between 500 and 579 can still qualify, but typically need at least 10% down instead. Below a 500 score, FHA financing generally isn't available at all.

This flexibility is a big part of why FHA remains popular with first-time buyers and anyone rebuilding credit after a rough financial stretch, even though the mortgage insurance cost runs higher than a comparable conventional loan for borrowers who do qualify for conventional financing.

FHA loan limits in 2026

FHA loans aren't unlimited — they're capped by county, tied to local home prices. For 2026, the baseline limit in most areas sits around $524,225, while high-cost counties can go as high as roughly $1,249,125.

Buying above your county's limit means the portion above it isn't FHA-eligible, and you'd need a different loan type for that amount.

How to use this calculator

Enter your home price and planned down payment — remember FHA's floor is 3.5%, so this calculator won't accept anything lower. Add a realistic interest rate and choose your term.

Property tax and insurance work the same as any mortgage calculator; MIP gets calculated automatically based on your down payment and term, following the table above. The "finance the upfront MIP" toggle shows the difference between paying that 1.75% in cash at closing versus rolling it into your loan balance, which is what the vast majority of FHA borrowers actually do in practice.

FHA vs conventional, side by side

The comparison usually comes down to credit score and how long you'll keep the loan. A borrower with strong credit often does better with a conventional loan at 3-5% down, since conventional PMI cancels automatically at 78% LTV, while FHA MIP at the same down payment level runs for the life of the loan.

A borrower with a lower credit score, or one who needs the more forgiving 580 minimum, often can't access conventional financing on comparable terms at all, which is where FHA's flexibility becomes the deciding factor regardless of the long-term MIP cost.

Refinancing out of FHA later

Since MIP frequently doesn't cancel on its own, the most common exit strategy for FHA borrowers with less than 10% down is a refinance into a conventional loan once they've built at least 20% equity through paydown and appreciation. At that point, a conventional refinance eliminates ongoing mortgage insurance entirely rather than just reducing it.

This move only makes financial sense once the math works — closing costs on the refinance need to be worth it against the MIP you'd otherwise keep paying, so it's worth running a refinance calculator alongside this one once you're getting close to that 20% equity mark.

The FHA Streamline Refinance

FHA offers its own simplified refinance option for existing FHA borrowers, known as the Streamline Refinance, which generally requires less documentation and sometimes skips a new appraisal entirely. It's built for lowering your rate on an existing FHA loan, not for switching to conventional financing or pulling cash out.

If you refinance into another FHA loan through this streamline process within three years of your original closing, you may be eligible for a partial refund of your original upfront MIP on a declining sliding scale — a detail that's easy to miss and worth asking your lender about directly if you're refinancing an FHA loan that's still fairly new.

FHA appraisal requirements

Like a VA loan, an FHA purchase requires an FHA-specific appraisal that checks the property against HUD's Minimum Property Standards, not just its market value. This covers basic safety, structural soundness and functioning utilities, and can occasionally hold up a sale on an older or poorly maintained home until specific repairs are addressed.

This requirement is worth factoring into any offer on a fixer-upper or older property, particularly in a competitive market where a seller might prefer a buyer whose financing carries fewer property condition contingencies.

Who an FHA loan actually makes sense for

FHA tends to fit best for borrowers with a limited down payment, a credit score in the 580-680 range where conventional pricing gets expensive, or a thinner credit history that hasn't yet built up enough track record for the best conventional terms.

It's also commonly used by borrowers coming out of a past financial setback, like a bankruptcy or foreclosure, since FHA's waiting periods after these events are often shorter than conventional guidelines.

Borrowers with strong credit and at least 5-10% saved are usually better served running the numbers on both FHA and conventional financing before committing, since the lifetime MIP cost on FHA can outweigh its lower rate advantage over a long holding period.

