Loan Center & Mortgage Setup

Guide 46: Loan Center & Mortgage Setup

Manage all your loans in one place and set up mortgages with a guided wizard

Overview

The Loan Center is your central hub for tracking mortgages, auto loans, student loans, personal loans, and HELOCs. It gives you a clear picture of your debt, payment progress, and amortization schedule -- all without leaving OtterLedger.

The Mortgage Wizard walks you through setting up a new mortgage (or editing an existing one) in four guided steps, capturing everything from loan terms and closing costs to your first statement for automatic balance verification.

What you'll learn:

• Navigating the Loan Center dashboard
• Understanding loan cards and the carousel
• Setting up a mortgage with the 4-step wizard
• Reading and using the amortization schedule
• Tracking payments, escrow, and PMI
• Managing loan documents
• Using extra payments to model early payoff

Time required: 20 minutes

Prerequisites

• An OtterLedger file open with at least one loan-type account (see Guide 4: Managing Accounts)
• For the Mortgage Wizard: your loan details (lender, amount, rate, term) and optionally your closing disclosure or first mortgage statement PDF

Loan Center Dashboard

Opening the Loan Center

Click Loan Center in the sidebar navigation. The Loan Center automatically loads all accounts of these types:

[Screenshot: Loan Center dashboard showing the loan carousel, amortization schedule, and recent payments panel]

If you have no loan accounts yet, the Loan Center displays an empty state prompting you to add one.

Dashboard Layout

The Loan Center is organized into several sections:

1. Loan Carousel (top) -- Cards for each loan account, scrollable left/right
2. Loan Detail Panel -- Key metrics for the selected loan
3. Amortization Schedule (center) -- Full payment schedule table with Theoretical and Actual views
4. Recent Payments (right side) -- Last 10 transactions for the selected loan
5. YTD Summary -- Year-to-date interest and principal paid
6. Footer Totals -- Aggregate debt, monthly payments, and average rate across all loans

Loan Carousel

The carousel at the top of the Loan Center displays a card for each loan account. Each card shows at a glance:

Navigating Between Loans

• Click a card to select it and load its details below
• Left/Right arrow keys cycle through loan cards when the Loan Center is focused
• Left/Right arrow buttons on the carousel edges scroll between cards
• Press F5 to refresh all loan data

Tip: If you have only one loan, the carousel still displays it -- just without navigation arrows.

[Screenshot: Loan carousel with two loan cards, one selected with a highlight border]

Loan Detail Panel

When you select a loan card, the detail panel populates with comprehensive information:

Key Metrics

Year-to-Date Summary

Below the main metrics, the YTD section shows:

• Interest Paid (YTD) -- Total interest paid this calendar year
• Principal Paid (YTD) -- Total principal paid this calendar year
• Payment Count (YTD) -- Number of payments made this year

Setting Up a Mortgage (Wizard)

The Mortgage Wizard guides you through a 4-step process to set up a new mortgage account or edit an existing one. It captures loan details, closing costs, and optionally validates your balance against your first statement.

Starting the Wizard

There are two ways to open the wizard:

• New mortgage: From the Loan Center, click the Add Mortgage button
• Edit existing: Select a mortgage in the carousel, then click Edit Account to open the wizard pre-populated with your existing data

[Screenshot: Mortgage Wizard opened at Step 1, showing the progress indicator across the top]

Step 1: Loan Details

This step collects all the core information about your mortgage.

Property Section:

Loan Terms Section:

Escrow & Insurance Section:

Tip: If you enter both Purchase Price and Down Payment, the Loan Amount is automatically calculated as the difference. Similarly, if you enter Loan Amount, Interest Rate, and Term, the Monthly Payment is automatically calculated using the standard amortization formula.

[Screenshot: Step 1 filled in with example mortgage data showing auto-calculated monthly payment]

Validation

You cannot proceed to Step 2 until these fields are filled in:

• Account Name
• Loan Amount (must be greater than zero)
• Interest Rate (must be greater than zero)
• Closing Date

Step 2: Closing Costs

Closing costs rolled into your loan affect the total amount financed. This step offers three modes:

Itemized Cost Categories:

The Total Financed amount updates live as you enter values:

• Itemize mode: Loan Amount + all itemized costs
• Single Adjustment mode: Loan Amount + adjustment
• Skip mode: Loan Amount only

[Screenshot: Step 2 in Itemize mode showing closing cost fields and the live Total Financed calculation]

Tip: You can find all of these amounts on your Closing Disclosure (CD) document. If you do not have it handy, use Single Adjustment or Skip -- you can always come back and edit later.

