Porter Treanor 1

Reflective Writing for Mortgage Project

Porter Treanor

Salt Lake Community College

Math 1035

Professor Rania Shalabi

November 1, 2022
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Introduction:

To better understand the material of my most recent mathematics module (Finance) I was

required to problem solve my way through many questions regarding financing a home. With a

loan amount given, I was set to find important considerations of buying a home. The importance

of the interest rate, the length of the loan, and hopefully turning that purchase into an investment

by selling it years down the line. To figure out most of the numbers I used the payout annuity

formula which works for loans as well.

Q# 1: Was his project useful to help understand the real world?

This project was a good example of how math can be used in the real world. I personally

saw this as interesting and useful in the time leading up to purchasing a home. The more

information I have at my expense to understand the binds necessary of today’s society, the better.

Although, It would be an even more impressive project if I were to consider additional monthly

fees such as property tax and car bills as well. Which were things we had tapped into earlier this

semester. Imagine a project to set up your own annuity or other type of savings’ plan. College

kids can save money too.

Q# 2: Can you give another example where math can be useful in the real world?

There are many parts of my life and many other college students’ lives that this type of

utilization of different math formulas can be helpful. One very important one that I believe is

very important, is not credit cards because you just shouldn’t buy things expecting to pay them

off in a few months, but car loans. Same thing as a mortgage where you need to make sure a

percent of your monthly income (hopefully less than 40%) will go towards your vehicle.

Understanding your loans can help you make smart decisions.

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Q# 3: If I were a mortgage broker why would it be important for me to explain the details

to them?

Well, this is very simple if the clients don’t understand it is possible, they may make a

detrimental mistake and not be able to pay the monthly bills. Eventually leading them to lose the

house. Probably not great for your broker credibility and status. I don’t think a broker would

want to make a client’s life miserable.

Q# 4: Compare the differences between the 30-year, 15-year, and 30-year with extra payment

plans?

They all have their own benefits and challenges. The 30-year loan was nice because you

would have a smaller monthly payment, but by the end of it you would be paying much more

interest. As for the 15-year loan, the monthly payments were much higher each month and the

interest are lower, so at the end of it you would be paying much less interest on the loan. Finally,

the 30-year loan with an additional 100 dollars going towards the principal on your loan. This

one fits in between the other two outlooks on the loan. This one paying less overall interest than

the original 30-year loan and pays less monthly than the 15-year loan. Hard things to consider

when creating plans decades long.

Q# 5: Did this assignment change your opinion of the usefulness of math?

This project and some modules from this course have given me ideas on how I could use

math in the real world. This is much needed, because that connection to my reality is what is

helping me do my best in this class. It is eye opening going through the annuities and seeing how

much, if you can do some planning, money you can earn on interest. It seems like a very

important part of life that this type of math has shined a light on.