November 2026 Update

Most of what you pay on your home changes without anyone explaining why. This month Nimbus got better at telling you.

Add your address, then upload your escrow letter

Here's what we built this month:

Why did my payment go up?

Once a year your servicer sends an escrow analysis, and that letter is usually what explains a higher payment. Nimbus now reads it. It reads the coming year's payment and last year's projection, and it adds up the tax and insurance bills your escrow actually paid. Mortgage insurance and other charges inside escrow get their own lines. A shortage comes with its reason: the bill that went up.

A sample escrow letter with its payment and insurance lines marked, then the Nimbus receipt naming homeowners insurance as the bill that went over plan. Example figures.

Here's how a payment can rise $80 a month:

Bill	Planned	Actually paid	Difference
Property tax	$4,200	$4,200	$0
Homeowners insurance	$1,680	$2,160	+$480

Insurance came in $480 over plan, which left a $480 shortage. Spread over 12 months, that adds $40 a month. The coming year's insurance is planned higher too, which adds another $40.

Example figures.

We wrote a full guide to the letter itself: Why your mortgage payment went up: how to read your escrow analysis.

Your loan numbers, without the guesswork

Your mortgage statement already says what you owe, what you pay and how much goes to escrow. Nimbus now takes those numbers from the statement, not from memory, and shows you what it found before anything is saved. Rather type? Enter it yourself is still on the card.

The Upload a document step showing a mortgage statement from Larkmoor Home Loans, the Review what Nimbus read panel listing what you owe, the rate, the payment and escrow, and a What we found receipt. — Check what Nimbus found before anything is saved, then get the receipt. Example figures. Click to enlarge.

A Closing Disclosure, mortgage statement or escrow analysis fills in your loan terms. Your home lists each figure a document filled in, with Undo beside it. Your balance comes from your newest statement, or from your lender if it's connected. Add several files at once and confirm once.

On the free plan, mortgage statements, insurance declarations pages, property tax bills and HOA statements don't count toward your 3 free document checks.

Is your homestead exemption on file?

A homestead exemption lowers the tax on the home you live in, but only if you have filed for it. Upload your property tax bill and Nimbus tells you whether yours is there. If it isn't, Nimbus shows you who takes the application, so you can file and start saving.

A Your tax bill card tagged Homestead exemption, saying your 2026 tax bill lists no homestead exemption and that your county assessor takes the application. — The card says what your tax bill shows and who takes the application. Click to enlarge.

Mortgage insurance, and when to ask about it

Many mortgages carry a monthly mortgage insurance charge that can be removed once enough of the loan is paid down. Chene reads that charge from your statement, along with the date and the number to call. Before you reach the point where you can ask for it to end, Chene gives you a heads-up in the app and a list of what to ask your servicer. When your statement and your loan record disagree, the card shows what each one says instead of picking one. When the figure came from your escrow analysis, the card sends you to your lender.

A mortgage insurance card showing $142 a month, saying it can be dropped in about 2 months, with next steps to call the servicer and send a written request. — The card gives the monthly charge, when you can ask, and what to ask your servicer. Example figures. Click to enlarge.

A second look at your utility bills

Upload an electric bill and Nimbus compares your plan with your utility's other home plans. In Ohio and Georgia, it also shows offers from other suppliers. On a water bill, it points out any jump in usage. With a year of bills, Chene shows how your costs compare with owners of similar homes, using Census Bureau survey data.

A What we found receipt for an electric bill, comparing the standard plan with time-of-use at the same usage, with the saving highlighted. — The receipt prices your bill's usage on your utility's other plan. Example figures. Click to enlarge.

$21.0M tracked

across our community

Also shipped

The market map's Price Cuts layer on central Denver, with a ZIP code on most areas and the names Denver, Commerce City and Adams City, coloured from fewer cuts in green to more cuts in red, with a legend below. — Price cuts by ZIP code in central Denver.

The market map has new layers for market heat, days to pending and price cuts.
Connected bank accounts keep only housing transactions.
Nimbus reads your mortgage interest form (Form 1098) and mortgage insurance letters. A deleted document can be restored for seven days.

Portfolio+, the full service, is $149 a year per account. If it isn't for you, you get a full refund within 30 days.

Get this update by email

One email a month: what we built, in plain words. You don't need a Nimbus account. Get the Nimbus monthly update

Know someone who owns a home?

Send them to Nimbus. Signing up takes a minute: add your address, then a phone number or email. Their free account tracks their home, checks 3 of their bills or statements a year, opens the county market map with every metric, and answers 3 questions a month from Chene.

If they buy Portfolio+, you earn 20% of what they pay for their first 12 months: $29.80 on a year of Portfolio+. Refer a real estate agent and you earn 20% of their subscription for 24 months. Get my referral link.

Tell us when we get something wrong

Nimbus is built in the open. If a calculation looks off, a market number is stale, or something in the product does not fit your situation, call it out. Reply to any email, send a note from the app, or grab time below. We will dig in, fix it, and credit the catch.

The point is not to be right. The point is accuracy, less anxiety around real estate decisions, and shared understanding instead of guesswork. That only works if mistakes surface and get corrected fast.

Thank you.

Nimbus is here because of the family, friends, colleagues, and people from the internet who have sent encouragement, broken things in early demos, asked hard questions, and forwarded the platform to someone who needed it. None of that is taken for granted.

If you want to catch up, share feedback, or just talk real estate, I would love that. Schedule 30 minutes with me.

Steven Destine Founder, Nimbus Portfolio