Calculate your exact monthly payment on any seller-financed deal — including balloon payments — before you sign anything.
Fill in the deal details above and click Calculate to see your seller finance results.
| Year | Starting Balance | Annual Payments | Interest Paid | Principal Paid | Ending Balance |
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Seller financing turns the property owner into the bank, which means every term on this calculator — rate, amortization period, down payment, and balloon — is negotiable in a way a conventional mortgage never is. That flexibility is the whole point, but it also means you need to understand how each lever affects your payment before you sit down at the table, not after you've already agreed to terms.
The interest rate and the amortization term work together to set your monthly payment, but they pull in different directions for total cost. A lower rate over a shorter term saves you the most in total interest but raises your monthly payment. A longer amortization (25-30 years) lowers your monthly payment substantially but increases total interest paid — this calculator's "Total Interest" figure shows you exactly what that trade-off costs in real dollars.
Say you agree to a $180,000 purchase price with a $20,000 down payment, leaving $160,000 financed at 6.5% amortized over 30 years with a 5-year balloon. Your monthly principal and interest payment comes out to roughly $1,011. Over the 5 years before the balloon comes due, you'll pay down only a small fraction of the principal — most of each early payment goes to interest — so you need a clear plan (refinance with a conventional lender, or negotiate an extension) for when that balloon arrives. This calculator's amortization table shows you exactly how much principal you'll have paid down by that date.
Seller financing is often the fastest path to a deal when a property owner owns free and clear and doesn't need all their equity in a lump sum. I've seen sellers take seller-finance terms specifically because the monthly income and the interest they earn beats what a lump sum sitting in the bank would pay them — it can be a genuine win-win, not just a buyer's workaround for weak credit.
The balloon payment is where I see deals go wrong most often. Buyers agree to a 5-year balloon assuming they'll "figure it out later," and later arrives faster than anyone expects. Before you sign anything with a balloon, run this calculator's amortization table and know exactly what balance you'll owe on that date — and have a real refinance plan, not a hopeful one.
Seller financing (also called owner financing) is when the property seller acts as the bank — they accept a down payment and carry the loan themselves, receiving monthly principal and interest payments from the buyer instead of a lump sum at closing. No traditional lender is involved.
Typical seller financing terms include interest rates of 6-10% (often higher than bank rates to compensate the seller for risk), a down payment of 10-30%, loan terms of 5-30 years, and often a balloon payment due in 3-10 years requiring the buyer to refinance. Terms are fully negotiable between buyer and seller.
Sellers offer financing to attract more buyers, sell faster, receive a higher purchase price, generate ongoing monthly income instead of a lump sum, defer capital gains taxes via installment sale treatment, and earn interest income on the money owed. It is especially useful for sellers who own their property free and clear.
A balloon payment is a large lump-sum payment due at the end of a seller-financed loan term. For example, on a 30-year amortizing loan with a 5-year balloon, the buyer makes regular monthly payments for 5 years but must pay off the remaining balance in full at year 5 — typically by refinancing with a conventional lender.