Gift funds and FHA down payments

FHA is notably flexible about where a down payment comes from — the entire 3.5% minimum can come from a gift from a family member, employer or approved down payment assistance program, with proper documentation. This is more permissive than many conventional programs, which sometimes require at least a portion of the down payment to come from the borrower's own funds.

Documentation typically includes a signed gift letter confirming the funds don't need to be repaid, plus evidence of the transfer between accounts. Lenders are strict about this paper trail, so it's worth setting up gift fund transfers early in the process rather than scrambling right before closing.

Seller concessions on an FHA purchase

FHA allows sellers to contribute up to 6% of the purchase price toward a buyer's closing costs, prepaid items and even discount points — a meaningfully higher ceiling than many conventional loan programs allow at low down payment levels. This can be a useful negotiating tool in a buyer's market, effectively letting a seller help cover costs instead of lowering the purchase price directly.

It's worth remembering these concessions can't be used to fund the down payment itself, only closing-related costs, and the total concession still can't exceed actual closing costs even if the 6% cap would technically allow more. The CFPB's explainer on seller concessions covers how these get documented on your Closing Disclosure.

Are FHA loans assumable?

Yes — FHA loans are assumable, meaning a qualified buyer can take over your existing loan's rate, term and remaining balance rather than obtaining new financing entirely. This can be a genuine selling point if your original rate is well below current market rates when it comes time to sell.

The buyer assuming the loan still needs to qualify through the same credit and income review a new FHA borrower would face, and MIP obligations transfer along with the loan rather than resetting. It's a less commonly used feature than it could be, largely because many buyers and even some agents simply aren't aware FHA loans carry this option at all.

The upfront MIP refund on early refinance

Touched on briefly above, this deserves its own explanation since it's genuinely easy to miss. If you refinance out of your original FHA loan into another FHA loan within three years, HUD's sliding scale can refund a portion of your original upfront MIP, with the refund shrinking the longer you've held the loan.

Borrowers who refinance around the one-year mark tend to see the largest refunds, sometimes several thousand dollars depending on loan size, while those who wait past three years generally see no refund at all. This only applies to FHA-to-FHA refinances — moving to a conventional loan doesn't qualify for any portion of this refund, since you're leaving the FHA insurance program entirely rather than staying within it.

FHA condo approval requirements

Buying a condo with FHA financing adds an extra layer most single-family purchases don't face: the condo development itself has to be on HUD's approved list, or qualify through a limited single-unit approval process for developments not on that list. Not every condo building carries FHA approval, and this can eliminate certain properties from consideration entirely for an FHA buyer, regardless of how strong the buyer's own financial profile is.

It's worth checking a condo's FHA approval status early in a home search, ideally before making an offer, since discovering a lack of approval after going under contract can derail a purchase timeline or force a switch to more expensive financing at a late stage.

The FHA 203(k) renovation loan, briefly

Beyond the standard purchase loan this calculator models, FHA also offers a 203(k) renovation loan that rolls the cost of home repairs or improvements into the mortgage itself, based on the home's value after renovation rather than its current as-is condition. This is a genuinely useful tool for buyers eyeing a fixer-upper who don't have separate cash for repairs.

The 203(k) program carries additional documentation requirements around contractor bids, repair timelines and inspections, and it's worth working with a lender specifically experienced in this program rather than a general FHA lender, since the process differs meaningfully from a standard purchase.

FHA and past credit setbacks

FHA's underwriting is genuinely more forgiving of past financial difficulty than most conventional programs. Borrowers can typically qualify roughly two years after a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge, and sometimes sooner with documented extenuating circumstances and re-established credit. Foreclosure waiting periods run similarly shorter than conventional guidelines, often around three years rather than seven.

This doesn't mean approval is automatic once the waiting period passes — lenders still want to see a pattern of on-time payments and responsible credit use since the setback, but the shorter timelines and lower credit floor make FHA a realistic path back to homeownership for many borrowers who'd otherwise be locked out of conventional financing for years longer.

