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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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In the olden days, you were at the mercy of your realtor, the seller and the mortgage broker.  With a fixed rate mortgage, they decided the interest rate, the sales price and the terms of the contract.  They made the decisions; you paid the bills.

Early in the days of the Internet, online mortgage calculators quickly became popular.  What you used to have to pay for; you could now get in seconds and with many alternatives.  Advanced versions today permit you to make complex comparisons of different kinds of mortgages and can even help you in decisions of when or whether to buy, sell or foreclose.

One of the bonuses is that you can often receive mortgage calculators freely on the internet.

Mortgage calculators are powerful tools because of the speed and accuracy with which they can deliver information. If you are looking to find out how much mortgage you will pay, a mortgage calculator can analyze and give you a figure within seconds.

Time is one of our most precious commodities. Mortgage calculators allow us to use time more effectively because they analyze so many variables of house buying lightning speed. If you had to spend the time sitting in a mortgage broker’s office while they calculated out every alternative possible to get you the best mortgage, then you would be there at least an afternoon. And that would be for the possibilities for just one lender.

A mortgage calculator allows you to use the interest rates for any number of mortgage lenders in your area. Then it lets you input different variables such as the length of time you want to pay the mortgage. You set the information for different prices of houses, and not just one, so that you know what your best financial options are.

There are a variety of mortgage calculators. Some of them are pretty standard and just permit you to determine the monthly mortgage payment for a fixed interest mortgage or an adjustable rate mortgage. Others are even more powerful. They allow you to do a comparative analysis using the same loan calculator.  By using the mortgage calculator together with a home budget calculator, you can quickly get an accurate overview of your financial situation, and whether or not now is the right time to buy a new property.

Apart from the sophisticated data that the computer is able to deal with, the best part of using a mortgage calculator is that it gives you accurate information in a format you understand. You don’t have to read pages and pages of complicated financial terminology and do complex calculations to find out what you really want to know. The mortgage calculator doesn’t confuse you with the marketing ploys of a lender or broker. Instead, you input simple figures and get a simple calculation – within seconds – and without leaving your home or office!

Mortgage calculators are powerful tools because they put you in control! You make that appointment with your realtor or mortgage lender confident that you know your financial status and which mortgage you need. You also have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve checked out all possible alternatives to find your perfect mortgage.

A good mortgage calculator is like a slide rule. If you know how to use it, you can beat a computer. Many of the mortgage calculators on the web even include ways to figure out how much you can afford. That comes in handy if you like eating.

A mortgage calculator can help you to do many things including understand the terms of your loan. The term of the loan is the length of time that you will hold that loan for. This is often something that you can change to suit your needs. But, in order to know just what the solution is that is right for you, you will want to insure that you actually see what the various options will do. A home loan is a very serious loan and it is one that can make or break you if you do not do your homework.

But, you can use a mortgage calculator to help you to do this. Most home loans will be able to be gotten in a variety of terms. They can range from 5, 7, 10, 15, 30 or even a 40 year loan. Now, there are many things that will help you to decide which the right choice is for your loan. Remember, the longer you hold the loan, the more that you will pay for it. But, also, the longer the loan is the lower your monthly payment is going to be as well. This often helps those that would like to get more of a house to extend it to a longer period of time as well as allows individuals that are looking for the most inexpensive loan option to pay it down faster.

Now, to know how much a longer or a shorter term will cost you, you can use a mortgage calculator. This tool will allow you to put in the values of the loan that you are considering. You will put in the terms of the loan, the interest rate that it is being offered at as well as any down payment that you may be offering. Then, it will produce a good amount of information for you. It will provide you with information on how much the monthly payment will be, so that you can see if it is something you can afford. It will also tell you the total cost of the loan with those terms.

Now, take the mortgage calculator back and refigure your information. You are looking to add in the terms of a different length. For example, if you entered information the first time for a ten year loan, try a 15 instead. Now, compare the monthly payment amounts as well as the total cost of the loan in the long run. You can keep doing this until you determine which the right loan terms for your home purchase are.

When you take the time to compare these various terms, you’ll see the amount of money that you will be really charged to purchase the home that you want. There are many other things that this tool can tell you as well. It can help you to figure out the total cost of the loan at various interest rate levels and with different types of loans as well. The mortgage calculator is a tool that every home buyer needs to have and use.