As we’re going through our adventure of buying a house, I wanted to share some tools we have used or people recommended to us. One thing I’ve personally found handy was some iPod/iPhone apps that quickly let us hunt for good deals on interest rates and ran the numbers for us fairly quickly.

Helpful Mortgage and Loan Apps

Loan Calc (Cost: 99 cents)  I really like this app as you can determine your monthly payments quickly. It also lets you compare loans and see side by side the total costs. You can enter the loan amount, the interest rate, number of payments, and the number of years, and get any component of the loan you’re looking for. It’s flexible enough for student and car loans as well.

Mortgage Calculator Pro (Cost: 99 cents) This is a must have app if you’re looking at homes. Like Loan Calc, this cool app can handle mortgage loan calculations as well as other fixed rate loans. It’s a bit more powerful, as you can add HOA fees, property tax, and home owner’s insurance. A big bonus is the ability to save your loans and email them.

Amortize (Free app!)-It’s a very easy to use app that does amortization of fixed loans. It’s nice to see how your monthly payments break up.

3in1 Mortgage Calc (Free app!) This is a neat little tool to calculate your mortgage loan with some extra fields to enter your monthly income and expenses.

Mortgage Rates (Free app!)– Handy little took to see if you’re getting a compettive offer with your mortgage. You can see real-time mortgage quotes from different lenders.

Which iPod/ iPhone Mortgage Do I Use the Most?

I messed with them all, but I usedLoan Calc more in the beggining and now Mortgage Calculator Pro is the new default. I find those iPod/ iPhone apps extrememly useful and easy to use. Our goal is to keep our housing costs (mortgage, taxes, and insurance) no higher than 25% of our monthly income. We want to be in a house that we can afford and these tools allows us  to calcuate that information quickly.

Mortgage Pro allows us to consider other costs of home ownership besides the mortage like:

• Homeowner’s Insurance
• Private mortgage insurance
• Home Association Fees
• Property Tax
• Maintenance & Improvement

Mortage Rates has been handy when I’m talking to the mortgage broker.

Your Thoughts on iPhone Apps

If you use iPhone apps, which ones have you’ve found helpful with mortgages and home ownership?

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