FHA loans for manufactured homes

FHA financing extends beyond traditional site-built homes to manufactured and modular housing, provided the property meets specific HUD construction and installation standards, including permanent foundation requirements. This opens FHA's low down payment benefit to a segment of the housing market that conventional financing sometimes treats more restrictively.

Rates and terms for manufactured home FHA loans can differ somewhat from standard site-built FHA financing, and not every lender offers this specific program, so it's worth confirming a lender's manufactured housing experience directly rather than assuming standard FHA terms apply automatically.

The FHA Energy Efficient Mortgage option

FHA offers an Energy Efficient Mortgage add-on that lets borrowers finance qualifying energy improvements — insulation, efficient HVAC systems, solar installations — into their loan amount beyond the base purchase price, based on projected energy savings rather than requiring the full cost to fit within standard debt ratios.

This is a genuinely underused option for buyers purchasing an older, less efficient home who plan to make improvements anyway. Rolling those costs into the mortgage at a mortgage rate is often cheaper than financing the same improvements separately through a personal loan or credit card after closing.

Using FHA financing for a multi-unit property

FHA loans aren't limited to single-family homes — they can finance properties with up to four units, provided the borrower occupies one unit as their primary residence. This makes FHA a genuinely popular strategy for house hacking, where rental income from the other units helps offset the mortgage payment.

Lenders will often count a portion of projected rental income from the other units toward qualifying income, which can meaningfully expand what a borrower can afford compared to a single-family purchase using the same income alone. The specific percentage of rental income counted, and documentation requirements around it, vary somewhat by lender.

Rate shopping applies to FHA loans too

Because FHA sets the mortgage insurance rules but not the interest rate itself, individual lenders still compete on rate and fees the same way they do for conventional loans. It's a common misconception that all FHA rates are essentially the same since the program is government-backed — in practice, rates and closing costs vary meaningfully between FHA-approved lenders for the same borrower.

The same comparison shopping principles that apply to conventional loans apply here — getting Loan Estimates from at least two or three FHA lenders before committing is worth the modest extra effort, since the MIP structure is standardized but everything else about the loan isn't.

Non-occupant co-borrowers on an FHA loan

FHA allows a non-occupant co-borrower, often a parent or other family member, to be added to a loan application to help a primary borrower qualify, even though that co-borrower won't live in the home. Their income and credit get factored into underwriting alongside the primary borrower's, which can meaningfully help a buyer who's close to qualifying but not quite there on their own.

This arrangement carries real financial responsibility for the co-borrower, since they're legally obligated on the loan the same as if they lived in the home themselves, so it's worth a candid conversation about that commitment before structuring an application this way rather than treating it as a purely formal favor.

FHA appraisal versus a home inspection

It's worth being clear about a distinction that trips up a lot of first-time FHA buyers: the required FHA appraisal is not the same thing as a home inspection, and it doesn't replace one. The appraisal confirms value and checks against HUD's baseline Minimum Property Standards, focused on major safety and structural issues, not the detailed, room-by-room assessment a licensed home inspector performs.

An FHA appraisal passing doesn't mean a home has no issues worth knowing about before buying — a separate, voluntary home inspection remains just as important on an FHA purchase as it would be on any other financing type, even though it's not a required part of the FHA loan process itself.

FHA versus USDA, if you're eligible for both

Buyers considering a rural or eligible suburban property might qualify for both FHA and USDA financing, which is worth comparing directly rather than defaulting to FHA out of familiarity. USDA loans allow 0% down for eligible borrowers in eligible areas and carry a different fee structure than FHA's MIP — typically a smaller upfront guarantee fee and a lower ongoing annual fee.

For borrowers who qualify for both, USDA often works out cheaper over time given its lower ongoing fee, but USDA carries income limits and geographic restrictions FHA doesn't share. Confirming USDA eligibility for a specific property and household income situation is worth doing before assuming FHA is the only low-down-payment option available.