How to verify me, before you read anything else
You should not take my word for who I am, and you do not have to. Every licensed mortgage loan originator in the country has a public record. Look up NMLS #1902049 at NMLS Consumer Access, which is the free public register run by the state regulators. It will show you my license status, the states I am licensed in, and the company that sponsors me. If anything on this site ever contradicts that record, believe the record.
What I do for a living
I originate mortgages, and I have spent my career both originating loans and training the bankers who originate them. That second part matters more than it sounds. Teaching the process to people who are about to do it for a living forces you to explain the parts most consumers never get told, including the parts that are not flattering to the industry I work in.
Being licensed in 32 states means I see how differently this works from one state to the next. A rule that is true in Michigan is not always true in Texas or California. That is why the writing on this site keeps saying that a number depends on your program and your state, rather than pretending there is one answer.
Why this site has no ads and no signup wall
Most mortgage content on the internet is written by one of two kinds of author. The first is a content farm with no licence and no accountability, producing pages designed to rank rather than to inform. The second is a lender who needs you to take a specific product, so the content quietly walks you toward it.
I am trying to do the third thing. The calculators here are free, they do not require an email to see the answer, and they do not sell your information to a panel of lenders. Run the number and leave if you want to. The guides explain what the number means, including when the honest answer is that you should wait, or that the thing you were sold is not worth buying.
The one thing I do ask for
If you leave your email on a calculator, you get the breakdown for the scenario you built, and you get an offer of a complimentary mortgage review. That means I take your actual figures, run them properly, and tell you honestly what your options look like. It is free, it carries no obligation, and it does not start a loan application. Sometimes the honest answer is to wait, and I will tell you that too.
What is here
Eight calculators covering payment and amortization, affordability and debt to income, biweekly and extra payments, a reverse rate finder, refinance break even, debt consolidation, home equity loan consolidation and blended rate. Alongside them, fifteen written guides that walk through the whole loan, from how a mortgage actually works to what happens inside underwriting.
How to reach me
Email [email protected] and it comes to me. I read every message that arrives through this site myself.