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Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

closingwtf.com

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Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#81

Post by ziddoap »

fragmede wrote: post #73
ziddoap wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42150219 was highly constructive. It was direct and actionable. kojeovo's original comment was less so. When you build a product, you're going to get random, in-actionable comments from people who just like to complain. Separating the signal from noise is difficult, and while there is a underlying concern about privacy, not giving anything actionable moves it towards to the noise…

Absolutely agree.

Neither are "haters", though. And, speaking on quality of feedback, "ignore the haters" seems fairly low.

Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#82

Post by sangnoir »

egorfine wrote: post #53
aaln wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, Aaron the builder here. The scamming that happens to homebuyers is not even comparable to the risk in uploading docs to a website which promises they won't share user data with anyone. This is genuinely a pro buyer tool with no association with any 3rd party. The tool has already helped many people negotiate and get a better deal on their mortgage. Please before judging understand that 70% of buyers overpay in t…

I am genuinely surprised by the comments in this thread. Privacy concerns are real but the importance of that matter in your project is overestimated here by an absurd level. What I read is not a constructive criticism and the suggestions laid down are not realistic nor business relevant at all. I feel like this is some sort of mass wishful thinking.

Title deposit wire fraud is a very big risk. The amounts are devastating to the victims, so the operator has to go above and beyond to secure the data because of the huge risks involved. Would you risk losing a 5-/6-digit amount to fraud in order to potentially save on a 4-digit closing fee?

Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#83

Post by ziddoap »

cj wrote: post #66
ziddoap wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

When people who do care about privacy and security make their voices heard, such as the case here where the owner has committed to improving their policy & processes, it benefits everyone using the product or service.

Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#84

Post by sangnoir »

293984j29384 wrote: post #26
Brian_K_White wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Public info that you bought a property is entirely different from info about all the properties you are searching for and seriously considering. Especially being able to couple that with what you eventually did later.

Why would a name and a random property address have value before the transaction, but not after it?

Well, one is before they spend a lot of money, and the other is after. In only one of those scenarios are they prone to spear-phishing wire fraud on the Title deposit. The victim is already primed, and has indicated they have gobs of money set aside.

Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#85

Post by ryandrake »

gsharma wrote: post #75
gruez wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they can collect pricing info on houses, run analytics AFAIK house sale prices (ie. property transactions) are open in many (most?) jurisdictions. >and swoop the deal with a slightly better offer How does that even work? The winning bidder is presumably someone who gave the highest offer. Why would another company pay above and beyond that, considering that there's probably several other serious buyers who aren't wi…

The deal isn’t always about the price. For example, a $1M house bought with $100K down and $900K mortgage is a worse deal for the seller as compared to $500K down and $500K financed. Assumption here is that it is more likely to get a $500K loan irrespective of the appraised value of the house. A lower all cash offer (say $975K) is likely a better offer for the seller because it reduces the risk for them and closes th…

As a home buyer, I've been beaten many times by an all-cash offer that was significantly lower than my financed offer. For example, a $450K all-cash offer where they'd close in 7 days beat my $525K 80/20 offer where it would have taken me 25+ days to close.

Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#86

Post by _dark_matter_ »

avanwyk wrote: post #27

This is great. Really good work. This looks really useful, and I think you did a great job on the interface and site in general. I hope you aren't discouraged by the other commenters, keep hacking!

Was going to say the same. I ran into the same problems when I bought my first house and spent tens of hours trying to untangle and reduce costs. Thank you for tackling this

Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#88

Post by aaln »

jdcampolargo wrote: post #47
jdcampolargo wrote: post #46

Something that would be useful would be exporting to PDF with the whole report so you could send it to your realtor / lender, etc!

right now ive been trying to export the PDF but it's annoying

Going to work on this feature and ship it early next week if you're still in the closing process then.

Re: Show HN: Free mortgage analysis tool to avoid getting screwed by closing costs

#89

Post by ryandrake »

egorfine wrote: post #53
aaln wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, Aaron the builder here. The scamming that happens to homebuyers is not even comparable to the risk in uploading docs to a website which promises they won't share user data with anyone. This is genuinely a pro buyer tool with no association with any 3rd party. The tool has already helped many people negotiate and get a better deal on their mortgage. Please before judging understand that 70% of buyers overpay in t…

I am genuinely surprised by the comments in this thread. Privacy concerns are real but the importance of that matter in your project is overestimated here by an absurd level. What I read is not a constructive criticism and the suggestions laid down are not realistic nor business relevant at all. I feel like this is some sort of mass wishful thinking.

I think it's actually refreshing to see the top comments and constructive criticism be about privacy concerns. It shows that even for little "Show HN" projects, there is growing intolerance of half-assing it. Not saying OP in particular is half-assing it, but it's good to see these questions being regularly asked front and center. I honestly wish the Tech Media paid more attention to privacy and security instead of just copy-pasting companies' PR statements as "articles."
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