A calculated decision

Calculate This!

It wasn’t all that long ago that something as mundane as a calculator was a big deal. Just thirty years ago ‘battery powered’ calculators had to be plugged in overnight to give you just a few hours of four function freedom at a time. And for that the entry price was a couple hundred dollars. Nowadays they’re given away and are usually solar powered.

Calculators have revolutionized every business that is numbers oriented, mine included. I work with mortgages and have a calculator with me at all times. In the beginning (fifteen years ago) I used a financial calculator made by Casio that was much harder to operate than it had a right to be. I tried a few different offerings but never felt ‘at home’ with any particular model until the Qualifier by Calculated Industries magically appeared on my desk one day. It was about ten years ago and it was actually left by a Broker (I was a Banker at the time) who was a jackass among jackasses. I should have returned it but I didn’t. He had it coming.

I immediately fell in love. It was so simple and obvious that it made all of its competitors obsolete instantly. Aside from the basics it had four very special keys;

Loan Amt...Pmt...Term...Int


These four keys shall set you free

These four values are the building blocks of every loan. Having any three allows you to calculate the missing fourth piece. We used to use amortization books to figure all this out, but they were limited to 1 thru 100 thousand in whole numbers and then 5 thousand dollar increments thereafter – referring to the Loan Amount part of the equation here. Also the Interest Rate values were somewhat limited as well. In other words a ‘quick’ answer for a client was a ‘roundabout’ answer which isn’t the most efficient way to operate. With my new Qualifier I just keyed in the exact loan amount, interest rate and term and hitting the last button, ‘Pmt’, would generate the exact payment instantly. It was like magic. Another way-cool usage of the calculator was the ability to ‘back into’ a loan amount by entering the other three values first. For example, Joe Blow’s debt ratio will specifically only allow a max P&I (principle & interest) payment of $785. You’ve already got him qualified at 7% and you know he wants a 30 year loan. Reiterating, having any three components in that four-component formula will generate the missing piece so when you key it all in you know that Joe Blow’s max loan amount will be $118K. I just love this thing!

I used that calculator for eight faithful years – without ever having to change the battery by the way – and then fate passed the Qualifier on to another deserving soul. I think I know who nabbed it but without proof it would just be uncivilized to hobble him for it.


Grandson of Qualifier – does the third incarnation stack up?

I bit the bullet about a year ago and bought another calculator from Calculated Industries. I was glad to see they still had my Qualifier (now a III) but was surprised at the $50 - $80 price range. That’s about what they cost ten years ago – I figured they would be much cheaper by now. This new one’s got some new bells & whistles and a few things I don’t need.

First off I love that this one has a depression in the back of it, in which a comprehensive instruction booklet lives. It has the same hard plastic half sleeve that covers the key pad and screen when not in use. It easily slides off and back on to the back of the calculator while you’re using it. Unlike the original, they made use of the inside of this ‘shield’ by printing instructions for the most popular features right on it. It’s fairly simple to add taxes and insurance and PMI and ‘other’ (be it HOA dues or whatever) to the formula. Doing this opens up some new info as well. Adding all these factors and then hitting the ‘Pmt’ key repeatedly will scroll through Payment (P&I), Payment PITI, Total Payment and finally the Interest Only payment. The Amortization button (was also on the original) is also a great tool. After entering the loan info figure out what the principle balance will be after X number of years.

I think they overloaded it a bit as compared to the original. More features should be looked at as a positive but it irritates me from a Mortgage Guy perspective because I don’t need the extra info clogging up the keypad with itty bitty functions that make use of the ‘shift’ key a lot. Of course the Qualifier is a Real Estate calculator so I should forgive the extra clutter, but I’m not a practicing Realtor so for me it’s just visual noise jammed in there. The original key pad was much cleaner.

The Qualifier is still the easiest-to-use mortgage calculator on the market bar none. If you’re in the industry this should always be in your possession. Unfortunately you’ll have a tough time finding this one in stores. I’ve never seen Calculated Industries products anywhere that I shop, but you can always buy directly from the manufacturer online or by calling them up.


Physically speaking

The Qualifier III is approximately three by six inches and maybe a third of an inch thick. It weighs in at the approximate heft of a typical cell phone. The screen is black on gray at about three inches by three quarters of an inch. It takes two LR44 batteries and if it’s anything like its predecessor you’ll lose the calculator long before the batteries die.


Without reserve – five stars for being the standard by which all other mortgage calculators are judged.


www.calculated.com