LoanWeb Quick Quote
2. Types of mortgages
There are many types of mortgages. The most common ones are:
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage
The 15-year fixed rate mortgage
1 year adjustable rate mortgage
3 year adjustable rate mortgage
5 year adjustable rate mortgage
5 year balloon mortgage
7 year balloon mortgage
You will also find some variations of these common types, such as 20-year fixed
rate mortgages, 3-1, 5-1 and 7-1 adjustable rate mortgages.
The fixed rate mortgages are the best when the rates are at historic lows. With
a fixed rate mortgage, you pay a fixed percentage interest rate for the life of the loan.
You want to lock in a low rate for the years to come and have the comfort of knowing that
your mortgage payments will not change from year to year.
The 15 year fixed rate mortgages will tend to have an interest rate that is ½
percent lower than the 30- year fixed rate mortgages, but they are much harder to qualify
for (see qualifying information below).
The interest rates for fixed rate mortgages are usually the highest because of
the greater "risk margin". If rates rise considerably the lender can be stuck a
long time with a mortgage they are losing money on.
If mortgage rates are at historic highs, your best bet is probably an
adjustable rate mortgage. With an adjustable rate mortgage, you pay according to an
interest rate that changes from time to time. You can expect to get a better initial
interest rate on an adjustable than on the fixed rate mortgages, because the adjustable
rate mortgages have a lower "risk margin", plus you can ride the rates down
without having to incur the expense of refinancing. Adjustable rate mortgages are often
offered at a "teaser" rate during the first period of the loan, prior to the
first adjustment. Dont think this is some free lunch or gift of gratitude from the
lender. These loans usually come with points that more than make up for the
"teaser" discount. One of the real reasons for the teaser rate is to allow one
to qualify for a larger mortgage. During economic times when too many of these mortgages
are going into default, expect lenders to use the projected cost of the loan in its
second year to determine the amount of loan you are qualified to take.
The most popular adjustable rate mortgage is the 1-year adjustable, know in the
industry as the 1-year ARM. The interest you pay the first year is often a low
"teaser" rate. At the end of the first year, the rate is adjusted to become that
of some index (typically the 11th District Cost of Funds index or the rate on
1-year U.S. Treasury Bills) plus a margin (some current examples are 2.5% on the COF basis
or 2.75% on the 1-year T-Bill basis). Most of these ARMs have an annual maximum amount
they are allowed to change, either up or down, (an example is 1% on the COF and 2% on
T-Bill basis) and a life of the loan limit as well (an example is 11% on the COF and 5%
above the starting rate on a T-Bill basis loan).
The 3 and 5-year adjustable rate mortgages adjust less frequently. Therefore
they will have a higher rate because of a greater "risk margin".
Balloon mortgages are mortgages that are based on a fixed rate for
the specified period of time. These rates are often lower than the fixed rate mortgages
because of a lower risk margin for the lender. At the end of the fixed rate period, the
mortgage becomes due. You can generally continue the mortgage beyond the balloon period at
whatever the current interest rates are at that time. But be careful. Read the fine print.
The balloon mortgage may disallow continuation if you have taken a second mortgage on the
property or if you are considered less than a good credit risk at time the balloon
expires. Balloon mortgages can be attractive if you expect to move within the balloon
period, especially during economic times when other mortgage rates are high.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
3. Qualifying for a mortgage
Its important to know how large of a mortgage you can qualify for. This
amount is usually based on a percentage of your income. Add the loans annual amount
for principle, interest, taxes and insurance. The total is called your cost of housing. It
is also called your "front end ratio" It typically should not exceed 28% of your
gross income. If you dont have much other debt, such as big car loans, school loans,
credit card debt and other loans to service, you may get away with qualifying with housing
costs that eat up 34% of your gross income. A second general rule is that your housing
cost plus the cost of servicing other debt should not exceed 32% of your total income.
This is called your "back end ratio". However, some lenders may raise this
figure to 36% or even higher for borrowers that have an exceptional credit rating or are
making a large down payment on the property. If you are going to spend less than 28% of
your income on housing costs and less than 32% of your income on total debt service, you
can probably qualify for the lowest mortgage interest rates because you will be considered
a less risky borrower, assuming you have a good credit history.
Heres an example:
Your gross annual income is (combine husband and wife) is $100,000
You should be able to safely qualify for annual housing costs of $28,000.
You should be able to safely qualify for a total annual debt service cost of
$32,000.
