Understanding a Mortgage
A Few Important Reasons to Refinance a Home Equity Loan
A Few Important Reasons to Refinance a Home Equity Loan
What are the main reasons to refinance a home equity mortgage? Even if you have bad credit home refinance is still an option, but there are a few things that you are going to want to be aware of first and foremost. When you learn about the different reasons to refinance a home equity loan, this will be very helpful in you determining whether or not this is something that you ... Read More »
Subprime Mortgage
Subprime mortgages have been in the news quite a bit over the past few years and many believe that they have contributed greatly to the economic struggles of the U.S. and other countries. A subprime mortgage is one written for a candidate that is less than ideal, meaning someone that has a poor credit rating, lower earnings, or lack of a down payment. Why would any lender give a mortgage to someone in this type of situation?
Many mortgage companies realized ... Read More »
Jumbo Loan
A jumbo loan is one that is larger than limits set by the U.S. federal government's regulatory agencies. Because these loans cannot be funded or insured by these agencies they typically have a higher interest rate. Some are even amortized for longer than average, such as 45 years versus the typical 30.
Jumbo loans became quite popular some years ago when lenders were willing to take the risk in offering loans well into the six figures as more new homes were ... Read More »
Balloon Mortgage
Any type of balloon loan involves a very large final payment after all the payments of the loan are made. For a balloon mortgage, this might mean an actual loan term after the original loan has been amortized, typically for a five to seven year term.
In other cases, a balloon mortgage might mean that the lender has the right to call the entire unpaid balance of the mortgage due within 30 days of the balloon payment being due. This means ... Read More »
Types of Mortgages
There are actually different types of mortgages for which you may qualify and these differences will affect your payments, interest paid over the life of the loan, and so on.
Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM).
The interest rate of an ARM adjusts periodically over the life of the loan based on the mortgage agreement. The adjustment happens according to a schedule set out in the mortgage agreement, such as after one year, after five years, and so on.
Fixed Rate mortgage.
For a fixed rate ... Read More »
Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance
A mortgage means much more than the purchase price of the home. This loan includes the principal but also interest on that loan, property taxes on the home, and homeowner's insurance. These costs are referred to as PITI and they are typically nonnegotiable. Lenders insist that property taxes and homeowner's insurance be part of the mortgage payment and paid every month as unpaid property taxes can result in a lien on the property and homeowner's insurance is meant to insure ... Read More »