Mortgage and loan calculators – A real estate agent told me recently that she’s seen a small uptick in house sales in my little town. Along with most Americans who own, or plan to buy, homes, my wife and I are always worrying how the current economy will affect us. Any positive news, no matter how small, is a big deal.
If you’re considering getting a mortgage or refinancing application, the App Store has more than a dozen apps from which to choose. Many are free and those that are paid are only a couple of bucks or so.
Mortgage calculators apps are alike in the ways that matter most: You can enter loan amounts, amount of your down payment, interest rate, term of the loan and other essential information and then run calculations against the data.
You can view the results of your calculations per month, year or over the lifetime of the loan and you can save your loans for reference. One other feature you often see is the ability to play “What if?” using a variety of scenarios.
What else do you need? I favor any app that makes it as easy as possible to enter data, that means a good-sized keyboard to enter numbers, and ideally, a set of scroll wheels to enter dates, and a few charts and graphs to display my data. After that, I look for a visually appealing work screen, with a polished, intuitive interface.
Here’s a quick rundown of the apps that pass the mild-acid test and may interest you:
Mortgage Calculator Pro, from SVT Software, is the best-selling paid app ($0.99) at the moment. It meets most of my criteria, although I think there are better looking apps out there.
CalcsPro – Mortgage Calculators (With Estimated Tax Savings), from Rajesh Jain, is another paid app ($1.99) worth checking out. It’s more comprehensive than most, good looking, and is capable of displaying charts containing information such as post-tax interest, estimated tax savings and principle.
Morgulator+Mortgage Payment Calculator, from David Holzer, is currently on sale for $0.99. It’s streamlined and functional and it’s easy to compare one mortgage to another. One feature Morgulator has that some apps lack is the ability to email mortgage summaries.
RECalc-Real Estate Mortgage Loan Calculator, from Anil Baja, is a button pusher’s delight. In addition to the usual loan calculation functions, this paid app ($1.99) also has a fancy mathematical calculator.
Home Buying Power, from NotTooShabby Software, is visually a bit busy for my tastes, but it gets the job done. It’s a paid app ($1.99) that enables you to save a list and details of the home’s you’ve looked at to buy. None of the other apps I looked at have that feature.
CalcsPro – Mortgage Calculators (With Estimated Tax Savings) and Home Buyer Power would be my top picks. Keep in mind, I haven’t looked at every mortgage app because there are so many. If you know of better ones, throw a tip into comments.
May 30th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
This is a great application you have built.
June 16th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Since this article was published, I think you would want to add a mention to Slider Calc – Mortgage Calculator, which seems to be the only app to focus on easy value entry using sliders that aren’t frustrating to use. And the app automatically switches between calculating loan amount and monthly payment depending on what you are sliding around.
Here is a link to Slider Calc – Mortgage Calculator in the App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=315690009
…and a webpage for the app:
http://slidercalc.mindshocker.com
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:01 am
I’d like to recommend an additional app, which has more features than any of the above.
Home Finance MD.
It includes ARM and ARM IOs, monthly tax savings, buy vs. rent, a glossary, and even estimated future ARM rates and conforming loan limits by ZIP code.
itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-finance-md/id351040464?mt=8
And still only $0.99.
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Take a look at TrueCost Mortgage, the easiest mortgage calculator on the iTunes store. It cuts away all of the complexity of buying a home and reduces it to a single number – your average monthly cost to buy (and eventually, sell) a home. http://bit.ly/ahSoHY
March 14th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Please checkout our “Current Mortgage Rates” app from ERATE.com. We don’t consider it to be calculator but it can calculate your monthly payment based on today’s mortgage rates.
Search for mortgage rate comparisons for 25 mortgage programs. Select the loan type, loan amount, points, purpose (purchase or refinance) and state and get rates, annual percentage rate (APR), points and fees in the vertical mode. Turn the app to the horizontal mode and monthly mortgage payment and the rate lock period are added to the menu. Click on any menu item to sort by that item. This sorting feature is unique to ERATE.com
Tap on any quote and go directly to web site of lender for more information including loan applications. The app frames the web site, allowing easy transitions back and forth between the app and the web site.
Easy to use, simple interface. App does not require or collect personal private information. Excellent use of iPhone technology. One of only two apps that provides direct access to lenders’ web sites.
August 6th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
I looked at all the apps in this review, but I found this new one which I think is better. I like that you can email PDFs, look at all your loan totals, and even compare cost per square foot side-by-side with multiple properties. It’s definitely worth checking out: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mortgage-calculator-the-amortizer/id384863979?mt=8