Louisiana Mortgage Calculator: Estimate Your Monthly Payment
Updated: January 18, 2024
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In Louisiana, mortgages are about $86 less than the national average per month. You need to consider many factors, including the real estate tax rate and your financial standing, before purchasing a home in Louisiana.
Louisiana has the fourth-lowest real estate tax rate in the nation at 0.55%. The average annual property tax in the state is $1,187. You can learn more about the state’s property taxes through the Louisiana Department of Revenue.
Our Louisiana mortgage calculator gives you a customized estimate for your monthly mortgage payment. You can tweak many variables, such as down payment and home price, to see how your payment changes.
In this guide, we also provide ways to lower your mortgage payment and help you with the steps to take after using the calculator to get a mortgage loan that suits your budget and needs.
Start Here: Plug In Your Mortgage Factors
MoneyGeek’s Louisiana state mortgage calculator helps you get an accurate estimate of your monthly mortgage payment by considering 12 different factors. If you want to learn more about them, read the descriptions below.
Why and How to Use Our Mortgage Calculator
The average home value in Louisiana is $147,600. MoneyGeek’s Louisiana mortgage calculator can help you determine how much you can afford for a mortgage per your budget. The calculator takes into account 12 homeownership factors and reveals how they affect your mortgage payments. The calculator also shows how changing a factor, like interest rate, can lower your monthly mortgage payment.
When using MoneyGeek’s Louisiana mortgage calculator, you decide the home price you can afford and the mortgage term, and see the total amount of principal and interest you pay during repayment. To evaluate and estimate your homeownership costs, you need to get accurate information about the factors below.
Home Price:
In this box, input either the maximum home price you can afford or the loan amount you want.
Down Payment:
Input the down payment you plan to make or a percentage of the home price.
Interest Rate:
Enter the interest rate offered by the lender. You can also check our daily mortgage rate report to find the best rates.
Loan Terms:
Input your desired loan length here. Loan terms are typically 10, 15, 20 or 30 years.
Payments per Year:
The most popular number of payments per year is 12, which is equivalent to making monthly payments.
Property Tax:
Input the annual average property tax of $1,187 for Louisiana under the “Other fees” box.
HOA Fees:
You need to pay a monthly or annual fee if your property has a homeowners association. Enter the amount here if you know it.
Principal & Interest:
The amount you borrow from the lender is the principal, while the interest is the amount you compensate the lender for advancing the money to you.
Monthly Payment:
Your monthly mortgage payment includes principal, interest, property taxes, HOA fees (if any) and home insurance costs.
Principal Payment:
This is the part of your mortgage payment that decreases your overall mortgage balance.
Interest Payment:
This covers interest charges the lender applies to the loan.
Total Cost With Interest:
The total cost includes your principal repayment plus total interest to be paid to the lender for the term of the loan.
You can reduce your monthly mortgage payment in Louisiana in several ways, such as:
- Buying a less expensive home. If you choose a lower-priced property, you need a smaller loan, so your monthly mortgage payment is lower.
- Choosing a different location. The real estate tax rate in Louisiana is 0.55%, the 4th lowest in the United States. The average annual property tax is $1,187. But, the area you live in can affect how much you pay for property taxes.
- Finding a lower interest rate. You may lower your interest rate if you pay a larger down payment, making the monthly mortgage payment smaller.
- Extending your loan term. Another way of reducing your monthly mortgage payment is by extending the loan term. For example, a 30-year term has a lower monthly payment than a 15-year term. Keep in mind that you pay more interest in total with a longer loan term.
Next Steps: What to Do After You Have Estimated Your Mortgage Payments
MoneyGeek gathered all the important information and details to make your home-buying journey in Louisiana easier.
- Shop & Compare Rates – Before you choose a lender for your mortgage loan, it is important to compare offers from different lenders as interest rates vary between them. You can check out our Louisiana mortgage rate page for further details.
- Not Ready To Buy? – Are you still deciding whether to buy or rent property in Louisiana? If so, examine the different deciding factors in our rent vs. buy guide.
- Learn More – If you are not sure about which type of mortgage suits you best, see our guides on reverse mortgages, FHA loans and VA loans.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mortgages in Louisiana
The home loan amount you can afford depends on your financial situation and available budget for a mortgage payment. Usually, mortgage lenders use the debt-to-income (DTI) ratio when determining the mortgage affordability of a prospective homeowner. The DTI ratio needs to be 43% or lower for them to consider the loan affordable.
The outstanding average mortgage amount in Louisiana is $151,851.
If you apply a large down payment to your home purchase, you pay a lower monthly mortgage payment. To avoid private mortgage insurance (PMI), which increases your monthly payment, you need a 20% down payment. But, a down payment of around 5% is sometimes possible, and government-backed programs like VA or USDA may not require a down payment.
If you do not have 20% for a down payment, conventional loans require private mortgage insurance (PMI). You can remove PMI if you refinance your loan and the new loan amount doesn’t exceed 80% of the original property value.
The average annual property tax in Louisiana is $1,187.
The average monthly mortgage payment in Louisiana is $1,073 — $86 less than the national average.
The median home price in Louisiana is $147,600.
sources
- Department of Revenue Policy Services Division. "Definition of Tangible Personal Property ." Accessed March 2, 2022.