Estimates of the amount of a mortgage one can qualify for are provided in the
following table. These are only ballpark estimates based on the assumption that the
borrower has a good credit rating, has made a sizable down payment of around 20% and has
funds set aside for closing costs. These estimates are based on a conservative 28%
mortgage debt-to-income ratio, .5% of the mortgage for initial annual principal payments,
1% of the mortgage for annual property taxes and .5% of the mortgage for annual hazard
insurance
Annual
rate
rate
rate
rate
income 6.5 %
7.0%
7.5%
8.0 %
$30,000 $ 98,824 $
93,333 $
88,421 $ 84,000
$35,000 $115,294
$108,889
$103,158 $ 98,000
$40,000 $131,765
$124,444
$117,895 $112,000
$45,000 $148,235
$140,000
$132,632 $126,000
$50,000 $164,706
$155,556
$147,368 $140,000
$55,000 $181,176
$171,111
$162,105 $154,000
$60,000 $197,647
$186,667
$176,842 $168,000
$65,000 $214,118
$202,222
$191,579 $182,000
$70,000 $230,588
$217,778
$206,316 $196,000
$75,000 $247,059
$233,333
$221,053 $210,000
$80,000 $263,529
$248,889
$235,789 $224,000
$85,000 $280,000
$264,444
$250,526 $238,000
$90,000 $296,471
$280,000
$265,263 $252,000
$95,000 $312,941
$295,556
$280,000 $266,000
$100,000 $329,412
$311,111 $294,737
$280,000
$105,000 $345,882
$326,667 $309,474
$294,000
$110,000 $362,353
$342,222 $324,211
$308,000
$115,000 $378,824
$357,778 $338,947
$322,000
$120,000 $395,294
$373,333 $353,684
$336,000
There can be a twist to the qualification process. There are loans called
no-income verification loans, for people who cannot verify their income, and no-asset
verification loans for people who cannot verify that they have assets for closing costs.
These loans are also called no-doc loans. Rest assured the risk Vs return formulas are at
work here. If the lender is taking a higher risk by offering mortgages without verifying
the qualification of the borrower, the interest rates will be higher to offset the risk of
loss. More likely, the lender will reduce his risk by requiring a large down payment
and/or a stellar credit history for these loans.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
4. Loan
points
"Points" are an amount of money you pay to reduce the interest rate
on your loan. One point is 1% of the amount you are borrowing. If the mortgage interest
rate is high, the points will probably be low, or even zero points. If the interest rate
is low, the points will probably be high. The range of points paid to get a mortgage is
usually zero to 3. Here again, there are no free lunches. You simply have to decide
whether you want to pay the points up front, and have lower monthly payments, or not pay
the points and have a higher monthly payment. If you are having trouble qualifying for the
amount of money you want to borrow, and just happen to have a few thousand dollars free,
you might elect to pay some points to get a lower interest rate so you can qualify for a
larger mortgage.
Typically, each discount point you pay reduces the interest rate on a 30-year
fixed rate mortgage by about 1/8%.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
5. Principle, Interest, taxes and insurance
Your housing costs will be made up of principle, interest taxes and insurance
as far as most lenders are concerned. Principle payments reduce the amount of money left
to pay back. Interest payments are the amount of money you pay for the use of the
lenders money. It the early years of a mortgage pay back, the principle payments are
small and the interest payments are large. Property taxes are paid to local taxing
authorities, typically to pay the cost of local governments and public schools. Property
taxes may vary widely from area to area, so be sure to ask what the property taxes are.
However, dont let high taxes scare you off. Areas with high taxes can have superior
school systems that are in great demand, creating high and sustainable property values in
their surrounding communities. If you have children, you may find areas with high taxes
and good schools cheaper than areas with low taxes and poor schools, where you wind up
paying a small fortune to have your children educated at private schools. Lenders will
require that you purchase property insurance to protect their interest in your home should
there be a fire or some other disaster. Insurance costs can also vary widely, so be sure
and inquire about the insurance costs before you buy. However, insurance costs will
normally be the smallest of the components of your housing costs.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
6. Private Mortgage Insurance
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) insures mortgage lenders against losses in the
event of the borrowers default. By covering default risk on residential first
mortgage loans, mortgage insurance makes loans with less than 20 percent down payment
available. If you are applying for a conventional mortgage loan with less than 20% down,
you will be asked to pay for mortgage insurance. If you are applying for a FHA loan you
will be asked to pay a mortgage insurance premium (MIP). The cost of PMI can vary from
about ¾% of the loan for loans with only 5% down to around ¼% for loans with 15-20%
down. FHA loans ask for a one-time fee of 3.8% of the loan amount at settlement, for the
cost of mortgage insurance.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
7. Settlement costs
When you go to settlement on purchase of real estate, there a number of fees
and expenses presented at closing. Some of these are associated with the mortgage. Others
are associated with taxes, insurance, escrow fees etc. Typical of those associated with
the mortgage, and what might be considered a typical amount (but they can vary widely)
are:
Loan origination fee
Up to 1% of the mortgage amount
Appraisal fee (for having the property appraised)
$ 300
Credit reports (to verify that you are credit-worthy)
$ 50
Title company fees
$ 300
Title insurance
½ of 1% of the mortgage amount
Underwriting fees
$ 300
Document preparation fees
$ 250
Tax service fees
$ 75
Recording fees
$ 150
Processing fees
$ 250
Mortgage interest for the current month
Varies with settlement date
Private mortgage insurance
0-3/4 percent of the loan amount.
