Just checked out the tool it looks really interesting can definitely see the tremendous value to the standard consumer.
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Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
61–70 of 175 posts
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#62I don't get it. What is the difference between:
I want to pay less
I want to pay less, and here's a document an AI wrote for me
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#63Hey. I ended up with an error saying my PDF could not be processed? But it’s my final loan disclosure form…
Also, I’m not entirely sure what costs this avoids? Inspection fees are already paid at this point, notary fees are paid to your broker, and transfer tax happens months later.
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#64This seems odd. If you need certain fees and line items explained to you, why not ask your lender? Surely you have a loan officer that can explain every item and why it is there. If you don’t like some of the costs, go with another lender, or negotiate those with your loan officer. I’m not sure what this tool is offering that individuals don’t already have.
This is supposed to be the role of the mortgage broker / loan officer.
However in practice it's more complicated. Homebuyers receive these documents after they already signed a binding contract to purchase. Most people don't even know what questions to ask, much less how to properly negotiate, and they're under the stress of just getting the deal done which include affording a down payment, getting a home appraisal, and making sure they're not getting into a bad deal.
Also throughout the closing, the real estate agent/mortgage broker/lender aren't incentivized to get the buyer the best deal; they usually just want to close. In general the mortgage broker/lender are not going to advise and how the customer how to shop around since it's technically illegal for them to give a "bad" loan to a buyer.
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#65This seems odd. If you need certain fees and line items explained to you, why not ask your lender? Surely you have a loan officer that can explain every item and why it is there. If you don’t like some of the costs, go with another lender, or negotiate those with your loan officer. I’m not sure what this tool is offering that individuals don’t already have.
A set of mortgage documents can have over 100 pages and include 20+ fees. It can be difficult for a borrower/homebuyer to understand all these fees, and most have no idea if they're competitive. Loan officers or brokers aren't incentivized to get you the lowest rates on every line item. Sounds like this tool helps you understand if you're being overcharged.
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ignore the haters, they will probably never be your customer.
People are trying to increase the potential customer base of the author by pointing out where there is room to improve. That is incredibly valuable, and one of the major reasons to do a Show HN. That is not being a "hater".
The percentage of regular people who care about any of the risks discussed in this thread is approximately zero. For better or worse.
Your typical home buyer isn't reading the contract they sign when they buy a home, let alone the privacy policy of a simple tool they use to check if they have a mortgage with decent terms.
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#67I don't get it. What is the difference between: I want to pay less I want to pay less, and here's a document an AI wrote for me The scenario you've outlined doesn't make sense. It sounds like your goal is to collect these idiosyncratic documents. Which is also unusual - like why do the documents matter? What is the purpose?
The analysis is generated via ~15 prompts and the output is pretty useful if you're going through buying a property with a mortgage.
The goal is to help mortgage borrowers get better deals on their mortgage. All mortgage terms are outlined in the loan estimate and closing disclosure documents as required by the CFPB (consumer financial protection bureau) - https://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/loan-estimate
The tool requires uploading these documents since they have all the data needed to generate the analysis on the mortgage. Technically I can have the user paste in all the data via a textbox, but then it would be much more difficult to reliably parse. Also requiring the upload of the original documents is a much cleaner experience.
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
The most common scams around home buying are wire fraud - contact the buyer pretending to be the title company and steal their money. The data in a mortgage is exactly what you need to enable these scams and you're getting people to hand it to you and at the same time tell you they are about to wire money.
I have never done a wire transfer at a residential closing. I come to the closing at the title company office with a cashier's check from my bank for the amount they told me to bring.
Did you bought enough houses to assume that's always the case?
My experience was that I was told to send the cashier's check using overnight FedEx because they did not have office in my area.
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
The most common scams around home buying are wire fraud - contact the buyer pretending to be the title company and steal their money. The data in a mortgage is exactly what you need to enable these scams and you're getting people to hand it to you and at the same time tell you they are about to wire money.
I have never done a wire transfer at a residential closing. I come to the closing at the title company office with a cashier's check from my bank for the amount they told me to bring.
The only method available to me at closing was a wire transfer. It is dumb.
Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs
#70I once knew a founder of a pre-GPT-3 AI product that analyzed certain cost-adjacent documents to find "hidden" optimizations. The "AI" was the founder, an expert in that industry, churning through the uploaded documents himself and writing reports by hand detailing potential cost savings. How far we've come!
Some people suspect that is still how many of the AI startups operate
Reminds me of Mechanical Turk's old tagline: "Artificial Artificial Intelligence"