Ashley Tignor

Math 1050 College Algebra 

For my Math 1050 class we completed a project that involves researching careers and the salaries of those careers. We took that information and used it to research home prices, 30 year vs. 15 year loans, and interest rates. We then formed a group, put our information together, and created a power point presentation. 

 For part one of the project we researched our desired careers and the expected starting salary. My desired career was an early education teacher with a starting salary of $34,390.  We used our results to find the maximum house price we could afford. We then obtained interest rates for a 30 year loan and a 15 year loan and discussed why the 15 year interest rates are lower.

For part two of the project we took the home price from part one of the project and found what our mortgage would be if we put 10% down and used the interest rates from part one of the project. We calculated the total cost of the home with a 30 year loan and 15 year loan. For  part two we discussed the pros and cons of a 15 year loan and a 30 year loan. I found out that a 15 year loan would save a homeowner thousands of dollars. We then calculated how much we would save by adding an additional $100 to our monthly payments and I was very surprised at the large difference $100 makes.

Part three of the project we completed as a group. We took all the information we found in part one and part two and worked together to create a PowerPoint showing our results, conclusion, and our insights into what we learned. My group worked well together and made this part of the project enjoyable to do.

 Reflective Writing:
I am a homeowner so some of the concepts of this project were familiar to me but I was still able to learn quite a bit. For instance I knew that a 15 year loan would save a homeowner a lot of money in saved interest but it wasn't until I found specific amounts for this project that I realized just how much a homeowner could save. I have a 30 year home loan and this project made me look into the possibility of doing a 15 year loan for my home. I found out that it wasn't a realistic possibility for me right now but it is something I am going to aim for in the future. I find it amazing that because of interest the total amount you pay for a home is so much greater than the purchase price. Tens of thousands of dollars are spent in interest alone for a home. I was very surprised to learn than an additional $100 dollars a month would result in such a large interest savings and would take so many months off the loan. I felt like even though I own a home and have gone through the home buying process that I was still able to get some valuable information from this project.