Mortgage basics
PITI
Also called: Principal, interest, taxes, insurance
In short
PITI is principal, interest, taxes, and insurance — the four parts of a monthly mortgage payment. In Florida the taxes-and-insurance share can be large.
PITI is shorthand for the four pieces of a normal monthly mortgage payment: Principal and Interest (the loan itself) plus Taxes and Insurance (property taxes and homeowners insurance, usually collected into an escrow account).
Quoting only principal and interest understates the real cost of owning, and in Florida the gap can be wide: property insurance and, on the coast, flood insurance can rival or exceed the loan portion of the payment. A realistic budget uses all four.
Lenders qualify borrowers against the full PITI, not just principal and interest, which is why an insurance quote and a tax estimate matter before you make an offer.
Related
Current as of August 2026.