What are some good tools that real estate professionals use in doing math problems?

Question

Minnette Olsen, Aspiring Real Estate Agent

Answers Subscribe to Answers

Sort

Rainmaker
5,116,528

Nina Hollander, Broker

Coldwell Banker Realty - Charlotte, NC

Your Greater Charlotte Realtor

Their fingers and/or a calculator on their phone. Most real estate math is about 5th grade level addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, much of which we should be able to do in our heads in any event.

Jul 05, 2016 01:52 AM

Upvote

4

Robert Torres

Salt Lake City, UT
Debbie Laity

Cedaredge, CO
Michael Jacobs

Pasadena, CA
Susan Emo

Kingston, ON

Ambassador
1,458,269

Susan Emo

Sotheby's International Realty Canada - Brokerage - Kingston, ON

Kingston and the 1000 Islands Area

The only math required in residential real estate can be done in your head (or on your phone) Anything more complicated means it is outside your area of expertise as a Realtor!

Jul 05, 2016 12:48 AM

Upvote

4

Debbie Gartner

White Plains, NY
Nina Hollander, Broker

Charlotte, NC
Michael Jacobs

Pasadena, CA
Susan Emo

Kingston, ON

Rainmaker
4,584,246

Michael Jacobs

Pasadena, CA

Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

My Jethro Bodine 5th Grade Ciperhin' Notebook -- I like dem pictures.

Jul 05, 2016 12:57 AM

Upvote

3

Bob Crane

Stevens Point, WI
Ryan Huggins - Thousan...

Thousand Oaks, CA
Nina Hollander, Broker

Charlotte, NC

Rainmaker
797,457

Liz Wallace

Century 21 Sherlock Homes - Rockville Centre, NY

Broker C21 Sherlock Homes, Rockville Centre, LI, N

It use to be an abacus but now I use a calculator

Jul 05, 2016 12:24 AM

Upvote

3

Althea Kippes, Esq.

San Francisco, CA
Nina Hollander, Broker

Charlotte, NC
Michael Jacobs

Pasadena, CA

Ambassador
3,350,589

Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist

KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA

Probate Real Estate Services

The first tool I engage is my brain. If I happen to need assistance then a $5 calculator works for me. I always check my work too.

Jul 05, 2016 02:46 AM

Upvote

2

Michael Jacobs

Pasadena, CA
Ryan Huggins - Thousan...

Thousand Oaks, CA

Ambassador
2,684,769

Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate

Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL

Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

HP 12C Financial Calculator

Jul 05, 2016 12:35 AM

Upvote

2

Debbie Laity

Cedaredge, CO
Ryan Huggins - Thousan...

Thousand Oaks, CA

Rainmaker
4,906,660

Richard Weeks

Dallas, TX

REALTOR®, Broker

This formula:

sales price x my commission % = my commision

Jul 05, 2016 12:08 AM

Upvote

2

Ryan Huggins - Thousan...

Thousand Oaks, CA
Nina Hollander, Broker

Charlotte, NC

Rainmaker
1,506,923

Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA

https://HugginsHomes.com - Thousand Oaks, CA

Residential Real Estate and Investment Properties

Calculator app on the phone or Google Now. "Google, what is 20% of 640,000" (for a conventional loan downpayment), "Google, what is 3% of 640,000" (for a 3% EMD).

Jul 05, 2016 02:59 AM

Upvote

1

Michael Jacobs

Pasadena, CA

Rainmaker
1,157,791

FN LN

Toronto, ON

Here are some fantastic tools:

Brain.

Fingers.

Calculator.

Abacus.

Google.

White board.

Jul 05, 2016 12:49 AM

Upvote

1

Nina Hollander, Broker

Charlotte, NC

Rainmaker
409,203

Jim Paulson

Progressive Realty (Boise Idaho) www.Progressive-Realty.info - Boise, ID

Owner,Broker

I use Karls Mortgage Calculator app on my phone and my title company apps for closing statement estimates.

Dec 09, 2016 03:40 PM

Upvote

Rainer
24,099

Steve Snyder

Private-Money-Loan.com - Los Angeles, CA

310-948-8585 |100% LTV | Stated | Private Money

Brain and calculator. For the investor side of things they should use a spreadsheet.

Jul 10, 2016 12:24 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
5,245,501

Wayne Martin

Wayne M Martin - Chicago, IL

Real Estate Broker - Retired

My iPhone or HP10B!

Jul 05, 2016 11:17 PM

Upvote

Rainmaker
3,416,038

Scott Godzyk

Godzyk Real Estate Services - Manchester, NH

One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents

My head and then my Iphone

Jul 05, 2016 10:22 PM

Upvote

Rainmaker
3,071,589

Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers

Serving the Greater Phoenix and Scottsdale Metropolitan Area - Scottsdale, AZ

Coldwell Banker Realty

A calculator...

Jul 05, 2016 10:02 PM

Upvote

Ambassador
5,063,230

Jeff Dowler, CRS

eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA

The Southern California Relocation Dude

My brain, my fingers, and a calculator

Jul 05, 2016 03:12 PM

Upvote

Rainmaker
1,617,916

Harry F. D'Elia III

WEDO Real Estate and Beyond, LLC - Phoenix, AZ

Investor , Mentor, GRI, Radio, CIPS, REOs, ABR

I use the calculator on my smart phone these days.

Jul 05, 2016 02:33 PM

Upvote

Rainmaker
2,224,473

Debbie Laity

Cedaredge Land Company - Cedaredge, CO

Your Real Estate Resource for Delta County, CO

I have a mortage loan app on my phone and a calculator. I use both of them.