Again, the amounts shown are typical but in no way represent what YOU will be
paying on your specific mortgage.
Just to remind you, there are also settlement costs outside the direct costs
associated with the mortgage. Typical costs are:
State taxes (if applicable)
Varies by state
Property survey (if applicable)
Typically $300
Down payment, varies,
Typically 10 to 25% of the property value
Real estate property taxes in advance
Varies
Discount points
0-3 % of the mortgage amount
Home owners insurance in advance, varies,
.25% of the property value annually for example
Homeowners association dues, if applicable, in advance
Varies
Condominium association fees, if applicable, in advance
Varies
Your attorneys fees
Varies
The above list is not necessarily complete. It is presented to give you an idea
of the many costs you can expect to see at the settlement table. Your broker or lender
should give you a list of the settlement costs in advance of settlement. This list is know
as a Good Faith Estimate of Settlement Costs. It is advisable to have some extra funds
available at settlement, just in case there are some mistakes.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
8. Pre payment penalties
A pre payment penalty occurs when a mortgage is paid off prematurely in its
early years, typically when a buyer sells the property. Loans with pre payment penalties
have fallen out of favor and in many localities are not legal. Be sure to ask if the loan
you are applying for carries a pre payment penalty, so you dont have any surprises
when you go to sell your property down the road.
You can wind up with surprise capital gains tax at the federal, state or local
level when you sell your property. You dont want a surprise mortgage pre-payment
penalty on top of that.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
9. Legal
fees
It is advisable to have an attorney go over all documents you sign, including
those associated with your mortgage. You can expect to pay several hundred dollars for an
attorney to assist you with document review. You will probably want your attorney to be
with you at settlement, to make sure all the documents that protect you, the buyer and
mortgagee, and to review the many documents as you sign them.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
10. Real estate appraisals and Loan to Value
Lenders will want to know the value of the property you are taking the mortgage
against. The property will be pledged as collateral for the loan, which means if you
default on the loan, they take the property and sell it to get their money back. They want
to be sure the property is worth what you are paying for it. Therefore, they will order an
appraisal, which you will have to pay for. Appraisals will usually cost several hundred
dollars, and are conducted by an unbiased and professional real estate appraiser.
The lender will not want to loan you more than about 85% of the value of the
property. That leaves a buffer if for some reason the property value declines or if they
are saddled with big liquidation fees because they have to foreclose on the loan and take
over the property. Some will loan you greater amounts but because the lenders risk
of losing money in a foreclosure is greater, they will ask for a higher mortgage interest
rate.
Heres one more thing to know about loan to value. If you only mortgage
75-80 percent of the value of the property, that means you will have a bigger cash down
payment. It also means youre a very low risk for loan default and foreclosure
because of all the money you have tied up in the property. That means you can probably
qualify easier for the loan amount you want and you can also probably get the lowest
possible mortgage interest rate.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
11. Second mortgages
Second mortgages are mortgages on a property that are less secure for the
lenders than the primary mortgage. The lender of a primary mortgage is the first one to
collect their money in the event of default and foreclosure. The lender holding the second
mortgage note gets to collect only if the primary note holder gets their money. Because
the risk of loss is greater for a second mortgage holder, the mortgage interest rate on
the second mortgage will be higher. The closer the total of the first and second mortgages
approaches the appraised value of the property, the higher the second mortgage interest
rate will be. The interest rate on a second mortgage will be greater than that of the
primary mortgage because of the second mortgage lenders greater risk exposure.
Second mortgages are normally taken out for a fixed amount and fixed period of
time, like ten or fifteen years, unlike home equity credit lines which are usually
revolving credit accounts.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
12. Home equity credit lines
Home equity credit lines are taken for an indefinite period of time. They
usually come with the equivalent of a checkbook that the borrower may simply write checks
on to increase the loan up to the maximum permitted by the loan agreement. Lenders will
normally want to keep the maximum loans against a property well under the appraised value.
They will not want to allow a home equity credit line that brings the total loans on the
property above 85 or 90% of the propertys value.
The interest rate on home equity credit lines is often adjustable, tied to the
Prime Rate plus some margin, like 1 to 3 percentage points. The outstanding balance on a
home equity credit line is typically scheduled to be paid off in six years. Because of the
short payoff time, when compared to a second mortgage, monthly principle payments are
normally larger for home equity credit lines than for second mortgages.
