Estimate your monthly payment

Five pieces: principal and interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, and mortgage insurance if you put less than 20 percent down. The calculator adds them into one monthly number.

• Principal and interest. The loan payment itself, from the price minus your down payment, the rate, and the term. On a $500,000 home with 20 percent down at 6.5 percent over 30 years, that is about $2,528 a month.
• Property tax. Estimated at 0.6 percent of the price a year, or about $250 a month on a $500,000 home. See below for how Nevada figures the real bill.
• Homeowners insurance. Starts at $2,000 a year. Many Las Vegas homes insure for less; larger homes, pools, and older roofs cost more. Condo owners usually carry a smaller policy because the HOA insures the building.
• HOA dues. Starts at $100 a month. Many master-planned communities charge a master fee plus a neighborhood fee, and guard-gated and high-rise dues run much higher. Use the number on the listing.
• Mortgage insurance. Set at 0.5 percent of the loan a year, and only charged when the down payment is under 20 percent. With 10 percent down on a $500,000 home, that adds about $188 a month.

Most lenders collect the tax and insurance with the loan payment and pay the bills for you from an escrow account, so the total at the top is close to what leaves your bank each month.

Nevada taxes homes on the assessor's taxable value, not the price you pay, and caps how much the bill can rise each year.

The Clark County Assessor sets a taxable value from the land value plus the cost to replace the building, minus depreciation. The assessed value is 35 percent of that, and the tax rate, which depends on where the home sits, is applied to the assessed value. The result is usually well below 1 percent of a home's market price, which is why the calculator starts at 0.6 percent.

Under NRS 361.4723, the tax bill on an owner-occupied primary residence can't rise more than 3 percent a year, and other homes are capped at up to 8 percent. A recorded sale removes the 3 percent owner-occupied cap until the new owner claims it, so when the assessor mails you a postcard after you buy, sign it and send it back.

Some neighborhoods also carry a Special or Local Improvement District (SID or LID) assessment for roads or utilities, billed with the property tax. Ask about it before you buy, because it is on top of the estimate here. Bills are paid in four installments, in August, October, January, and March.