Posts Tagged ‘Mortgage Rate’

Why Should You Get A Capped Mortgage?

housing market collapse 200Many people who get variable rate mortgages find that they can mix the security of a fixed rate mortgage whilst still having variable rates by getting a capped mortgage plan. If you are looking for a variable rate mortgage then you should seriously consider putting a cap on the mortgage. Here is some useful advice about whether or not you should proceed with a capped mortgage:

What is a capped mortgage?

Capped mortgages are a type of variable rate mortgage. A variable rate mortgage means that the interest rate on your repayments can vary. By putting a cap on the interest rate, it means that even if your interest rate changes, it can only change by so much. There is an upper limit on what you can pay, but if the interest rate falls then you will pay less. Capped mortgages are the option in between variable and fixed rate mortgages.

What are the advantages?

The obvious advantage of a capped mortgage is that you can benefit from variable rates but never have to pay above a certain limit. This allows you to take advantage of potentially lower rates, but also adequately budget each month and have peace of mind that your payments will not rise above a certain amount. In many ways, a capped mortgage is the best of both worlds. If you think that interest rates are going to go down, then getting a fixed rate mortgage now would be unwise as the fixed rate will be uncompetitive in a years time. Also, if you think that interest rates are going to rise then you want to have an upper limit on how much you can be charged. If you want a mixture of security and cheap prices, then a capped rate mortgage is for you.

The pitfalls

However, all of these benefits come at a price. Capped mortgage rates are usually higher than fixed rate or variable rate starting prices, because you get so many benefits. Also, there are not as many lenders willing to offer capped rate mortgages because of the obvious benefits to the borrower. You usually have to have a good credit history and even then it can be hard to get a capped mortgage. However, if you dont mind paying a slightly higher rate and want the chance to get lower prices as well as being able to budget, then a capped rate mortgage is for you.

Getting a capped rate mortgage

As previously mentioned, there are fewer lenders offering capped rate mortgages than other types of mortgage. This makes shopping around an easier task, but it is still necessary to do so in order to find the best deals. If you are still unsure about whether or not a capped rate mortgage is suitable for you, then speak to an independent financial advisor. Even if you already have a mortgage, you might be able to negotiate a deal with your current lender and put a cap on your variable rate mortgage.

30

12 2010

Whats The Mortgage Rate?

bigstockphoto_making_statistics_1831264A mortgage rate is the amount of interest that you will pay for your home purchase. If you are in the market for purchasing a home, then you know that there are many deals to be had. There are many various companies offering low cost financing and low rates. But, what are they really offering and what should you really choose? The interest that is on a home is the cost that is charged, on a monthly basis for using borrowed funds to pay for the homes purchase. This rate is the price tag of your home loan, so to speak.

The number is a very tricky little number though. It does not remain the same for very long. In fact, at any time, there are many various rates that are charged to consumers from the same institution as well as between various ones. The mortgage rate is a very important number too. Because it is the cost that you will pay to purchase your home above the principal value of the home, you need to insure that it is the lowest percentage possible. You should shop around for the most ideal rate out there for your specific needs.

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he first thing to understand is that there are many mortgage rates being offered at any one time. From one lender, you will find several options for various types of loans. This can make things very confusing to most that are looking to just purchase a home. Yet, there are many ways to find the right overall cost of the loan for much less. One thing to do is to use a loan calculator to help you to secure the lowest rates. This can break it all down and tell you just what your monthly payment will be as well as just what you will pay, in the long run, for your home loan.

Now, there are other factors that play into the mortgage rate that you can get as well. This includes the credit score that you have. The more risk a choice you are as a borrower, the more costly a home will be to you in interest. The best way to keep this from hurting you with high charges is to keep your credit rating as high as possible. Pay off bills on time, pay down debt as much as possible and keep your debt to credit ratio on the right track and you will have many more benefits to lower interest.

There are many other things that play into this interest percentage. Because a home purchase is the most costly of the purchase you are likely to make, you will need to keep your costs down as much as possible. When there are many products to choose from, it can be hard to see which is the very best of options. Yet, when you use things like a loan calculator to help you to figure it all out, it is easy to see what the right choice is. Luckily, there are enough options in mortgage rates that everyone can find something that is well suited to their needs.

16

12 2010

Mortgage Rate: What Makes Them Tick?

home-loan-keysA mortgage rate is a price tag that is flying from the smoke stack of your home. It is the cost that you will be charged, on top of the principle amount of the homes value that you will be charged for borrowing money to pay for your home. Buying a home does not have to be just a dream anymore because rates of interest on homes are very low. Yet, will they stay that low? And, what else helps to contribute to the overall cost of the interest? There are several things that do, but you can easily sort through these and have the best options at lowering the cost of the home for your needs.

The first thing that affects the homes mortgage rate is that of the Prime Rate. This is the number that the US federal government sets to help improve the economy. It is the prime cost of interest and it is the guideline that most banks will use when providing loans to their customers or when providing interest on savings accounts and other such investments. Some lenders do offer sub prime rates, meaning that they are below the prime level, but this is hard to come by and may mean fee increases in other conditions.

Secondly, the mortgage rate may change from one type of loan to the next as well. For example, the longer the loan terms are, the lower the interest rate will be on them. Yet, when you consider how much you will be paying in the length of the loan, this is not really a savings at all. Other loan options such as VA and FHA loans may also offer a lower than prime rate or at least be near to it.

