Loan to Value (LTV) Calculator United States

What loan to value measures

Loan to value (LTV) is your mortgage as a percentage of what the home is worth. Lenders use it to set your interest rate, decide whether you owe private mortgage insurance and judge how much risk they are taking. Enter the home value and your down payment, and the calculator returns your LTV, the loan amount you need and your down payment as a percentage, so you can see where you stand against the 80% line that matters on most conventional loans.

If you buy a $300,000 home and put down $60,000, you borrow $240,000, which is 80% of the value. The other 20% is your equity from day one. The lower the LTV, the more of the home you own and the less the lender stands to lose if you default and the house has to be sold, which is why a low LTV gets better pricing.

Why 80% is the number to watch

On a conventional loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, borrowing more than 80% of the value normally requires private mortgage insurance (PMI), an extra monthly charge that protects the lender. Put down 20% and you avoid PMI from the start. Put down less, and PMI stays until your balance falls far enough. On many loans federal law lets you request removal at 80% LTV, and the servicer must cancel it automatically at 78% based on the original schedule. The calculator shows your down payment percentage next to your LTV so you can see how far you are from that line.

LTV bands and your interest rate

Lenders price in bands, commonly 60%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% and 95%, and the rate or fees can step up each time you cross into a higher band. Going from 80.5% to 80.0% can move you into a cheaper tier and, on a conventional loan, out of PMI. When you are close to a boundary, a slightly larger down payment can save far more than it costs over the life of the loan.

Purchase price versus appraised value

For a purchase, lenders use the lower of the contract price and the appraised value. If the appraisal comes in below the price, the loan is sized against the appraisal, which raises your LTV and may mean bringing more cash to closing to stay in your target band. For a refinance, the value is the current appraisal, so homeowners whose property has gained value often find their LTV has fallen without paying down any extra principal.

A worked example

Say you are looking at a $300,000 home and can put down $60,000. The loan is $240,000. Dividing $240,000 by $300,000 gives an LTV of exactly 80%, with a 20% down payment, which puts you right at the PMI-free line for a conventional loan. With only $30,000 down, the loan would be $270,000, the LTV 90%, and PMI would almost certainly apply until the balance fell below 80% of the value.

How to use the calculator

Enter the home value and your down payment. The headline figure is your LTV, followed by the loan amount and your down payment as a percentage. The donut chart splits the home value into your down payment (your starting equity) and the loan. Change the down payment to see the LTV move across the 80% and 75% lines.

Assumptions and limitations

The calculation is plain arithmetic, loan divided by value, so it has no rates or thresholds that go out of date. The 80% PMI cutoff and the band boundaries are lender conventions and vary by program: FHA, VA and USDA loans handle mortgage insurance and LTV limits very differently from conventional loans, and some allow much higher LTVs. The calculator assumes the value you enter is the one the lender will use, which in practice is the lower of price and appraisal. Confirm PMI rules, LTV limits and pricing with your loan officer before you commit.

About This Loan to Value Calculator

Use this loan to value calculator to get an instant estimate based on the figures you enter. Adjust the inputs above to match your situation, or browse all our calculators to plan your next step.