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SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

blog.smartasset.com

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Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#21

Post by jlongster »

mcarvin wrote: post #17
jlongster wrote: post #14

I just bought a house. We closed last Thursday and are moving in on Saturday. I can tell you it's so true that it's really hard to figure out what's going on. Everybody will tell you different things, different banks and even friends and family. I couldn't stand it, so I sat down and researched the mortgage calculator formula. It's actually pretty easy: http://www.hughchou.org/calc/formula.html I implemented this in…

this is an amazing validation of the pain point. sounds like you and I had similar experiences. we want to get to the point where people do not need to do this themselves.

In some ways, I'd recommend restructuring the app a little bit and start low-level and allow the user to do his own research and build up his info.

For example, let the user put it the price of a house. That's it. With 0% down payment. Show them the graphs and the monthly payment (without taxes/insurance). In 1 second, they immediately have something in front of them.

Then, let them enter in a down payment, as they are doing so in real-time update the graphs/payments.

Then they choose 15 or 30 year, and keep adjusting parameters. They started simple but are slowly building up to see what makes a difference and aligning it with what they can afford.

At least, that's how I approached it. I want to see graphs/payment before I even have to tell you my savings.

Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#22

Post by mcarvin »

tptacek wrote: post #18
mcarvin wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thanks for the feedback. we've been trying really hard to simplify the application as much as possible. however it looks like there is an 'advanced' group of users that wants a lot more detail (which we have a-plenty). we have been thinking about letting people play with the raw models > is this something you would be interested in?

I want the opposite of punching more data into your tool; I'm just suggesting that if you're smarter than financial calculators, you show the user a naive calculator's predicted values alongside your own.

thanks, you're not the first to raise that point. we'll give that some further thought.

Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#24

Post by brianmckenzie »

I tried this out earlier today, and it's great but one thing confused me a little - your system seems to choose a home price for me based on income and savings. In the real estate market where I live this results in twice the house I would want/need. It also screws up the tax and rent/own calculations, I would think.

Is there some way I can set the max home price?

Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#26

Post by mcarvin »

toddmorey wrote: post #19

Curious to know your revenue model as you advance. Are you planning on 'referral fees' for presented loan offers? And would that approach threaten your appearance as source of neutral information? I recently bought a house and used this[1] mortgage calculator, which was the best one I found. I liked how you can pivot from calculating on monthly income, purchase price, or a total monthly payment. An easy way to play w…

Thanks for attaching the link. We do generate referral fee from leads (we receive the same fee regardless of the lender so we maintain financial neutrality) but we're much more concerned with getting the user experience right (ie the second part of your note).

Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#27

Post by philipcamilleri »

brianmckenzie wrote: post #24

I tried this out earlier today, and it's great but one thing confused me a little - your system seems to choose a home price for me based on income and savings. In the real estate market where I live this results in twice the house I would want/need. It also screws up the tax and rent/own calculations, I would think. Is there some way I can set the max home price?

@brianmckenzie -- you can change the mortgage and/or downpayment on the home-affordability page (or any other page, clicking the "Edit" button in the Home Value box on the left sidebar). Feel free to ping us on Olark chat (on the site) if you have any issues.

Also, please do let us know why/where you think the tax and rent/own calculations are screwed up. thanks!

Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#28

Post by philipcamilleri »

varikin wrote: post #8
philipcamilleri wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@varikin -- right now we don't source VA loans, however that is certainly on our near-term roadmap. Also, the current product is limited to "first time home-buyers". Re-financing, buying a second home, and more are all coming very shortly.

Cool. I understand there is a lot of account for. Other than that gripe, this looks very cool.

Thanks!

Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#29

Post by Ralith »

michaelcalleia wrote: post #20
filip01 wrote: post #9

"Just so you know we are not cherry picking this is the highest rank Google return for home affordability." This is by definition cherry picking. The highest rank Google return doesn't say very much about the quality of the tool. It would be better (at least more honest) to simply show the best tools out there and compare your solution to theirs.

This is one of the best out of the rest.

You know this how?

Re: SmartAsset, the Financial Calculator Killer

#30

Post by [deleted] »

mcarvin wrote: post #16
tptacek wrote: post #13

So: I used your thingy as soon as I saw the TC announcement, and while I believe you when you say that there's substantial modeling happening behind the scenes, I didn't perceive any of that. My end-user experience with your offering was of a very, very usable... financial calculator. One thing that might have sold me on what you're doing behind-the-scenes: if there was a "dumb calculator" result you could have compa…

thanks for the feedback. we've been trying really hard to simplify the application as much as possible. however it looks like there is an 'advanced' group of users that wants a lot more detail (which we have a-plenty). we have been thinking about letting people play with the raw models > is this something you would be interested in?

[deleted]
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