This is technically correct but fails to account for the time value of money.<p>If you took out a $200k loan at 4% you&#x27;d end up paying $343k for the entire 30-year mortgage. This seems outrageous, except that $1 in 2045 (when you pay off the loan) is worth substantially less than $1 in 2015.<p>For comparison&#x27;s sake, consider a 30-year mortgage that is paid of <i>this year</i>, started in 1985 - $1 in 1985 dollars is $2.21 in 2015.<p>Your mortgage payment (assuming you lock it in) do not increase over the life of the mortgage, which means your monthly payments are - in inflation adjusted dollars - dropping over time.<p>In fact, based on an inflation rate of 2%, your mortgage payment of $953&#x2F;month in 2015 falls to an inflation-adjusted $523 by the time of your last payment, and the total cost of your $200k mortgage is actually closer to $258k (2015 dollars).<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ostermiller.org&#x2F;calc&#x2F;mortgage.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ostermiller.org&#x2F;calc&#x2F;mortgage.html</a>