Because a home equity credit line is secured by the property, the lenders
risk is not too great. Thats why the home equity credit lines are a popular
alternative to unsecured credit lines, such as credit cards, which may have rates double
that of the home equity credit line.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
13. Debt consolidation
People who find themselves with burdensome debt payments each month, because
they have overextended their finances with credit cards, can get some relief by getting a
home equity credit line. The home equity credit line will have a lower interest rate, and
the interest may be tax deductible. Those needing greater relief can apply for a second
mortgage. Second mortgage rates will probably be slightly lower than for home equity
credit lines and the payback period can be much longer. When people take a second mortgage
to consolidate revolving credit debt, the relief can be significant. Of coarse, the
tradeoff is that they are giving up equity in their property.
Homeowners who need the maximum in debt consolidation should consider
refinancing their primary mortgage, especially if they can get a lower interest rate.
There are more details on this in the section on refinancing in this tutorial.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
14. Shopping for mortgages
Mortgages have become a rather impersonal thing. You may get your mortgage from
a local lender or through a local broker only to find the note sold to another lender
within days of the original closing. The mortgage is what is know as a marketable security
and market them they do. The only good reason to deal with a local lender or broker is to
get personal service assistance in filling in the forms. This will often be done by phone,
mail and fax. If one can get the same assistance from a non-local lender or broker, and
get a better mortgage, in terms of interest rates and qualification, then there is little
reason not to take advantage of the national lenders superior mortgage product.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
15. Rate analysis (bond rates, etc)
History tells us that mortgage rates tend to track the interest rates on the
U.S. Treasurys 30-year bond (known as the "long bond"). When the rate on
these bonds goes up, the mortgage rates tend to go up almost immediately. When the rate on
these bonds goes down, mortgage rates tend to go down. However, mortgage rates tend to go
up faster than they go down.
The rates are also influenced by what Alan Greenspan, the Fed Chief, is
thinking, and what the Fed watchers think Alan Greenspan is thinking, and by the personal
life of Bill Clinton. If you gamble on what way you think rates will go, you will lose
half the time.
Graphs of the recent data for AAA Corporate Bonds, the Prime Rate, and 30-year
U.S. Treasury Bonds may be found at http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/economy/charts/int2.html
(The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis).
Current national average rates for the 30-year U.S. Treasury Bond, 15 and 30
year fixed rate mortgages, and 1 year Adjustable Rate Mortgages are available at http://www.money-rates.com/mortgage.htm
(money-rates.com)
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
16. Jumbo mortgages
Jumbo mortgages are those that exceed the Fannie Mae limit. That means Fannie
Mae doesnt provide a market for them, so they are less marketable. The penalty here
amounts to a higher rate, typically around .5%. As of July 1999, the Fannie Mae limit for
mortgages is $240,000. Fannie Mae raises this limit from time to time. If you took out a
jumbo mortgage when you bought your home, and some time has passed, you may benefit from
refinancing if you have paid down the principal and the Fannie Mae limit has raised above
your current mortgage principle balance. Loans below the Fannie Mae limit are called
conforming loans. Loans above are called non-conforming or Jumbo mortgages.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
17. Investor
mortgages
Most mortgages are packaged to comply with Fannie Mae guidelines, so the
mortgages may be marketed easily. Sometimes investors pool funds and offer these funds for
mortgages which may have some creative twists to them. These mortgages will tend to have a
somewhat higher interest rate because of their limited marketability. The creative twists,
though, may be just what you need so dont overlook them.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
18. Locking of mortgage rates
When applying for a mortgage you will usually have the option of asking for a
rate lock. If you think rates will go up, it will be wise to lock the rate. Usually, the
lender will want a sizeable earnest deposit from you to execute a rate lock. The deposit
is to show your commitment to going through with the mortgage deal. After all, the lender
will be committing to his supplier of funds for the amount of your loan. So if you back
out, the lender will be stuck with having to take the loan himself.
You can usually let the rate float right up until loan settlement. However, if
rates are highly volatile and you are sure you wont be backing out on the deal,
locking the rate can provide a great amount of peace of mind.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
19. Mortgage loan applications
In order to apply for a mortgage, you will need a number of documents. This may
include:
A copy of the Agreement of Sale on the property you intend to purchase.
Your recent pay stubs, to verify your income
Your recent bank statements, to further verify your income and to show that you
have settlement funds available. If large deposits were recently made, you may be asked to
explain them. The lenders dont want you to borrow settlement funds.
You could be asked for a copy of your most recent federal income tax return, to
further verify income.
You will need to have a list of all your cash assets, all your other assets
such as cars, boats and other real estate, and all your debt accounts, such as car loans,
school loans and credit cards. You will need to show how much is owned on these loans and
what your monthly payments are.
Want a great mortgage ...
LoanWeb Quick Quote
20. Mortgage application fees