Step 3: First Statement (Optional)

This optional step lets you upload your first mortgage statement PDF to verify that your balance matches what you entered. This is especially useful for catching discrepancies caused by closing cost adjustments or rounding.

How it works:

1. Click Upload Statement and select a PDF file
2. OtterLedger's AI parser extracts the unpaid principal balance (UPB) and statement period
3. The wizard compares the statement UPB to your loan amount

Possible outcomes:

If there is a difference, you can check Adjust to Match and the wizard will create a balance adjustment transaction at closing to align with the statement.

Tip: This step requires an AI provider to be configured in Settings for PDF parsing. If no AI provider is available, you can skip this step and verify your balance manually later.

[Screenshot: Step 3 showing a parsed statement with a matching UPB]

Step 4: Review

The final step shows a complete summary of everything you entered:

• Account Name and closing date
• Loan Summary -- Amount, rate, type, and term in one line
• Payment Summary -- Monthly P&I, plus escrow and PMI if applicable
• Total Financed -- The combined loan amount with any closing costs
• Closing Cost Line Items -- Individual costs if itemized
• Action Items -- A checklist of what will happen when you click Complete:
  • Create (or update) the mortgage account
  • Create closing cost transactions (dated on closing date)
  • Auto-reconcile first statement (if a statement was uploaded)

[Screenshot: Step 4 Review showing all loan details, closing cost lines, and action items]

Completing the Wizard

Click Complete Setup on the Review step. The wizard will:

1. Create the mortgage account (or update the existing one) with all loan details stored
2. Record closing cost transactions dated on your closing date, categorized appropriately
3. If you uploaded a statement, automatically reconcile it against your balance

After completion, the Loan Center reloads and your new mortgage appears in the carousel.

Navigating the Wizard

The progress indicator at the top shows your current position:

• Step 1: Loan Details
• Step 2: Closing Costs
• Step 3: Statement
• Step 4: Review

Your data is preserved when navigating back and forth between steps.

Amortization Schedule

The amortization schedule is the central table in the Loan Center, showing every payment over the life of the loan. It has two view modes.

Theoretical View

The default view. This is a mathematically generated schedule based on your loan terms. It always starts from the original loan amount and shows the full term.

[Screenshot: Theoretical amortization schedule with a few rows visible, highlighting the P&I split]

Actual View

The Actual view overlays your real payment data from recorded transactions on top of the schedule. This lets you see how your actual payments compare to the theoretical schedule.

Switch between views using the Theoretical and Actual toggle buttons above the schedule.

Tip: The Actual view is most useful after you have been importing or recording payments for a few months, so there is real data to compare against.

Extra Payments & Early Payoff Modeling

One of the most powerful features of the Loan Center is the ability to model extra monthly payments and immediately see their impact on your loan.

Setting an Extra Payment

1. Select a loan in the carousel
2. In the detail panel, find the Extra Monthly Payment field
3. Enter an amount (e.g., $200)

The amortization schedule instantly recalculates to show:

• Months Saved -- How many fewer payments you will make
• Interest Saved -- Total interest dollars saved over the life of the loan
• Accelerated Payoff -- The new payoff timeline compared to the original

The schedule trims to show only payments through the new payoff date, omitting the zero-balance rows that would have followed.

Tip: Your extra payment amount is automatically saved to the database (after a brief delay) so it persists when you close and reopen the Loan Center. Experiment freely -- you can always set it back to zero.

Understanding the Payoff Summary

Tracking Payments

Recording a New Payment

1. Select a loan in the carousel
2. Click Record Payment
3. The payment editor opens, pre-filled with:
   • Today's date
   • Your monthly payment amount
   • The lender name as the payee
   • "Loan Payment" as the memo
4. Adjust any fields as needed (amount, date, memo)
5. Click Save

The payment is recorded as a transaction in the loan account. The Loan Center refreshes to show the updated balance, recent payments, and schedule.

[Screenshot: Record Payment editor pre-filled with mortgage payment details]

Recent Payments

The right panel shows the 10 most recent transactions for the selected loan, including:

• Date -- Transaction date
• Description -- Payee name
• Amount -- Payment amount

Click View All Transactions to navigate to the full transaction list for this loan account.

