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A big part of getting approved or rejected in the mortgage process lies in your ability to make rational, unemotional decisions. It’s essential that you separate yourself from the emotional issue of getting a house and approach the whole process like a business.

People get a bit goofy when it comes to money especially when it comes to their money and in the case of the getting a mortgage you’re talking about the most money anyone will ever spend. As a result, if you can take the emotion out of the equation your chance of making the right decision will increase dramatically. If not, you could be in for a tough road because people who make mortgage decisions based on emotion – make mistakes.

Mistakes = Emotion + Money
Those who take their time and make decisions based on the reality of their individual situations enjoy much greater success when you look at their overall financial situations.

The following questions are designed to help you determine how long you expect to be in a prospective new house or hold a mortgage. They should also help you to do the necessary soul searching “before” you make such a huge decision. In fact, the length of time you keep a mortgage may be the most important financial question you need to answer because how you answer it will determine the strategies you need to follow when selecting and paying off a mortgage.

The bottom line is that only you can make the decision because only you know your position in life now and only you can make the decision on what direction to take your life in the future.

Personal Questions
1. How long did you live in your last house? Why did you move and is that a recurring factor in your life?
2. Are you expecting any major life-style changes?
3. Any major health concerns in your life?
4. Is this going to be your last house before retirement?

Family Questions
1. Are you expecting any new family members (i.e. children, elderly parents, etc.)?
2. When will your children be moving out?
3. How stable is your marriage?

Financial Questions
1. Am I expecting a promotion or job transfer? Am I transferred at regular intervals?
2. How is my overall job stability?
3. Are you planning on retiring soon or are you just entering the work force?
4. Is this an investment property with long term rental potential?
5. Instead of selling this house when we move, could we rent it out?

Economic Geographical
1. Are property values going up or down in the neighborhood?
2. Is the local school system acceptable?
3. What are the property taxes?
4. What is the overall economic condition of the area – city, county?
5. Are there any long term changes expected such as roads, schools, malls, etc.?

Location Neighborhood
1. How long will this house meet our needs?
2. What is the condition of the house? Any major repairs needed?
3. If this is a starter home will it be too small in a few years?
4. How are the neighbors?
5. Does the overall condition of the neighborhood appear to be improving or deteriorating?
6. Are you buying this house only because it’s all you can afford?

Of course, there’s many more questions that could be asked but for purpose of this article let’s take a look at some examples that will demonstrate how answering particular questions will help you in determine what type of mortgage to pursue – 30 year fixed, interest only, 228 ARM, 15 year fixed and so on.

Example 1 – If you lived in your last house for about 10 years and the house before that for about the same amount of time, odds are you’ll live in the next one for lengthy period of time also. Therefore, you should accordingly and thus you may want to look at either a 15 or 30 year fixed mortgage.

Example 2 – If this is your first house and you plan on moving out as soon as you can afford it then plan on the best mortgage for being in a house for a short period of time. An interest-only or 228 ARM mortgage may be the route to go. The 228 ARM is fixed for two years and then the rate goes up (it’s adjustable) but if you plan on moving quickly anyway the first two years is will be lower than a fixed rate mortgage and thus it will save you money. Interest-Only mortgages are usually amortized over 30 years, just like a 30-year fixed but since you are only paying the interest the payments will be lower. Therefore, if you would like to lower your payments and possibly use the extra money to save for a down payment on your new home then an interest only mortgage may be a good option.

Logical Decisions + Effective Planning + Money = Success
Although it’s difficult, if you remember to approach the purchase of a new home as a business decision and not as an emotional one the odds that you’ll make the right decision will be greatly enhanced.

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The term mortgage in everyday lingo, is used to mean ‘mortgage loan’.The word mortgage has now become the generic term for a loan secured by real property. A mortgage is similar to that of a secured loan. The amount of money lent is slowly repaid in monthly amounts for the length of the mortgage term.

Getting a mortgage is therefore, a huge task for any homeowner. These loans can range from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands of pounds, and impose many different terms and conditions. Finding the best mortgage interest rate available is therefore quite an uphill task, which can eventually save one thousand of pounds over a period of time. The mortgage-lending industry is however, not free from its own share of pitfalls. As the market is inundated with so many different mortgaging options one may quite easily end up choosing the wrong one.

The unsuspecting consumer may be lured to believe that a ‘balloon mortgage’ offers the best mortgage interest rate available. While it is true that in the beginning of this mortgage, monthly payments are quite low, homeowners often find difficulty at the end of the mortgage when they are forced to make a large balloon payment. Balloon mortgages do however, offer some of the best mortgage rates available for real-estate buyers who are looking to turn over the property quickly. Mortgage brokers are usually middlemen between the customer and a lender .The broker needs to look through the market to find out the best mortgage interest rate available.

Types of Mortgage loan: There are two main types of mortgage loans, fixed rate and variable rate interest. With a fixed-rate mortgage loan, the homeowner pays the same amount of interest every month during the lifetime of their loan. With a variable rate mortgage, the homeowner will end up paying different interest rates month-to-month solely depending upon market conditions. Banks and lending companies may use different market indicators to determine your interest rate.

While selecting the best mortgage interest rate one also needs to know that the true drivers of mortgage rates are the investors in the secondary market. A loan when its funded, the mortgage lender that funds the loan which may be a bank, a credit union, or other type of financial institution has the option of keeping that loan on its portfolio or selling it on the secondary market.

When selecting the best mortgage interest rate one needs to see whether it offers you the best return possible. That level of return is to a great extent determined by the current and anticipated condition of the economy. Determining the best loan that requires one to pay the smallest monthly payment possible is equally important as getting the best mortgage interest rate.

Fully equipped technologies are now available which simplify the lending process and ensure the current mortgaging rate is the best for his client. Only by exploring the wide-range of mortgaging options one can decide which one suits hisher purpose. It takes only a little bit of internet surfing, a few phone calls or may be a couple of visits to the local branch to find out and grab the best mortgage interest rate.