Should You Buy Points? The Break-Even on a Rate Buydown: by how many points you buy

2026 law · reviewed September 7, 2026

$400,000 for 30 years at 6.75% with no points, each point costing 1% of the loan and cutting the rate by 0.25%, kept 7 years: the rate, the payment, the cost, the month the points have paid for themselves, and the position at 7 years (hypothetical assumptions; method reviewed September 7, 2026)
Points	Rate	Monthly payment	Cost of the points	Paid for themselves after	Position at 7 years
0 points	6.75%	$2,594.39	$0	No points to repay	Even
0.5 points	6.625%	$2,561.24	$2,000	48 months	Ahead by $1,521
1 point	6.5%	$2,528.27	$4,000	48 months	Ahead by $3,039
1.5 points	6.375%	$2,495.48	$6,000	48 months	Ahead by $4,553
2 points	6.25%	$2,462.87	$8,000	48 months	Ahead by $6,064

$400,000 for 30 years at 6.75% with no points, each point costing 1% of the loan and cutting the rate by 0.25%, kept 7 years: the rate, the payment, the cost, the month the points have paid for themselves, and the position at 7 years (hypothetical assumptions; method reviewed September 7, 2026).

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