Jul 05, 2016 01:35 PM

Upvote

Rainmaker
3,986,308

William Feela

WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN

Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

A sharp pencil and paper.

Jul 05, 2016 09:52 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
3,988,013

Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties

Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN

The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

I still use a calculator but it is the one on my iphone. I no longer calculate payments for buyers. For my sellers I can do the simple math that is required with a pen and paper.

Jul 05, 2016 09:05 AM

Upvote

Ambassador
6,424,873

Bob Crane

Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI

Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Calculator, spreadsheet, and there are about a bazillion RE online calculators out there now

Jul 05, 2016 08:10 AM

Upvote

Rainer
45,957

Andy Madrid

Hawaii Coast Realty, LLC - Kailua-Kona, HI

Expertise, Professionalism, and Service

a calcultor obviously but invest in a decent mortgage calculator. Its a good one when you are helping buyers figure out how much they can buy when they say "I can afford xx per month. Or they want to know what their payment will be when they put xx down. It's a good way for me to tell them "based on the last set of interest rates I received from my prefered lender it will be.... Then I send them to my lender.

Jul 05, 2016 06:12 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
902,428

Olga Simoncelli

Veritas Prime, LLC dba Veritas Prime Real Estate - New Fairfield, CT

CONSULTANT, Real Estate Services & Risk Management

Their brains should work best. I personally don't like memorizing formulas and those are mostly for commercial RE.

Jul 05, 2016 04:55 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
4,800,132

Gabe Sanders

Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL

Stuart Florida Real Estate

A calculator is the best tool.

Jul 05, 2016 04:07 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
1,712,876

Joe Pryor

The Virtual Real Estate Team - Oklahoma City, OK

REALTOR® - Oklahoma Investment Properties

I will seriously naswer your question instead of being snarky. Patzaby.com has a ton of auto-calculating spreadsheets. Been using his products for 20 years, check them out. Great company and a great guy.

Jul 05, 2016 04:06 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
2,785,456

Richie Alan Naggar

people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA

agent & author

I dont math as a rule. I keep it simple. If math is required, WE do it together

Jul 05, 2016 03:32 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
1,466,257

Michael Setunsky

Woodbridge, VA

Your Commercial Real Estate Link to Northern VA

Minnette Olsen I still use my trusted HP12C that I purchased in 1985. I also use an app on my iPhone called powerOne financial calculator.

Jul 05, 2016 03:32 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
4,967,166

Will Hamm

Hamm Homes - Aurora, CO

"Where There's a Will, There's a Way!"

Boy, not sure if I use a calculator to often but to figure my commission.

Jul 05, 2016 02:43 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
1,242,204

Sam Shueh

(408) 425-1601 - San Jose, CA

mba, cdpe, reopro, pe

iphone has great stuff.

mortgage, closing costs for example.

Jul 05, 2016 01:09 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
7,870,977

Roy Kelley

Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

It is good to have a financial calculator.

Jul 05, 2016 12:23 AM

Upvote

Rainmaker
921,504

Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041

ReMax Realtec Group - Palm Harbor, FL

Making FLORIDA Real Estate EZ

Make sure the display on the instrument is sufficiently large for the numbers to be used.

The calculator function on the cell seems to work nicely.

You can observe in the "REPORT" section of this blog I have a strong reliance on Excel.

Jul 05, 2016 12:17 AM

Upvote

Back to Top

Their fingers and/or a calculator on their phone. Most real estate math is about 5th grade level addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, much of which we should be able to do in our heads in any event.
The only math required in residential real estate can be done in your head (or on your phone) Anything more complicated means it is outside your area of expertise as a Realtor!
My Jethro Bodine 5th Grade Ciperhin' Notebook -- I like dem pictures.
The first tool I engage is my brain. If I happen to need assistance then a $5 calculator works for me. I always check my work too.
Calculator app on the phone or Google Now. "Google, what is 20% of 640,000" (for a conventional loan downpayment), "Google, what is 3% of 640,000" (for a 3% EMD).
Here are some fantastic tools:

Brain.

Fingers.

Calculator.

Abacus.

Google.

White board.
I use Karls Mortgage Calculator app on my phone and my title company apps for closing statement estimates.
Brain and calculator. For the investor side of things they should use a spreadsheet.
I have a mortage loan app on my phone and a calculator. I use both of them.
I still use a calculator but it is the one on my iphone. I no longer calculate payments for buyers. For my sellers I can do the simple math that is required with a pen and paper.
Calculator, spreadsheet, and there are about a bazillion RE online calculators out there now
a calcultor obviously but invest in a decent mortgage calculator. Its a good one when you are helping buyers figure out how much they can buy when they say "I can afford xx per month. Or they want to know what their payment will be when they put xx down. It's a good way for me to tell them "based on the last set of interest rates I received from my prefered lender it will be.... Then I send them to my lender.
Their brains should work best. I personally don't like memorizing formulas and those are mostly for commercial RE.
I will seriously naswer your question instead of being snarky. Patzaby.com has a ton of auto-calculating spreadsheets. Been using his products for 20 years, check them out. Great company and a great guy.
I dont math as a rule. I keep it simple. If math is required, WE do it together
Minnette Olsen I still use my trusted HP12C that I purchased in 1985. I also use an app on my iPhone called powerOne financial calculator.
Boy, not sure if I use a calculator to often but to figure my commission.
iphone has great stuff.

mortgage, closing costs for example.
Make sure the display on the instrument is sufficiently large for the numbers to be used.

The calculator function on the cell seems to work nicely.

You can observe in the "REPORT" section of this blog I have a strong reliance on Excel.