Mortgage Recasting Calculator
After a lump-sum principal payment, see your lower monthly payment when the lender re-amortizes the balance over the same term — no refinance. Free.
Mortgage Recasting Calculator
Recasting (or re-amortization) lets you put a lump sum toward principal and have the lender recalculate a lower monthly payment over your existing term — keeping the same rate and payoff date, with no refinance and no new closing costs. Enter your loan to see the new payment.
How to Use the Mortgage Recasting Calculator
Enter your current loan
Use your present balance, interest rate, and the years remaining — recasting works on what you owe now, not the original loan amount.
Add the lump sum
The one-time amount you'll put toward principal — often a bonus, home-sale proceeds, or inheritance. Most lenders require a minimum (commonly USD 5,000–10,000) to recast.
Note the recast fee
Lenders typically charge a small flat fee (often USD 150–500) — far less than the thousands a refinance costs. Enter it to factor it in.
Compare the two columns
Your rate and payoff date stay the same; only the monthly payment drops. The savings cards show how much lower your payment becomes and the total interest you avoid.
Recasting vs Refinancing vs Just Paying Extra
What Recasting Actually Does
A mortgage recast is one of the least-known but most useful options a homeowner has. You make a large one-time principal payment, and the lender re-amortizes the now-smaller balance over your remaining term, producing a lower required monthly payment. Crucially, your interest rate and your payoff date do not change — only the payment falls. Because the lender is simply recalculating an existing loan rather than underwriting a new one, there's no credit check, no appraisal, and no thousands of dollars in closing costs; most lenders charge a small flat fee, often a few hundred dollars. This makes recasting the ideal tool when you've come into a windfall, sold a previous home, and want lower monthly cash flow without touching a low interest rate you'd hate to give up by refinancing.
The distinction from the two adjacent options is what matters. Refinancing replaces your loan entirely — useful when rates have dropped enough to lower your rate, but costly and rate-resetting. Simply making extra principal payments shortens your loan and saves interest but keeps your required payment the same. Recasting sits in between: it lowers your payment (like a refinance) while keeping your rate and term (like extra payments). If you have a 3% pandemic-era mortgage and a chunk of cash, recasting lets you reduce your monthly obligation without surrendering that rate — something refinancing into today's higher rates could never do.
"Recasting is the move for anyone sitting on a low fixed rate with cash to deploy: lower your payment for a few hundred dollars in fees, and never give up the rate a refinance would force you to replace."
When Recasting Makes Sense — and Its Limits
Recasting shines when your priority is lower monthly cash flow rather than the fastest possible payoff. If your goal is to be debt-free sooner, keeping your old (higher) payment after a lump sum — i.e. just paying extra — saves more total interest, because you're throwing more money at principal each month. Recasting deliberately lowers that monthly contribution, so the lifetime interest saved is smaller than if you'd kept paying the old amount. There are practical limits too: not all loans are eligible. Government-backed FHA, VA, and USDA loans generally cannot be recast, and jumbo or portfolio loans vary by lender, so confirm eligibility before counting on it. For homeowners in Singapore and Malaysia, formal "recasting" is less standardised, but the equivalent often exists: many home loans allow partial prepayments that reduce either the tenure or the instalment, and flexi-loans let you park cash against the balance to cut interest while preserving access to the funds. Ask your bank whether a partial prepayment can be applied to lower the monthly instalment rather than the tenure — that's the local version of a recast.
10 Facts About Mortgage Recasting
A recast re-amortizes your balance after a lump sum for a lower monthly payment.
Your interest rate and payoff date stay the same — only the payment drops.
No credit check, no appraisal, no refinance closing costs — just a small flat fee.
Typical recast fee is USD 150–500, versus thousands to refinance.
Lenders usually require a minimum lump sum (often USD 5,000–10,000) to recast.
Recasting is ideal when you want lower payments but keep a low rate.
FHA, VA and USDA loans generally cannot be recast.
To save the most interest, pay the lump sum but keep the old payment (don't recast).
Recasting is the opposite trade-off to a refinance — same rate, lower payment.
In SG/MY, the equivalent is a partial prepayment applied to lower the instalment.
Frequently Asked Questions
- A recast is when you make a large one-time principal payment and your lender re-amortizes the reduced balance over your remaining term, lowering your monthly payment. Your interest rate and payoff date stay the same. It requires no refinance, no credit check, and no appraisal — just a small flat fee — making it a low-cost way to reduce monthly cash flow without giving up your existing rate.
- Refinancing replaces your loan with a new one at a new rate and term, with full underwriting and thousands in closing costs. Recasting keeps your existing loan, rate, and payoff date — it just recalculates a lower payment after a lump-sum principal payment, for a small fee. If today's rates are higher than yours, refinancing would raise your rate; recasting lets you lower your payment while keeping the rate you have.
- It depends on your goal. If you want lower monthly payments, recast. If you want to be debt-free fastest and save the most total interest, make the lump-sum payment but keep your old, higher payment — that throws more at principal each month. Recasting deliberately lowers your monthly contribution, so it saves less lifetime interest than keeping the old payment, in exchange for better monthly cash flow.
- Most lenders charge a small flat recast fee, commonly USD 150–500, versus the several thousand dollars a refinance typically costs in lender fees, appraisal, and title. There's no new interest rate, no credit pull, and no appraisal. Enter your lender's fee in the calculator to see the net benefit; even with the fee, the monthly savings usually pay it back within a couple of months.
- Usually yes. Many lenders require a minimum principal reduction — often USD 5,000–10,000, or sometimes a percentage of the balance — before they'll recast. Policies vary, so ask your servicer for their specific minimum and whether they recast at all. Some lenders recast automatically after a large principal payment; others require you to request it explicitly.
- No. Conventional (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac) loans are generally eligible, but government-backed FHA, VA, and USDA loans typically cannot be recast. Jumbo and portfolio loans vary by lender. Always confirm eligibility with your servicer before planning around a recast — if your loan isn't eligible, your alternatives are making extra payments (to shorten the term) or refinancing (to change the rate or payment).
- No. Recasting involves no credit inquiry and no new loan, so it has no negative effect on your credit. If anything, lowering your balance reduces your mortgage exposure. This is one of recasting's quiet advantages over refinancing, which involves a hard credit pull and opens a new account that temporarily lowers your average account age.
- When you have a lump sum, want lower monthly payments, and hold a rate you don't want to lose. The classic case: you bought a new home before selling your old one, then the old home sells and you have a large sum to apply. Recasting turns that into a permanently lower payment without refinancing into a higher current rate. It's also useful for anyone prioritising cash-flow flexibility over the fastest payoff.
- No. Recasting keeps the same remaining term, so you finish on the original schedule — you just pay less each month along the way. If you wanted the lump sum to also shorten the loan, you'd skip the recast and keep paying your old amount, which would pay the loan off early. Recasting is specifically the lower-payment, same-date option.
- Formal "recasting" is less standardised, but the equivalent usually exists. Many home loans in both countries allow partial prepayments that can reduce either the loan tenure or the monthly instalment — ask your bank to apply a prepayment to lower the instalment, which mirrors a recast. Malaysian flexi-loans go further, letting you park surplus cash against the balance to cut daily interest while keeping access to the funds. Check your facility's prepayment terms.
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