Do the math before the mortgage.
17 honest calculators, a seven-stage buyer course, plain-English answers, and an AI that decodes the paperwork — every assumption shown, every number checkable.
✓ Built by lenders. Priced like a library: $0.
Your real monthly payment
Four rooms, all open.
Buyer academy
The complete seven-stage journey from "am I even ready?" to keys in hand. Each stage: a plain-English explainer, what can go wrong, a checklist, and the questions to ask.
Enter the academy →Calculators
Seventeen honest money tools for every seat at the table — buyers, owners, sellers, and the agents guiding them — with assumptions shown, not hidden.
Run the numbers →AI concierge
Paste any confusing paragraph — from an inspection report, loan estimate, or contract — and get it back in plain English. Or just ask a question about the process.
Decode a document →Glossary
Escrow, PMI, contingency, earnest money — the whole confusing vocabulary of real estate and lending, decoded into sentences a human would say.
Decode the jargon →The house rules.
Everything is a give
No gated PDFs, no "enter your email to see the answer." If it's here, it's yours. We'd rather earn trust than capture leads.
Plain English, always
If a sentence needs a law degree to parse, we rewrite it. Buying a home is stressful enough without the vocabulary test.
Humans on call
Every tool ends the same way: if you want a real person to look at your situation, that person is Gavin — a licensed broker, not a call center. Meet him →
Your co-branded link
Every page shows your name, printed checklists carry it, and game-plan requests arrive tagged back to you. Free, always.
Seven stages. Zero mystery.
Work through the journey in order, or jump straight to wherever you are. Every stage is live.
Run the numbers, keep the assumptions.
The two numbers everyone needs, right up top. Fifteen more below when you’re ready to go deeper. Every assumption is visible, and nothing here asks for your email.
True monthly payment
The full PITI picture — principal, interest, taxes, insurance — plus HOA. The listing price never tells you this.
per month, everything included
Closing cost estimator
The check you write at the table beyond your down payment — typically 2–5% of the price. Here's the honest range, itemized.
estimated total closing costs
Your Loan Estimate (delivered within 3 business days of applying) replaces this with exact figures. Some fees are shoppable — ask which.
What can I afford?
Uses the classic 28/36 rule lenders start from: housing under 28% of gross income, all debts under 36%.
Estimated max home price
Assumes ~22% of your housing budget goes to taxes and insurance. A pre-approval will sharpen this into a real number.
DTI checker
See your debt-to-income ratio the way an underwriter does — before an underwriter does.
Rules of thumb: front-end under ~28% is comfortable. Back-end under 36% is strong, 36–43% is common approval territory, above ~45% gets hard. Programs vary.
Debt payoff priority
If you can only pay off one debt before applying, which helps your approval most? Underwriters care about monthly payments, not balances — so the answer is often surprising.
The metric: monthly payment freed per $1,000 of payoff. Small balances with big minimums (hello, credit cards) usually win. Debts within ~10 months of paid-off can sometimes be excluded anyway — ask your lender before spending a dime.
Down payment savings timeline
Turn "someday" into a date on the calendar.
Tip: a high-yield savings account, automated on payday, is the whole strategy. Boring wins.
Rent vs. buy
A simplified head-to-head over your time horizon: total cost of renting vs. owning, counting the equity you'd build.
Ownership outlay includes payments, ~1.6%/yr taxes-insurance-upkeep, and ~8% buy/sell transaction costs. Simplified on purpose — the trend matters more than the decimals.
Cost of waiting
What does "we'll wait a year" actually cost if prices keep drifting up and rent keeps going out the door?
Waiting is sometimes right — to save more, fix credit, or steady a job. This tool just makes the trade visible instead of invisible. Appreciation isn't guaranteed.
FHA vs. conventional
The classic first-timer fork in the road, compared at the same price: FHA's easier entry vs. conventional's cancellable PMI.
The long-game difference: conventional PMI cancels at ~20% equity, while FHA's MIP usually lasts the life of the loan when you put under 10% down — many FHA buyers later refinance out of it. Rates and MI factors vary; have a lender price both for you.
Offer structure analyzer
Higher price with seller-paid closing costs, or a clean lower offer? Both can net the seller the same — but they treat your wallet very differently.
