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FRC Calculator

Cash or Mortgage?
Which makes you richer.

Enter your numbers. We'll show you the real cost of each path, net wealth at 10/20/30 years, and the exact year one strategy overtakes the other.

$
$
If less than home price, we'll use it as down payment
% / yr
% / yr
Expected annual return if cash is invested instead
% / yr
Annual total (property tax + insurance)
%
Federal + state combined. Set to 0 if you take standard deduction.
💵 Cash Path
🏦 Mortgage Path

Know which lender gives you the best mortgage terms for your profile — before you apply.

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This calculator provides estimates based on simplified financial modeling. It does not account for PMI, HOA fees, maintenance costs, capital gains tax, or changes in tax law. Consult a financial advisor before making major financial decisions. Not financial advice.

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The part almost nobody publishes free

Prices and rates are widely reported. Whether a lender says yes is not. In the complete 2025 federal record, denial rates across the 100 largest FHA lenders ran from 1.8% to 78.7% — same programme, same year.

And it is not simply who applies where: standardizing on state, loan amount, income, debt-to-income and loan-to-value, applicant mix explains only a 2.7× range in expected outcomes.

Which lenders approve most → Your metro → Denied? →

CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc. Covers the highest-volume lenders published per market, not all lenders. Historical observations, not predictions. CC BY 4.0, not independently reproduced.

The Denial Dispatch
One finding a week from the federal mortgage record.
One chart, three paragraphs, every Saturday. Measured, not assumed.
Get the Dispatch →
AI Accuracy Index The Door Effect The Denial Map Open Data About 184 Metro Gaps Evidence Navigator Hallucination Files Press Newsletter
FinanceRateCalc · Independent analysis of the complete federal HMDA record · Measured, not assumed. · No lender or AI vendor funds or previews this work.