CALCULATORS

Run the numbers

Start with the payment. Then, if you own bitcoin, compare selling it with borrowing against it.

What can I afford?

Enter any two of the three boxes below. The calculator works out the third. Boxes that are flashing still need you, or are holding an estimate.

Home priceLeave blank and we work it out from your cash and budget. Or type one: 450000, $450,000 or 450k.

Down paymentDollars you have, like $40,000, or a percent, like 10%.

Monthly budgetAll in: mortgage, taxes, insurance, HOA and upkeep.

Loan typeConventional means Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Sets the minimum down, mortgage insurance and starting rate.

Credit scoreSets the mortgage insurance rate. 720 to 739 assumed until you pick yours.

Loan lengthYears

Interest ratePercent a year. Starts at the national average for the loan type. Type your own.

The costs of owning

Each one lowers the price you can afford. Flashing boxes hold Alabama averages until you type your own. Percent or dollars both work.

Property taxPercent of price a year, or dollars a year. Alabama average 0.43%. Jefferson County about 0.59%.

Homeowners insuranceDollars a year, or percent of price. Alabama average about 1.07% of value.

HOA duesDollars a month. Many Alabama homes have none.

Maintenance and repairsPercent of price a year, or dollars a year. We recommend 1%. Older homes, 2%.

Private mortgage insuranceCalculated from your loan-to-value and credit score. Type a quote to override. Conventional loans under 20% down only.

Own bitcoin? Sell it or borrow against it?

Compare two ways to use bitcoin in a home purchase: sell some for the down payment, or keep it all and borrow against it.

Think in four-year cycles. Bitcoin's price has historically moved in roughly four-year cycles around its halving, with deep drops between peaks. Borrowing against bitcoin for a shorter period means you may have to repay at a low point. This tool assumes you hold at least four years.

BITCOIN PRICE NOW

Source: Coinbase. Updates every 10 seconds.

Two numbers get you started: the bitcoin you own, and either a home price or a monthly budget. Flashing boxes still need you, or hold an estimate.

Your bitcoin

Bitcoin you ownCoins, like 1 or 0.5.

Bitcoin price todayDollars a coin. Live price fills in. Type your own to test a scenario.

What you paid per coinAverage cost. Used for the tax if you sell.

Tax rate on the gainPercent. Federal long-term 15% plus Alabama 5% is common. Ask your CPA.

The home

Home priceDollars. 450000, $450,000 or 450k.

Down paymentPercent or dollars. Until you enter one, it uses the most your bitcoin covers in both options, up to 20%.

Loan typeConventional means Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Credit scoreSets the mortgage insurance rate.

Loan lengthYears

Mortgage ratePercent a year. Starts at the national average for the loan type.

The costs of owning

Property taxPercent of price a year, or dollars a year. Alabama average 0.43%.

Homeowners insuranceDollars a year, or percent of price. Alabama average about 1.07%.

HOA duesDollars a month.

Maintenance and repairsPercent of price a year. We recommend 1%.

Private mortgage insuranceCalculated from loan-to-value and credit score. Type a quote to override.

The bitcoin loan

How the loan worksThe two structures available today behave very differently.

Bitcoin loan ratePercent a year. Get a real quote.

Borrow up toPercent of the bitcoin pledged. Most lenders cap at 50%.

Lender sells atLoan-to-value that triggers a sale.

Years you holdFour or more recommended.

Option 1. Sell bitcoin for the down payment

The standard path. Sell, pay the tax, deposit the dollars, buy the home.

BITCOIN SOLD

BITCOIN YOU KEEP

Yours, free and clear.

MONTHLY COST OF OWNING

Option 2. Pledge bitcoin for the down payment

Keep every coin. A separate loan, secured by your bitcoin, covers the down payment.

BITCOIN LOCKED AS COLLATERAL

LENDER SELLS IF BITCOIN FALLS TO

MONTHLY COST OF OWNING

What you end up with after 4 years

Your bitcoin position at the end of 4 years, the period set in “Years you hold.” Option 2 pays the bitcoin loan interest for that whole period, then repays the loan. The home and mortgage are the same in both options, so they are left out.

If bitcoin	Price at the end	Option 1: sell	Option 2: pledge	Difference

Your total position after 4 years

The house and the bitcoin together. Set a growth rate for each and see what your equity grows to, with and without bitcoin in the picture.

Home value growthPercent a year. Birmingham averaged about 3.7% a year from 2000 to 2026.

Bitcoin projectionPower law: bitcoin's long-run trend on a log-log chart.

WITHOUT BITCOIN

Home equity only: home value minus the mortgage still owed.

OPTION 1: SELL

Home equity plus the bitcoin you kept.

OPTION 2: PLEDGE

Home equity plus all your bitcoin, minus the bitcoin loan and its interest.

How your total position grows, year by year

Lines use an average yearly increase over the holding period. Prices never move that smoothly. The power law is a straight-line fit of bitcoin's price against time on a log-log chart: price = 10^−17.18 × (days since January 3, 2009)^5.86. Fit by Palms Realty to 4,295 daily Coinbase prices, December 2014 to October 2026 (R² 0.91), via FRED. The floor is the lowest bitcoin has traded relative to that line in the period, about 44% of trend. A trend is not a promise. Past results do not guarantee future ones, and drops along the way can still trigger a sale of pledged bitcoin.

Bitcoin rarely moves in a straight line. In past cycles it has fallen 70% to 85% from a peak before recovering. A drop like that partway through can trigger a sale of your collateral even if the price ends higher. Borrowing less than the maximum gives you room.

How this works: Option 1 sells enough bitcoin to net the down payment after tax on the gain. Fannie Mae accepts it once it is converted to dollars, deposited in a U.S. regulated bank and verified before closing; it cannot be used for the earnest money deposit (Selling Guide B3-4.1-04). Option 2 depends on the structure. Mortgage-style follows the Better and Coinbase program announced March 2026: bitcoin worth 250% of the down payment loan is pledged for the life of the mortgage, the down payment loan carries the mortgage rate and term, a price drop does not force a sale, and the bitcoin can be sold only after 60 days of missed payments. Better may re-lend pledged bitcoin and return an equal amount at payoff. A bitcoin lender loan is modeled as interest-only, renewed at the same rate, with a forced sale if the loan-to-value hits the trigger. Fannie Mae allows borrowed funds secured by an asset for a down payment (B3-4.3-15), but bitcoin is not among its listed examples, so lenders decide. Either way the bitcoin loan payment counts in your debt-to-income ratio, and pledged bitcoin does not count as income. Taxes on a later sale are not included. See lenders and current rates.

General education, not investment, tax, legal or lending advice. Results are estimates from your inputs, not a loan offer. I am a licensed real estate broker, not a registered investment adviser or mortgage lender. Bitcoin is volatile and you can lose your collateral.