Southern California's LoanSnap launches new mortgage calculator for would-be borrowers

LoanSnap, a new lending services technology for banks, has launched a mortgage calculator called LoanPulse for borrowers to get an accurate sense of their ability to take out loans -- and at what price.

Based in Southern California, the company says that its new mortgage evaluation tool uses the same data sources that a lender would use to give buyers a window into their finances as soon as possible.

LoanSnap argues that borrowers haven't had all of the information available to them about how lenders assess loans, which leads more potential borrowers to assume they have creditworthiness when they actually don't.

LoanPulse, the company says, will provide visibility around personal finances and explain to users why they might get denied a loan and how to improve their chances to receive one before they apply.

Factors that LoanSnap evaluates include a user's current interest rates, credit score and debt load so that users don't have to pull all the paperwork together themselves.

“We want consumers to stop wasting time using traditional mortgage calculators, which are often inaccurate and based on estimated data," says LoanSnap chief executive Karl Jacob. "Instead, we give users suggestions for improving their chances of getting the best rate on a loan for a new home or refinancing an existing one.”