Free mortgage offer comparison
Mortgage points vs. lender credit calculator
Put a lower-rate offer with discount points beside a higher-rate offer with a lender credit. Compare the cash-pricing tradeoff, principal-and-interest payment, interest through your expected holding period, remaining balance, and modeled crossover without confusing a scenario with an APR or lender disclosure.
The short answer
Last updated: July 2026
To compare mortgage points with a lender credit, use the same loan amount and term, then add the points paid to interest through your expected holding period and subtract the lender credit from the competing offer’s interest. Compare payments, remaining balances, and the crossover month against the Loan Estimates; the lowest upfront cash is not always the lowest holding-period cost.
Primary references on this page:
·
CFPB: Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure formsAfter the estimate:
Join the waitlistMortgage pricing tradeoff
Compare the closing-cost tradeoff on one horizon.
Hold the loan amount and term constant. The model compares scheduled interest plus points with scheduled interest minus the lender credit; it does not calculate APR or replace lender disclosures.
Loan amount
$
Loan term
years
Points-offer rate
%
Discount points
%
Credit-offer rate
%
Lender credit
$
Holding period
months
Input-driven result
Your inputs
Formula
Result below
Points offer is lower by $5,306 at month 84
Points-offer payment
$2,155
$3,500 points paid
Credit-offer payment
$2,270
$3,500 lender credit
Monthly difference
$115
Points offer: points + interest through month 84
$149,638
Credit offer: interest less credit through month 84
$154,944
Points-offer balance
$315,118
Credit-offer balance
$317,756
Modeled crossover
48 months
First modeled month points recover pricing difference
Your calculation
$3,500 points + $146,138 interest versus $158,444 interest - $3,500 credit
Estimate based on your inputs. Not a promise of results.
Read the lender-credit definition
How it works
How this tool works.
Points and lender credits move cost between closing and the life of the loan. A discount-point offer usually asks for more cash at closing in exchange for a lower rate, while a lender-credit offer generally offsets some closing costs in exchange for a higher rate. The exact relationship is lender- and offer-specific, so compare written disclosures issued on the same day and for the same loan structure.
This calculator isolates that pricing decision. It amortizes both offers, counts interest through the holding period you enter, adds points to the lower-rate scenario, and subtracts the entered lender credit from the other scenario. It excludes third-party costs, taxes, insurance, prepaid items, APR adjustments, opportunity cost, tax treatment, and any difference not represented in the inputs.
Make the result useful
Compare pricing on one loan structure and one time horizon
A valid comparison holds the loan amount, term, product type, lock period, occupancy, property, down payment, and other underwriting facts constant. If one disclosure has a different term, loan type, mortgage-insurance structure, or cash-out amount, the difference is larger than points versus credits. Normalize the offers or label the mismatch before relying on the result.
The model treats points as an upfront financing cost and lender credits as an upfront cost offset. It then calculates scheduled interest through the entered month. That method preserves the remaining-balance difference instead of calling every dollar of principal a cost. It still leaves out the time value of upfront cash, possible tax effects, and costs that appear elsewhere on the disclosure.
A crossover is only useful when it falls inside a holding period you can plausibly reach. If you may sell or refinance before the crossover, paying points can fail to recover its added cash cost. If you expect to hold much longer, a lower rate can keep producing interest savings after the simple crossover. Run multiple horizons and keep the dated offer documents with the decision.
Calculation lens
Points scenario cost = loan amount x points percent + scheduled interest through the holding month. Credit scenario cost = scheduled interest through the holding month - lender credit. The crossover is the first scheduled month when the points scenario cost is no greater than the credit scenario cost.
The output is a same-loan pricing scenario showing principal-and-interest payments, scheduled interest, remaining balances, horizon cost, and a modeled crossover. It is not an APR, approval, rate lock, disclosure, tax conclusion, or recommendation.
The model assumes fixed-rate, fully amortizing monthly payments and constant inputs. It excludes APR, adjustable-rate changes, prepaid interest, mortgage insurance, taxes, insurance, escrow, third-party fees, financed costs, opportunity cost, tax effects, curtailments, late payments, recasting, and lender-specific rounding. The current lender disclosures control.
Questions landlords ask
Questions about this tool and its limits.
Built by a landlord who's done every one of these jobs by hand.
Aptoria was built by an owner-operator managing a Brooklyn portfolio — the 11pm calls, the awkward rent texts, the April receipt-pile — not by a software team guessing at the problem.
Keep exploring
More tools for buy & finance.
Rental financing path
Compare refinance and equity options on the same holding horizon
Start with the loan structure, then compare verified costs, payments, remaining balance, rate risk, collateral exposure, and the property plan.
Definition
Mortgage refinance
The replacement-loan structure behind rate, term, payment, and principal changes.
Continue
Definition
Refinance break-even point
What the simple cost-recovery formula measures—and what it leaves out.
Continue
Guide
Refinance break-even for rental owners
Compare cash costs, financed fees, monthly savings, balance growth, and downside cases.
Continue
Tool
Refinance break-even calculator
Model cost recovery from your loan inputs without treating the result as a recommendation.
Continue
Guide
Rental refinance vs. HELOC
Compare fixed and variable exposure, liens, draw timing, total cost, and exit options.
Continue