My name is John Tappan, and I'm a licensed mortgage broker serving San Diego County — Vice President at Maxim Loans Inc. (NMLS #394171). I built San Diego Mortgage Calculator because I was tired of watching local buyers get blindsided by numbers a national calculator never warned them about.
Why I Built This Site
Buying a home in San Diego is a meaningfully different experience from buying almost anywhere else in the country. Median prices sit above national conforming limits, jumbo financing is routine rather than exceptional, and the property tax mechanics — Proposition 13 base rates layered with voter-approved bonds and Mello-Roos assessments — produce monthly payments that catch buyers off guard if they planned around a generic tool.
Over my years originating loans here, I had the same conversation again and again: a buyer would walk in with a payment estimate from a national website, and it would be off by hundreds of dollars a month because it never accounted for San Diego's tax rates, insurance realities, or HOA and Mello-Roos costs. So I built the calculators I wished those buyers had found first — tools that show the real, all-in number for this specific market, before anyone signs anything.
This site is the education-first front door to the work I do every day as a broker. The math is free, transparent, and yours to use whether or not we ever speak.
Background & Credentials
I'm a Vice President at Maxim Loans Inc. (company NMLS #2063871), working out of our office at 5730 Meadows Del Mar in San Diego. My individual mortgage license is NMLS #394171, which you can verify anytime through the NMLS Consumer Access database.
Over more than [XX] years in San Diego mortgage lending, I've helped hundreds of local families finance homes across the county — from first-time buyers using FHA financing to military families using their VA benefits to move-up buyers navigating jumbo loans in the coastal corridor.
Verify my license
Individual: NMLS #394171 · Maxim Loans Inc.: NMLS #2063871. Both are searchable on NMLS Consumer Access. I encourage every borrower to verify the license of anyone they work with.
How I Work
My approach is simple: give people honest numbers and straight answers, then let the math speak for itself. A few commitments shape how I operate, both on this site and in my practice.
Every calculator, rate table, and guide on this site is free and open — no forms, no account, no contact capture required. You can run all the math you want before you ever decide to reach out.
When you do call, you reach me — a licensed broker — not a call center or a lead form that gets auctioned off. The number on this site rings my direct line.
Every default in the calculators — tax rate, insurance estimate, PMI factor, loan limit — is shown directly in the interface. If a default doesn't match your situation, you can change it and see the impact instantly.
Sample rates come from published Freddie Mac and Mortgage Bankers Association surveys, updated weekly and clearly labeled as illustrative. Your actual quoted rate depends on your file — and I'll give you that real number when we talk.
What I Help With
I work with buyers and homeowners across San Diego County on the full range of residential financing. The calculators on this site map directly to the loan types I originate every day:
- Conventional & jumbo loans. San Diego's price points mean jumbo financing is common here. I help buyers structure competitive offers and navigate the higher documentation bar that comes with larger loans.
- FHA loans. A practical path for first-time and lower-down-payment buyers, with San Diego's high-cost-area limits factored in.
- VA loans. San Diego is one of the largest military communities in the country. I help active-duty service members and veterans use their entitlement — including the timing realities of PCS moves and BAH.
- Refinancing & home equity. Rate-and-term refinances, cash-out scenarios, and the break-even math that tells you whether a refinance actually makes sense given your current rate.
The most useful thing I can give a San Diego buyer is an honest monthly payment number — taxes, insurance, PMI, HOA, all of it — before they ever sit across from a lender.
John Tappan
How Rates Are Sourced
The rates shown across this site are illustrative samples drawn from published industry surveys — primarily the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey and the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly applications survey. I update them weekly. They're meant to give you a sense of where the market is, not to function as a personalized quote.
An actual rate offer depends on your credit profile, loan-to-value ratio, property type, occupancy, debt-to-income ratio, lock period, and a dozen other variables that can't be seen from outside your loan file. Treat every published rate — on this site or anywhere else — as a directional reference, then call me for the real one.
For loan program facts — limits, requirements, eligibility — I cite primary sources where possible: the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the County of San Diego Assessor's Office. Loan limits and tax mechanics change, so I review the published pages on a recurring cadence and timestamp updates.
Work With John
If you're ready to talk through your numbers, get pre-approved, or just ask a question about a specific scenario, I'd be glad to help. Run the math here first if you like — then reach out when you want a real quote built around your actual file.
- Call or text: (858) 356-6500 direct.
- In person: Maxim Loans Inc., 5730 Meadows Del Mar, San Diego, CA 92130.
- Questions or feedback on the site: if a calculator doesn't reflect your scenario or a guide is missing something useful, tell me through the contact page — the tools improve when readers flag what tripped them up.
One Important Reminder
The calculators and guides on this site are educational tools, not a substitute for a personalized loan estimate or for financial, legal, or tax advice. Before making a decision on a specific mortgage, refinance, or home purchase, talk with me about your actual file and — where appropriate — consult a CPA and a real estate attorney familiar with California transactions.