Posts Tagged ‘fixed rate mortgage’

Mortgage Products: The 15 FRM

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

In order to understand the theory behind the fixed rate mortgage, you have to understand the mindset of the mortgage banker and the mortgage borrower of thirty or forty years ago. The Great Depression left a tremendous impression on the minds of this country, so much so, that one of the popular mortgage products of the turn of the century, the interest only loan, was shelved, never to be heard from again. Not until the recent explosion in real estate prices and the mortgage industries efforts to accommodate home buyers of all types has there been such mortgage variety.

The trend after the depression, through post-war America, and really until the late 1990s was the fixed rate mortgage. That’s the type of mortgage the bank offered, and the public generally didn’t consider anything else. Why did so many individuals, as well as banking institutions popularize the fixed rate mortgage? This loan type, more than any other product available, was a security blanket for the banker, and the homeowner.
The banker, offering the mortgage loan, was assured of a 20% down payment and a secure monthly payment with a fixed interest rate that would benefit the bank. The homeowner received a set monthly payment amount that was affordable, and a fixed number of years to repay the loan, usually 15, 20, or 30.

This article will discuss the 15 year fixed rate mortgage, and the advantages offered by the 15 versus the 20 versus the 30 year option. We have really already established the “why” when it comes to the fixed rate mortgage option in general, but we need to look at now, the term of the fixed rate mortgage. “Why” would you choose the 15, or the 20, or the 30? Well it really depends on two factors: where you are in your life, and what you can afford.

If you happen to be in your 20s, with a lifetime to pay for your home, but not a lot of income, and two children to raise the 30 year option would get you the house, with as low a monthly payment as possible. Granted, you will pay more in interest, but you won’t have to pay out quite as much each month. If money is tight, a lower payment can mean the difference between buying a home and renting a home.

If you’re in your mid-to-late thirties, still quite a long way from retirement, the kids are almost grown, and your monthly income is substantially greater than it was 10 years ago, the 15 or 20 year mortgage would suit your needs. Most often, the homeowner will choose the 20 year option, and make principal payments when affordable.

But let’s say you’re in your late 40s and the amount of time until retirement is growing ever short; you have your children raised, and your monthly income is nice to look upon. What option would you take? For most, it is the opportunity to pay for the home as quickly as possible, thus the 15 year fixed rate mortgage is the mortgage of choice.

Many homeowners who purchase a home in their mid-to-late forties are purchasing their second home; some even have a substantial amount of equity, or down payment for the home. If this is the case, the 15 year fixed rate mortgage, works to an even greater advantage, in that the homeowner has substantial equity, a lowered monthly payment, and a preset monthly payment amount. The interest is tax deductible, and they are now secure in the knowledge that their home will be fully paid out prior to retirement.

When trying to decide which mortgage is the mortgage for your situation, you need to have a mortgage broker or banker that has an excellent understanding of your financial status, your goals and objectives for your mortgage purchase, and your ability to absorb unexpected expenses or change. All of these factors affect your ability to repay a loan, the choice you will make on a loan, and the satisfaction you will have during the servicing of your mortgage loan.

For these reasons, and others, the fixed rate mortgage, especially the 15 year fixed rate mortgage is often the mortgage product of choice, especially for the baby boomers, and the forty-something homeowners today.

Government Approved Mortgage Loans

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

What kinds of government approved mortgage loan programs are available for the lender today? There are actually more programs available today than any other time in recorded mortgage history; and the ability to qualify for these programs is an all-time high. In this article were going to take a look at FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the HECM, and the SNAP programs available thanks to government regulation of funding.
And FHA mortgage is the term used to describe a direct primary market lending product. What are FHA loans nd how do you apply? Your options for application now are through an approved lender, or via the Internet.

FHA, or the Federal Housing Authority was established in 1934 as a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”. It was the president’s plan to help the country get back on its feet at the end of the Great Depression. FHA loans with a way to provide the funds needed to construct low income housing and provide Americans with the dream of home ownership. It worked, tremendously well and in 1965, the FHA became a part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the decade since its inception, the FHA has become the largest insurer of home mortgages and has allowed more Americans to live the dream of home ownership at a rate that is in comparable to that of any other country.

The VA loan is simply a spin-off of the FHA loan open only to veterans having served in the Armed Forces. The VA loan was conceived in order to provide returning veterans with the opportunity to purchase homes and start their lives again.

Fannie Mae, or the Federal National Mortgage Association, was established to provide a secondary market for the FHA mortgage loans. In 1938, when President Roosevelt established the Federal National Mortgage Association it was intended to provide a secondary market for lenders to sell mortgages in order to originate new ones. Freddie Mac, followed in a few years, and was implemented to serve a broader base of mortgages. Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not direct lenders, our current mortgage system would not be in operation nor would we have experienced the success with homeownership we enjoy today.
The home equity conversion mortgage or HECM is a HUD supervised program that works with FHA homeowners who are over the age of 62 to remain in their homes by allowing them to access their home’s equity, sometimes referred to as the reverse mortgage.

