As a potential borrower, you want to know how much you can afford to borrow to purchase a home based on your income. There is a quick and easy way to find out and it is through an online mortgage calculator.

An online mortgage calculator can also be used to compare the costs or real interest rates between several different loans and determine the impact on the length of the mortgage loan of making added principal payments or bi-weekly instead of monthly payments. The final figure will depend on variables such as loan principal balance, periodic interest rate and frequency of payment. With this tool, you can play around with the figures and come out with an acceptable combination.