> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://guide.mypayoffpro.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://guide.mypayoffpro.com/getting-started.md). # Getting started Setup takes a few minutes. What you need depends on which of the two paths you are on. * **New mortgage.** You need three numbers: the loan amount, the interest rate and the term. That is all. * **Existing mortgage.** You need your latest mortgage statement in front of you. This path asks for more, and it asks for exact figures. Choose carefully. There is no way to switch from one to the other later without erasing what you have entered. See [Settings](/settings.md#restart-setup-erases-everything). ## The welcome screen The first screen reads "Your Home. Your Rules. Your Timeline." One button moves you forward: **Own It Sooner**. From there, every screen shows a thin progress bar and a caption so you always know how far along you are. ## Choosing your path The next screen is headed **Loan Setup**. Pick one: * **New Mortgage.** For a home you are planning to buy, a loan you are getting pre-qualified for, a refinance, or any loan you are starting fresh. * **Existing Mortgage.** For a loan you are already making payments on. **New Mortgage** is selected for you by default. If you are already paying a mortgage, change it. There is a **?** button at the top right of this screen. It opens a short help sheet headed "Which option is right for you?" that spells out both cases. {% hint style="warning" %} That help sheet suggests starting with New Mortgage because you can change it later in Settings. That is true of your figures, but not of your path. If you set up as a **new mortgage**, your loan amount, rate and term stay editable in [Settings](/settings.md#loan-details) afterwards. If you set up as an **existing mortgage**, every figure is locked once you finish, to protect the accuracy of everything calculated from it. Switching between the two paths is a different matter, and Settings cannot do it on either path. The only route is Restart Setup, which erases your loan and everything you have logged against it. Pick the right path now. {% endhint %} Tap **Continue**. ## Path one: a new mortgage One screen, headed **New Mortgage**. Fill in: * **Loan Amount.** The total you are borrowing. * **Interest Rate.** Anything above 0% and up to 30%. * **Loan Term.** Tap **15 yr** or **30 yr**. For anything else, tap **Custom** and enter the number of months. The allowed range is 12 to 480 months, which is 1 to 40 years. * **Start Date.** This one is filled in for you. A new mortgage starts in the current month, so the field is shown for reference and cannot be edited. Tap **Continue**. If something does not add up, an alert headed "Let's double-check a couple things" tells you exactly which field to fix, in plain English. Fix it and tap Continue again. The **⋯** button at the top right opens a help sheet headed "Where to Find This Information" if you are unsure where any figure lives on your paperwork. ## Path two: an existing mortgage This path is four short steps. Each one asks for a couple of numbers and nothing more. Have your latest statement open. ### Step 1: where the loan began * **Original Loan Amount.** The total you borrowed at the start, not what you owe now. * **Loan start date.** Pick the month and year your loan began. It has to be a month before this one. ### Step 2: where you are today * **Current Balance (After Payment).** This is what you still owe after this month's payment has been applied, not before it. There is an info button beside the field if you want that spelled out on screen. As soon as you enter a balance, a card appears telling you the percentage of your mortgage you have already paid off. For a lot of people this is the first time they have seen that number. ### Step 3: this month's payment * **Monthly Payment.** Principal and interest only. Leave out taxes, insurance and escrow. * **Principal.** The part of this month's payment that reduced your balance. * **Interest.** The part that went to the lender as the cost of borrowing. Principal plus interest has to match your monthly payment to within a dollar. If it does not, the app tells you all three figures and the size of the gap, so you can see which one you mistyped. {% hint style="info" %} This is the fiddliest step in the app, and it is fiddly on purpose. Those three numbers are what make every projection afterwards accurate. All three are printed on your mortgage statement. {% endhint %} ### Step 4: the loan terms * **Interest Rate.** * **Loan Term.** Same **15 yr**, **30 yr** or **Custom** choice as the new-mortgage path. Each step has its own **Continue** button and checks only that step's fields. Nothing turns red until you have tried to continue, so you are not scolded while you type. When you finish step 4, the app saves your loan and locks in a record of everything before today. That history stays as you entered it. ## Your savings, revealed After your details are saved, the app calculates and then shows you the number most people never see: what this loan costs in interest between today and payoff. Underneath, it shows what a modest extra payment each month would do to that figure, and how much sooner you would be mortgage free. Tap **Show me how it moves** to continue. If your loan is nearly finished, you see a shorter version headed "You're on the home stretch!" with your projected payoff date, and a plain **Continue** button. ## Your date is yours to move One short screen states the deal plainly: you pay your lender directly, and logging that payment here is what moves your date. ## Subscription One screen covers access. A subscription unlocks the whole app, with no tiers and no add-ons. You can also continue on the free trial from this screen, and **Restore Purchases** is there if you have paid before on this Apple ID. If you already have an active subscription, this screen is skipped and you go straight to the last step. Current pricing lives on [mypayoffpro.com](https://www.mypayoffpro.com), not in this guide, so it never goes stale here. ## Finishing up The last screen confirms your plan is ready. * **What should we call you?** Optional. Whatever you enter becomes the greeting on the [Home](/home.md) tab. Leave it blank and the app calls you Homeowner. * **Want Extra Payment Reminders?** Tap **Enable Notifications** to let the app remind you, or **Skip for Now**. Neither is required. You can set these up properly later under **Smart Reminders** in [Settings](/settings.md#smart-reminders), which is the row that schedules extra-payment nudges. Tap **Continue**. The app takes a moment to calculate and then opens on the [Home](/home.md) tab. ## Your first extra payment This is the whole point of the app, so do it once now and you will know the flow forever. 1. On the [Home](/home.md) tab, tap the green **+** button at the top right. 2. The app switches to the [Schedule](/schedule.md) tab, opens the current month and brings up the **Extra Payment** sheet. 3. Tap one of the preset amounts, or enter your own in **Custom Amount**. 4. Leave **Payment Type** on **ONE-TIME** for a single payment. Choose **RECURRING** if you intend to do this every month, every quarter or every year, and set how long it runs. 5. Watch the **Projected Impact** block. It updates once you stop typing and tells you what this payment does to your interest and your date. 6. Tap the apply button at the bottom. It names your amount, so it reads **Apply $500** or whatever figure you entered. A short card appears reading "Nice move." with the interest you just avoided. Your payoff date, your charts and your milestone progress all move with it. {% hint style="warning" %} Log it in the app only after you have actually sent the money to your lender. PayOff Pro tracks your mortgage. It does not make payments on your behalf. {% endhint %} Next, look at what changed on the [Progress](/progress.md) tab. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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