Decision tools
Stay vs. Move Calculator
What would actually change if you sold your current home and bought another — the monthly cost, why it changed, and the equity and transaction effects, kept separate from each other.
Direct answer:enter your current home and mortgage, what selling would net you, the home you’re considering, and how you’d use your equity. This tool separates three things that are easy to blur together: the monthly housing-cost change, the one-time equity and transaction economics of the sale and purchase, and how much principal each mortgage would pay down over time. It never adds these into a single “you’d be better off by $X” number.
What are you considering?
Moving to a larger or more expensive home
Use the Move-Up Calculator →
Moving to a smaller or less expensive home
Use the Downsizing Calculator →
Something else
Continue with the general comparison below.
Current rate context
30-year national average
6.66%
As of August 27, 2026
The new home's rate field below defaults to this national average and stays fully editable — your current mortgage's rate is a separate input, never replaced by this figure.
Explore rate history & payment impact →What this means
Staying
$2,081
per month, total housing cost
- P&I
- $1,741
- Property tax
- $250
- Insurance
- $90
- HOA
- $0
- Mortgage insurance
- $0
- Other
- $0
Moving
$5,167
per month, estimated new total housing cost
- P&I
- $4,627
- Property tax
- $400
- Insurance
- $140
- HOA
- $0
- Mortgage insurance
- $0
- Other
- $0
Monthly housing-cost difference
+$3,086
Your estimated monthly housing cost would increase by $3,086 under these assumptions.
Why it changed
- Rate effect
- +$66/mo
- Term effect
- -$200/mo
- Loan-size effect
- +$3,020/mo
- Taxes, insurance, HOA & other
- +$200/mo
About $66 of the P&I change comes from the interest rate.
About $200 comes from changing the loan term.
About $3,020 comes from borrowing more.
About $200 comes from property taxes, insurance, HOA, mortgage insurance, and other recurring housing costs.
Total change: +$3,086/mo — the four effects above always add up to this total.
Equity after selling
$410,250
Equity used
$180,000
Cash retained
$50,000
Additional cash needed
$9,000
Transaction & equity economics
Selling costs and buyer closing costs are one-time costs, not part of the monthly numbers above.
- One-time transaction costs
- $48,400
- New loan amount
- $720,000
Monthly housing cost is higher under these assumptions, so transaction costs are not recovered through monthly housing-cost savings.
Over time
- Cumulative housing-payment difference over 5 years
- +$185,155
- One-time transaction costs (separate, not summed with the above)
- $48,400
Current mortgage principal reduction
Starting balance: $250,000
Ending balance: $180,787
$69,213 reduced
New mortgage principal reduction
Starting balance: $720,000
Ending balance: $675,226
$44,774 reduced
Difference in principal reduction: -$24,439
This does not state that you would be better or worse off — that would require assumptions this tool deliberately excludes: home-price appreciation, opportunity cost on retained cash, taxes, and the value of anything you gain or give up that isn’t a dollar figure. It shows what changes financially under the assumptions you entered.
What this means
Assumptions used
- Your current mortgage payment is either entered directly or estimated from your loan's original amount, rate, and term — never re-derived from today's remaining balance
- Property tax, insurance, HOA, and mortgage insurance are whatever you enter for each home — nothing is estimated or defaulted for you
- Selling costs, buyer closing costs, and moving expenses are one-time costs, never amortized into the monthly comparison
What could change this
- An actual sale price different from the estimate entered, which changes net proceeds and how much equity is available
- A different final interest rate on the new mortgage than the editable assumption entered here
- Real closing costs differing from the itemized or lump-sum estimate entered
Three separate questions
Monthly cost, one-time economics, and principal reduction aren't the same question.
A move can lower your monthly payment and still cost you tens of thousands of dollars at closing. Or it can raise your payment while building far more equity over time. Collapsing all of that into one number hides which of those is actually true for your numbers — this tool keeps them separate on purpose.
Methodology
How this is calculated.
Monthly housing cost = principal & interest + property tax + insurance + HOA + mortgage insurance + other recurring cost, for the current home and the home you’re considering. The change between them is split four ways: how much comes from the interest rate changing (holding your remaining balance and term constant), how much comes from the loan term changing, how much comes from borrowing a different amount, and how much comes from the non-P&I costs changing. Those four always add up to the total monthly difference.
Separately, selling your current home is estimated with the same itemized net-sheet math as the Seller Net Proceeds Calculator — sale price minus payoff, commission, and closing costs. You then decide how much of that goes toward the new down payment, how much you keep liquid, and how much (if any) goes elsewhere — nothing is assumed to automatically become a down payment. One-time transaction costs (selling costs, buyer closing costs, moving expenses) are kept out of the monthly comparison entirely.
Worked example (hypothetical)
A homeowner with a $250,000 balance remaining on a mortgage originally $400,000 at 3.25% over 30 years — 8 years in — has a real current payment of roughly $1,741/month, not the lower figure re-amortizing the remaining balance would produce. Selling a $700,000 home nets roughly $415,000 after a $250,000 payoff and typical closing costs. Applying $180,000 to a down payment on a $900,000 purchase at a 6.75% 30-year rate produces an estimated new payment of roughly $4,670/monthin P&I alone — change any number above to see how your own numbers move. This example is illustrative only, not a market data point or a projection for any specific property.
Downside cases
- If payoff and selling costs exceed the sale price, net proceeds go negative — meaning you may need to bring funds to closing rather than receive any.
- Allocating more of your proceeds to a down payment, retained cash, and other uses than the sale actually nets is only valid if you separately bring in enough additional cash to cover the gap — the tool flags this rather than silently letting the numbers not add up.
- A lower monthly payment doesn’t mean a move is free — transaction costs are real, one-time dollars that this tool never hides inside the monthly comparison.
Author: Todd McClean, Realtor® | Real Estate Investment Strategist, Mountainland Realty, Inc.. Reviewed August 14, 2026. This tool provides general real estate information and is not legal, tax, accounting, lending, securities, commodities, or financial-planning advice.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about this calculator.
Does this tool tell me whether I should move?
How is my current mortgage payment determined?
Where does the new home's interest rate come from?
What isn't included in this calculator?
Does entering my numbers here send them anywhere?
Related
Keep evaluating the decision.
Next step
Want a second set of eyes on this?
This calculator uses the numbers you enter. A move strategy review adds a market-position, timing, and financing assessment specific to your situation.