Finding on-line mortgage calculators to make rent-vs.-buy, early-loan-pay-off and how-much-can-I-afford analyses is a breeze.

But what if you've got a first and a second mortgage and can't decide if you should roll them into one new first mortgage or refinance them both?

If you need $50,000, do you sign for a cash-out refinance or tap your equity with a second mortgage?

How will a large down payment play out financially in a purchase mortgage? Should you opt for a lower down payment and pay mortgage insurance? Should you take out a second mortgage to avoid mortgage insurance?

Don't expect your lender or broker to do the math -- unless they've bookmarked a set of online specialty mortgage calculators developed by Wayne, PA-based Jack Guttentag, "The Mortgage Professor" and Seattle-based Charles Freedenberg of DecisionAide Analytics.

Offering a growing number of difficult-to-find but eminently useful mortgage and finance calculators, the partnership fills an online gap that often engulfs many mortgage consumers.

In just a few minutes, the calculators provide quick answers to tough questions.

Two for two or one

With interest rates below 8 percent, numerous consumers who've tapped their bulging equity bank are now trying to decide if moving to a new first or new first plus a second will save them the most cash.

"Refinancing Two Mortgages to Lower Costs" lets you compare rates, points, loan terms and even throw into the mix how long you expect to be in your home, refinancing costs, your income tax bracket, mortgage insurance costs and other data. The calculator compares the total cost of retaining two existing mortgages with the cost of refinancing into one or two new mortgages, over a specified period.

Cash-out or refinance

For those who haven't tapped their equity, the burning question is how to do so for less.

"Refinance to Raise Cash or Take Out a Second Mortgage" compares the total cost of a new fixed-rate cash-out mortgage with the cost of taking out a second mortgage and retaining the existing loan, depending upon how much equity you need to snare.

Generally, borrowers with mortgages signed just a few years ago at rates significantly below current rates would do much better taking second mortgages than refinancing. The coin flips with older mortgages with higher rates, Guttentag says.

Calculations for buyers

The purchase mortgage quandary often involves numerous decisions about one loan.

For borrowers with more than enough cash down "Rate of Return From Investing in a Larger Down Payment" will help you determine the pay off for putting more or less down.

For borrowers with smaller down payments "Pay For Mortgage Insurance or Take a Second Mortgage" compares two options: paying mortgage insurance on a a fixed-rate mortgage, or avoid mortgage insurance with a combined 80 percent first-and-second mortgage.

Also, "Pay For Mortgage Insurance or Pay a Higher Interest Rate" will help you determine if paying mortgage insurance on a fixed-rate mortgage, or paying a higher interest rate to avoid mortgage insurance is the better deal.

The Web site's 24 calculators also provide bottom-line answers about additional principal payments to shorten the term, refinancing, when to buy, affordability, monthly payment levels by loan type, amortization schedules, interest costs, lenders fees, points vs. rates and loan cost comparisons based on loan terms.

Guttentag and Freedenberg have done a fine job collaborating on a set of rare specialty mortgage calculators home owners and buyers aren't likely to find elsewhere.

Published: August 18, 2000

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.