How to Calculate a Mortgage Payoff

Mortgage payments are paid in arrears, that is, behind.

Take a sample mortgage with an original balance of $100,000, 10 % interest, 180 months. The monthly payments are $1,074.61.

After 60 months the principal balance is $81,316.29 on the day the 60th payment is made. From that day forward the interest accrues till the next payment date. The daily, or per diem, rate is the current principal times the interest rate divided by 365. In this case $81,316.29 X 10% / 365 = $22.28 per day.

If the mortgage is paid off 10 days after the last payment due date then the payoff would be $81,316.29 + 10 X $22.28 = $81,539.09.

A useful calculator is the Days between two dates calculator so you can work out how many days to multiply the daily amount by.

If you don’t fully understand how the payments and outstanding principal was calculated, please see our FREE online Mortgage Calculator Tutorials.