Utah Mortgage Help
There’s a lot to know about mortgages and it’s smart to do some research before buying your home. This article will help you get up to speed on some of the mortgage basics you need to know.
The decision to purchase a home by taking out a mortgage is both serious and far reaching. You’ll be either increasing or entering into debt, which means you’ll be responsible to make significant monthly payments. There will also be upfront fees you must pay. Thus you should make sure that you understand the mortgage process and pick both your loan program and your lender wisely.
As you compare mortgages, you’ll want to understand some basic terms: mortgage, rate, monthly payment, closing costs, APR, ARM, and fixed.
First, what is a mortgage? A mortgage is a loan used to either purchase a property or to pay off an existing mortgage loan. The property itself becomes the collateral. In other words, if the borrower defaults on the mortgage, then the mortgage owner has legal claim to the house and can take possession of it.
The rate is the percentage that is used to determine the amount of interest you’ll pay over the life of the loan. Interest is basically your cost for borrowing money. The interest rate can remain constant throughout the loan term. In this case, the loan is considered “fixed rate”. If the rate can change after a specified period (such as after one year or after five years), then the loan is considered an adjustable rate mortgage or ARM.
Besides interest, there are additional costs associated with obtaining a home loan. These could include fees for underwriting, the application, checking your credit history and scores, having the property’s value appraised, loan origination, title search and insurance, etc. Together, these fees are called “closing costs”.
Brokers and lenders can charge different amounts for these closing costs, which makes using the interest rate by itself an ineffective method of deciding where to buy a loan. Instead of comparing interest rates, you should compare what is known as the Annual Percentage Rate or APR, since it is calculated by adding the closing costs to the loan amount. It provides a more standardized number for comparing loans among lenders.
Besides looking at the APR, you’ll want to pay attention to the total monthly payment that you will owe. Besides including principal and interest, this amount includes property taxes, hazard or homeowner’s insurance, mortgage insurance, and HOA dues. Mortgage insurance is independent of interest rate, and when factored into your monthly costs, could result in a loan program with a higher interest rate having a lower monthly payment than a loan with a lower interest rate.
Posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008
Under: Real Estate | No Comments »
