[mcarvin]

For full disclosure I am a founder of the company but many of the mistakes in math / modeling made in the NYT Tool are corrected at SmartAsset. One example is the tax consequence of ownership - which because of the standard deduction is overestimated for lower value homes (<$250,000).

[steven777400]

I just wanted to reaffirm what you're saying about the deduction on lower value homes. When we bought, people were telling us "you get to deduct the interest, it will be a huge impact!"

Well, these days thankfully, interest rates are relatively low. We paid a little under $200K for our home, and combined with the married standard deduction, the interest at first barely even pushed us into the itemize category. By next year, it won't suffice to even do that and we'll be back to the standard deduction.

The people who were telling us about how great the deduction is were people who all had the means to purchase much more expensive homes, and many of them bought in the past when interest rates were higher and the standard deduction lower. So it was true for them, and continues to be true for certain segments, but is not universally true.

[thedufer]

It varies widely based on where you live, too. For example, in NYC state/local taxes are high (these are deductible on your federal return) so anyone with a reasonably high income is already beating the standard deduction, making the interest deduction a very large advantage.

[ratscabies]

I was only able to itemize for the first 5 years. After that, standard deduction ever since.