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Santiago Barbat
Santiago Barbat

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Why Most Mortgage Calculators Suck (And Why I Built a "Geek-Mode" Version)

We’ve all seen the standard bank mortgage calculators. You input a property price, a deposit, and an interest rate, and it spits out a single monthly repayment figure.

End of story. Transactional. Surface-level.

When I was looking to buy a house in the UK, those basic "black box" calculators weren't enough. As someone who lives in the data, I didn't just want to know what I was paying; I wanted to see the mechanical breakdown of the debt over 25+ years.

The "Data Blindness" Problem
Most tools hide the most important financial metrics from the user. I found myself frustrated because I couldn't find answers to the "Geek" questions:

The Interest-to-Equity Crossover: At what exact month does my payment stop being mostly "rent" to the bank and start being mostly "ownership" for me?

The Overpayment Multiplier: If I put an extra £200 a month in now, what is the compounded impact on my term length and total interest?

The Equity Curve: What does my actual net worth in the property look like in year 7 vs. year 12?

So, I Built It Myself
I decided to stop spreadsheet-hacking and build a tool that treats a mortgage like the complex financial instrument it actually is. I call it the Advanced Mortgage Mapper.

It’s designed for people who want to "sim" their financial future rather than just guess at it.

👉 Check it out here: Mortgage Mapper Advanced Calculator

What’s under the hood?
I focused the logic on three things that "basic" calculators ignore:

Amortization Transparency: A full breakdown of principal vs. interest from Payment #1 to Payment #300.

Dynamic Overpayment Logic: You can model how one-off lump sums or recurring overpayments drastically alter the "Interest Ceiling" of the loan.

Visualizing the "Tipping Point": Seeing that moment where your equity finally outpaces the bank’s interest is a huge psychological win for any homeowner.

I’d love your feedback (and your "Geek" Perspective)
I built this because I needed it, but I want to make it the gold standard for UK home buyers who actually care about the math.

Does the UI/UX make sense for complex data?

Is there a specific financial metric (like LTV-based rate changes) you think I should add?

How’s the mobile performance for those long-tail charts?

I’m looking forward to hearing what you think. Let’s make mortgage math less of a mystery.

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