Mortgage Recast vs Extra Payment vs Refinance
Compare three ways to lower your mortgage cost. See the monthly payment, future interest, payoff timeline, and break-even point side by side.
Current Mortgage
Option 1 — Extra Principal
Keep your existing mortgage. Apply a one-time amount directly to principal and optionally pay extra principal every month.
Option 2 — Recast
Apply a lump sum, keep the same interest rate and remaining term, and have the lender recalculate a lower required monthly payment.
Option 3 — Refinance
Replace your current mortgage with a new loan at a new rate and term.
What changes?
Extra Principal: same loan, rate, and required payment. You pay the balance down faster.
Recast: same loan, rate, and remaining term. Your required payment is recalculated lower.
Refinance: new loan, new rate, new term, and closing costs.
Cash inputs are separate
You can now test a different lump sum for Extra Principal and Recast, instead of forcing both strategies to use the same amount.
How a Mortgage Recast Works
A recast is different from making extra payments and different from refinancing. You make a lump-sum principal payment, then your lender recalculates the required monthly principal-and-interest payment using the lower balance.
No new mortgage is created.
Your existing mortgage rate does not change.
The scheduled payoff date generally stays the same.
The lower balance is re-amortized over the remaining term.
In this calculator: the amount entered as “Recast lump sum ($)” is applied to principal for the recast scenario. The calculator then recomputes the monthly payment at your current interest rate over your current remaining term. The estimated recast fee you enter is included in the comparison. Lender eligibility and minimum lump-sum requirements are not evaluated.
Enter your current mortgage details, then complete the options you want to compare. Leave unused options blank. If expected time in home is blank, results cover the full payoff period. Extra Principal needs a lump sum or monthly extra; Recast needs a lump sum; Refinance needs a rate and term. Blank optional amounts count as $0.
Results for completed options
| Metric | Extra Principal Same loan, faster payoff |
Recast | Refinance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Required monthly payment | |||
| Total monthly outflow | |||
| Total future interest | |||
| Payoff time | |||
| Upfront cash used | |||
| Financing cost over selected horizon* | |||
| Refinance break-even | — | — |
*Financing cost = mortgage interest paid during the selected period plus lender fees (recast fee or refinance closing costs). Lump-sum principal payments are shown separately because they reduce debt and become additional home equity rather than disappearing as an expense. This comparison does not include taxes, insurance, home appreciation, tax deductions, investment returns on unused cash, escrow changes, or opportunity cost.
Where will I stand after 5 years?
This section compares your mortgage position at the time horizon you selected. “Principal/equity gained” means reduction in mortgage debt only; it does not assume any change in the home’s market value.
| At selected horizon | Extra Principal | Recast | Refinance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgage payments made | |||
| Interest paid | |||
| Remaining mortgage balance | |||
| Principal / equity gained | |||
| Upfront cash / fees |
Remaining mortgage balance
Lower is better if your goal is to build mortgage equity faster.
Important Disclaimer
For informational and educational purposes only. This calculator provides estimates based solely on the information you enter and simplified mathematical assumptions. It is not financial, investment, tax, legal, accounting, mortgage, or lending advice and should not be relied upon as a recommendation to refinance, recast, make additional principal payments, or enter into any financial transaction.
Results are estimates and may differ from actual lender calculations, loan documents, payoff statements, amortization schedules, fees, interest accrual methods, escrow requirements, taxes, insurance, prepayment terms, recast eligibility or fees, refinance costs, closing costs, credit-based pricing, and other charges or conditions. Not all mortgages are eligible for recasting, and lender requirements vary.
This calculator does not account for every factor that may affect your decision, including tax consequences, mortgage-interest deductions, investment returns or opportunity costs, inflation, changes in property value, transaction costs, future interest rates, or your individual financial circumstances.
No lender or professional relationship is created by using this website. Before making a mortgage or other financial decision, verify all figures with your mortgage servicer or lender and consider consulting an appropriately qualified financial, tax, legal, or other professional adviser. You are responsible for independently evaluating any decision made using information from this website.
No representation or warranty is made that the calculator or its results are complete, accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the website owner is not responsible for losses, damages, costs, or other consequences arising from reliance on the calculator or information provided on this site.