Total Amount Paid

The total paid summary at the bottom shows the lifetime total of all positive transactions (payments) made to the loan account.

Loan Documents

The Documents view lets you organize important mortgage documents right inside OtterLedger. Switch to it by clicking the Documents tab above the schedule area.

Standard Document Categories

OtterLedger provides 11 pre-defined document slots for common mortgage documents:

Attaching a Document

1. Click the Attach button on any document slot
2. Select a file from your computer (supported formats: PDF, Word, Excel, images, text)
3. The file is stored inside your OtterLedger database

Working with Documents

Tip: Documents are stored inside the database, not as file links. This means they travel with your OtterLedger file if you move it to another computer.

[Screenshot: Documents view showing several attached documents with file names and upload dates]

Quick Actions

The Loan Center provides several quick-action buttons for the selected loan:

Footer Totals

At the bottom of the Loan Center, aggregate totals across all your loans are displayed:

Tips & Best Practices

1. Use the Mortgage Wizard for new mortgages -- It captures details that a basic account setup would miss, including closing costs, escrow, PMI, and property information.

2. Upload your closing disclosure -- Attaching your CD in the Documents section gives you a permanent reference for closing costs and loan terms.

3. Verify with your first statement -- Use the optional Step 3 in the wizard to upload your first mortgage statement. If the balance does not match, the wizard can create an adjustment automatically.

4. Record payments consistently -- The Actual schedule view is only as good as your payment data. Record or import payments regularly for accurate tracking.

5. Experiment with extra payments -- Use the extra payment field to see how even small additional amounts can shorten your loan and save on interest. The calculation updates instantly.

6. Keep documents current -- Upload your annual escrow analysis and updated insurance declarations each year so everything stays in one place.

7. Check the YTD summary at tax time -- The year-to-date interest paid figure is useful when preparing your tax return (though always verify against your lender's 1098 form).

Troubleshooting

Q: The Loan Center shows "No loans found" but I have a loan account.

A: Make sure the account type is set to one of the supported types: Mortgage, Auto Loan, Student Loan, Personal Loan, or HELOC. A generic "Loan" or "Liability" type will not appear in the Loan Center. Edit the account type in Guide 4: Managing Accounts.

Q: My amortization schedule looks wrong -- the numbers do not match my lender's statement.

A: Check these common causes:

1. Interest rate -- Verify it matches your actual rate, not the APR (which includes fees)
2. Term -- Confirm the term in years matches your loan (15, 20, 30, etc.)
3. Loan amount -- Should be the original principal, not the purchase price
4. Payment amount -- If you entered a manual payment that differs from the calculated one, the schedule uses your manual amount
5. Extra payment -- Make sure the Extra Monthly Payment field is zero if you are not making extra payments

Q: The monthly payment auto-calculated by the wizard does not match what my lender charges.

A: The auto-calculation uses the standard amortization formula (P&I only). Your lender's payment may include escrow, PMI, or be rounded differently. Enter your actual payment amount in the Monthly Payment field to override the calculation. Then enter escrow and PMI separately.

Q: I cannot upload a statement in Step 3 of the wizard.

A: Statement parsing requires an AI provider to be configured. Go to Settings and ensure you have an AI provider set up (such as a local LLM or Gemini). If you skip this step, you can verify your balance manually later.

Q: My closing costs were paid out of pocket, not rolled into the loan. How do I handle that?

A: Select Skip in Step 2 (Closing Costs). This sets the total financed equal to just the loan amount. If you want to track the out-of-pocket closing costs, record them as a separate expense transaction in your checking account.

Q: How do I edit my loan details after completing the wizard?

A: Select the loan in the carousel and click Edit Account. You can also re-run the wizard on an existing mortgage account -- it will load the current data and let you update any field.

Q: The payoff progress bar seems stuck at 0%.

A: The progress bar needs the original loan amount to calculate progress. If you created the loan account manually (without the wizard), the original amount may not be stored. Use the wizard to edit the existing account and fill in the original loan amount.

What's Next?

With your loans set up in the Loan Center, explore these related features:

• Guide 4: Managing Accounts -- Edit account details, close accounts, and manage balances
• Guide 10: Reconciliation -- Reconcile your loan account against monthly statements

Need help? Visit the OtterLedger community at github.com/openledger or check the FAQ.