# MortgageTheGuide

> Free mortgage calculator for the US and Canada. Shows the complete monthly payment — principal, interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, HOA and PMI — and gives concrete suggestions for how to lower it. No sign-up required.

## What this site does

MortgageTheGuide calculates the true total monthly mortgage payment, not just principal and interest. It autofills regional property tax and insurance averages by US state or Canadian province, models PMI from credit band and LTV, applies Canadian semi-annual compounding and CMHC default insurance premiums, and generates a personalised action plan (downloadable as PDF).

## Key pages

- Homepage (US calculator): https://mortgagetheguide.com/
- Canadian mortgage calculator: https://mortgagetheguide.com/ca
- About / how the tool works: https://mortgagetheguide.com/about
- Methodology (formulas + data sources): https://mortgagetheguide.com/how-we-calculate
- Mortgage glossary (13 terms, each with a dedicated page): https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary
- Guides and references hub: https://mortgagetheguide.com/references
- Live rate feed (JSON): https://mortgagetheguide.com/api/rates.json

## Specialised mortgage tools (under /tools)

- Tools hub: https://mortgagetheguide.com/tools
- Affordability calculator (28/36 rule, three price tiers, chart): https://mortgagetheguide.com/tools/affordability

## Glossary terms with dedicated pages

- Amortization: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/amortization
- Accelerated bi-weekly: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/accelerated-bi-weekly
- Closing costs: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/closing-costs
- CMHC insurance: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/cmhc-insurance
- Down payment: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/down-payment
- Escrow: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/escrow
- HOA fee: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/hoa-fee
- Loan-to-value (LTV): https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/loan-to-value
- PMI: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/pmi
- Principal: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/principal
- Refinance: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/refinance
- Stress test (Canada): https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/stress-test
- Term: https://mortgagetheguide.com/glossary/term

## Guides

- What is PMI and how to avoid it: https://mortgagetheguide.com/guides/what-is-pmi
- 15-year vs 30-year mortgage trade-off: https://mortgagetheguide.com/guides/15-vs-30-year-mortgage
- Minimum down payment in Canada by price: https://mortgagetheguide.com/guides/minimum-down-payment-canada

## Data sources

- US mortgage rates: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (weekly)
- Canadian mortgage rates: Bank of Canada published averages (weekly)
- Property tax rates: Tax Foundation state/provincial averages
- Homeowners insurance: Insurance Information Institute regional averages
- PMI pricing: MGIC and Urban Institute rate tables by LTV and credit band
- CMHC premiums: Published Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation schedule

## Technical notes for crawlers

- All pages are server-side rendered (Astro SSG/SSR). Full content is present in the initial HTML response — no client-side rendering required.
- JSON-LD structured data (schema.org) is present on every page: Organization, WebSite, BreadcrumbList, Article, FAQPage, WebApplication, DefinedTermSet as appropriate.
- Sitemap: https://mortgagetheguide.com/sitemap.xml
- No login, paywall, or access gate on any content page.