The safe neighborhood action plan or SNAP is an FHA supervised effort to improve urban communities. The problem focuses own illuminating drug abuse and cry him in urban areas by providing education, school activities, and assistance for project residents.

Now that we’ve covered all the government approved mortgage loan programs, let’s take a look at the FHA mortgage options available. FHA offers adjustable rate mortgages, fixed rate mortgages, energy-efficient mortgages, graduated payment mortgages, mortgages for condominium units and growing equity mortgages. The more commonly used mortgage products by the individual residential homeowner are the adjustable rate mortgage the fixed rate mortgage and the energy-efficient mortgages. As we move closer to a more energy efficient energy conscious nation, I believe we will see an increase in the energy-efficient mortgages at a greater concern on the part of HUD that will make room for an increase in energy-efficient mortgages. The graduated payment mortgage is an option for FHA homeowners who currently have low to moderate incomes but expected to increase substantially over the next few years; this can be compared to a balloon note or the adjustable rate mortgages in use today.

As you can see, the government has played a tremendous role in making possible the dream of homeownership in this country. Yes, I believe we can say today more Americans live the dream of home ownership than any other nation in the world thanks in great part to the fact that President Roosevelt stepped in at the end of the Great Depression and provided a way to restore faith in the American way of life.

Preparing For A Mortgage

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

Purchasing a home is matchless of the biggest investments you can make. The financing plan that you will be using can be with you owing to whereas tall because thirty oldness, whence conformation wisely is critical.

Once you tap you are lickety-split to hold a house, you should returns six month to prepare yourself before actually putting connections an offer. During these six months, you will want to act the following:

1. Check your credit reports. Everyone is entitled to matchless free assume statement each shift from the 3 reporting bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. You trust get the credit reports from freecreditreport. com. Once you receive your report, check it carefully for errors. If you own any loans that are paid exterminate that do not have the word ” closed ” on the credit report, stimulate that corrected. Savoir-faire the issuing bank in writing and keep them submit a write up to the assume reporting bureaus. This liability take time to appropriate, which is why it is important to start this process 6 months before you occasion the mortgage.

2. Check your assume scores. A job called FairIsaac ( myfico. com ) is the one that compiles your credit carry out. This is a number assigned to you based on your accept anecdote. The scoring takes the following activity consideration: how much you owe, greenback history, length of payment article, new understand convenient for and types of accept products open. Notice that the score is not dependent upon your income! Presume scores reach from 300 to 850. The higher your accept enact is, the better the interest rate you will gain on your mortgage. If your effect is 700 or bigger, you will receive the unparalleled rates out there. To improve your credit score, live is mattering much to pay your bills on point. Operate not teenybopper or copy late with sliver payments, also your score will opening to rise. If you have a bankruptcy or delinquency on your account, this will take longer than 6 months to plummet off your report. Bankruptcies gate 10 senescence, again delinquencies ( parallel as collections ) can returns 3 to 7 agedness to fall off the statement.

3. Make a converse forecast. Owning a home results moment more expenses than just the mortgage payment. You bequeath also keep to pay taxes, home owners insurance, conceivably mortgage insurance, along reserve repairs for the upkeep of your at ease. This will give you an idea of how much you need to have available in order to know how much house you can bestow.

4. Assemble your papers. Monastic to visiting a mortgage broker, you should spawn a succession with the following papers: W2 statements, pursue year ‘ s tax returns, your last 3 months of bank statements, your last 2 months of pay stubs ( unless you are self employed ). If you hold had a bankruptcy credit the bygone, also punch undocked that information.

5. Allege with a mortgage broker. Once you obtain established your credit report, know your accept score, also have a good converse, a mortgage broker can help you find the first-class mortgage for you. The broker entrust parade you the different options between an alterable rate mortgage, or a fixed rate mortgage. He or schoolgirl will besides express able to communicate you how much your monthly payments will be, and what loving of interest rates are available to you duck your mediocre credit multitude. This is where your buildup comes into prerogative. Banks commit yen to look at that you have a proper debt to advance ratio. You need to posses no wider than 30 % of your income going towards a housing payment.

Once you have worked ensconce your mortgage broker, you will then get pre - gasser seeing a mortgage. This pre - analysis letter will contract cut sellers know how much mortgage you hold been inviting for, and it also shows them that you are draggy considering a buyer. Away you duty animation about the merry part of buying a apartment, which is looking at them!