The pattern: credits preserve your cash today in exchange for a slightly higher payment forever. If cash-to-close is your constraint (it usually is), the "higher price + credit" structure often wins. Credits are capped by loan program — ask your lender.
Temporary buydown (2-1, 1-0, 3-2-1)
A seller or builder credit pre-pays part of your interest, lowering the payment for the first years. See each year's payment and what the subsidy really costs.
Temporary buydowns are usually funded by seller or builder credits, not your cash. Compare against a permanent rate buy-down and a price reduction before choosing — your lender can price all three.
Cash to close
The actual check: down payment plus closing costs, minus what you've already put in and any credits.
estimated cash to close
Your Closing Disclosure will state this to the penny. Funds usually must be wired or a cashier's check — verify wire instructions by phone, always.
Extra payment impact
What a little extra principal every month does to a mortgage. Spoiler: it's the most boring wealth hack in existence.
Make sure extra payments are applied to principal (tell your servicer). And fund your emergency savings and any high-interest debt first — the mortgage is usually your cheapest debt.
PMI removal date
Between paying down the loan and the home appreciating, when do you hit 20% equity — and what does dropping PMI save?
Removal isn't always automatic before 78% of the original value — if appreciation gets you to 20% early, you typically must request removal and may need an appraisal. A phone call worth hundreds a year.
Points & refi breakeven
Paying money up front to lower your rate — points now, or a refinance later — only wins if you keep the loan past the breakeven date.
If you might sell or refinance again before the breakeven date, keep your cash instead.
Seller net sheet
For sellers (and their agents): the number that actually matters — what you walk away with after everyone's paid.
estimated net proceeds
Payoff amounts include per-diem interest, so request an official payoff quote from your servicer. Local transfer taxes vary a lot — your title company can pin these numbers down.
Move-up budget
Selling and buying again? Chain your net proceeds into your next purchase and find the price range that keeps the payment comfortable.
estimated next purchase price
P&I only — add taxes and insurance with the payment calculator for the full picture. Timing the sell-then-buy dance (contingent offers, bridge options, rent-backs) is where a good agent earns their keep.
These calculators are educational estimates, not loan offers or financial advice. Rates, taxes, and program rules vary — a licensed professional can turn these ranges into real numbers for your situation.
Confusing document? Paste it here.
Inspection reports, loan estimates, contracts — they're written for lawyers, not humans. Paste any paragraph and get it back in plain English, or just ask a question about the process.
The concierge explains — it doesn't advise. For decisions about your specific transaction, loop in your agent, lender, or attorney. Answers are AI-generated explanations and can be imperfect — the professionals on your deal always have the final word.
Hi, I'm Gavin.
I'm Gavin Guthrie — mortgage broker and owner of The Mortgage Collective, serving Arizona and Utah. I built BuyerMath because the mortgage world profits from confusion, and I'd rather compete on clarity: show people the real math, give the good stuff away, and earn trust the honest way.
Everything on this site is free and stays free — no email walls, no fine-print catch. And when you're ready for a human to look at your specific numbers, that human is me. A 15-minute "where do I stand?" call costs nothing and isn't a test you can fail.
Gavin Guthrie
Mortgage Broker / Owner · NMLS #928960
Company NMLS #2469778 · AZ Mortgage Broker License #AZMB-2008586 · Equal Housing Opportunity
The short, honest version.
BuyerMath is a free resource. Here's exactly what we collect and why — in the same plain English as everything else here.
What we collect
If you send a game-plan request: the name, email, and notes you type — used only to reply to you. No newsletters you didn't ask for, no selling your info. Ever.
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What we never do
We never sell your information. We never share your game-plan details with anyone outside the team that replies to you. Calculator inputs stay in your browser — the numbers you type are never transmitted or stored by us.
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Contact
Questions about any of this: gavin@mymortgagecollective.com. BuyerMath is operated by The Mortgage Collective (Company NMLS #2469778 · AZ Lic. #AZMB-2008586).
This page is a plain-language summary, last updated August 2026. It isn't legal advice — have your compliance or legal advisor review it before relying on it.
Jargon, decoded.
Every term below is explained the way a friend would — one who happens to know real estate cold.