Even more so the more risk that you pose to the company, the more costly your mortgage rate is. If you have a poor credit score, you will often be charged a higher amount of interest on your homes purchase. You should know what your credit score is and you can find this out by getting your credit report. To raise it or to keep your score high, make sure to pay loans and credit lines on time, keep your balances as low as possible as well as to insure that you have enough credit against your debt. The higher your score is, the lower your interest is likely to be as well.

In order to know what the rates of a home loan that you qualify for are, simply go to the lenders websites and request a free loan quote. This will give you a good understanding of where you stand as well as provide you with a way to compare one lender to the next. Because the difference in just a few fractions of a percentage point are so very important (it can cost you thousands of pounds), it makes sense that you will need to carefully look for the lender that can offer you the most ideal interest. Finally, you should know the mortgage rate on any loan long before you agree to pay for it.

09

09 2010

Mortgage: The Key Points that You Should Know

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A mortgage is a kind of an agreement made to pay the money, which was loaned, to a person by keeping the house as collateral. Mortgage is a promise made to pay the debts by putting it in writing basically. Mortgages have terms and interest rates which are either adjustable or fixed.

Mortgage terms:

Mortgages are designed in such a way that they can be paid in installments for a certain period. The time frame which allows the person to pay back his mortgage is called the term. The term may be 10 or 15 or even 30 years. The length of the term determines the amount of money to be paid, which is actually spread in installments.

Mortgage interest rate:

The interest rate depends on the percentage to be paid on the mortgage loan amount. The interest rates vary according to the credit score of the person. If the credit score of the person is very high, the interest rate and the amount of monthly installments are lower. If the credit score is lower then the interest rates and the monthly installment amount are higher. Hence a good credit score will help getting lower interest rates to the debtor.

Types of mortgages:

Mortgages – Adjustable rate of interest

Under this type of mortgages, the interest rate changes from period to period according to the fluctuations of the market. The degree of change of mortgage interest rate is directly associated with the index to which it is tied. Since index will differ as they may be tied to a foreign bank rate of interest in certain cases, it is good to ask to which index the adjustable rate of interest is tied to. Usually they are fixed for a period of 1-5 years and then become adjustable.

Mortgages fixed rate:

The interest rate of the loan amount is fixed in the case of fixed rate mortgage till the end of the term regardless of the market fluctuations. The debtor will never have to pay more than the fixed interest rate at any cost. The only means by which a fixed rate mortgage can change is through Refinancing.

Refinancing:

It is a process of changing the existing mortgage terms of agreement. The debtor can go for refinancing when the interest rates are lower so that he can save money qualifying for the lower rate of interest. The length of the term can also be adjusted to be either long or short using refinance option. Care needs to be taken when going for refinancing of mortgages as it entails for new closing costs. Fees and closing costs are involved in this method.

Appraisal:

The crucial part of mortgage is the appraisal. Before going for a loan from a bank, the value of the house must be assessed properly. An appraiser can determine how much the house is worth actually by inspecting the features of the house and by comparing it with the neighborhood houses. If any addition or embellishment is made to the house, it can raise the value of the house, but may require to appraise the new value of the document.

08

07 2010

Lower Mortgage Payments Can Increase Wealth

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Creating and maintaining wealth is a very difficult task. Ask any millionaire!!! The delicate balance of living a dream lifestyle and holding expenses tight creates this difficulty. As a financial advisor, I have assisted people accumulate monies to live their dream life while discovering ways to reduce their necessary expenses. Everyone would agree mortgages are necessary expenses. Probably the biggest expense most of us have. Mortgages present the opportunity to secure income tax deductions while utilizing the house to live. What if you could reduce your mortgage interest rate to 3% and be required to pay interest only for 5 years? Would you refinance your current house? Purchase another? While refinancing a clients mortgage, I discovered such a mortgage. The client will save lots of money the next few years. Here is his scenario:

Client #1 500,000 Loan Amount
Current
30 Year Fixed @ 6.00%=P&I 2,997.75 month
5th year loan balance 456,989.77
Equity (assuming no appreciation) 43,010.23

Past
LIBOR ARM @ 3.00%=Interest only 1,250.00 month
Applied additional 1747.75 month to principal for 5 years
5th year loan balance 362,370.82
Equity (assuming no appreciation) 137,629.18

Creating and maintaining wealth is a very difficult task. Ask any millionaire!!! The delicate balance of living a dream lifestyle and holding expenses tight creates this difficulty. As a financial advisor, I have assisted people accumulate monies to live their dream life while discovering ways to reduce their necessary expenses. Everyone would agree mortgages are necessary expenses. Probably the biggest expense most of us have. Mortgages present the opportunity to secure income tax deductions while utilizing the house to live. What if you could reduce your mortgage interest rate to 3% and be required to pay interest only for 5 years? Would you refinance your current house? Purchase another? While refinancing a clients mortgage, I discovered such a mortgage. The client will save lots of money the next few years. Here is his scenario:

Client #1 500,000 Loan Amount
Current
30 Year Fixed @ 6.00%=P&I 2,997.75 month
5th year loan balance 456,989.77
Equity (assuming no appreciation) 43,010.23

Past
LIBOR ARM @ 3.00%=Interest only 1,250.00 month
Applied additional 1747.75 month to principal for 5 years
5th year loan balance 362,370.82
Equity (assuming no appreciation) 137,629.18

Client #21.2 Million Loan Amount
Current
525 ARM @4.25%=P&I 5,903.28 month
5th year loan balance 1,064,681.48
Equity (assuming no appreciation) 135,318.35

Proposed
LIBOR ARM @3.00%=Interest Only 3,000 month
Applied additional 2903.20 month to principal for 5 years
5th year loan balance 971,261.81
Equity (assuming no appreciation) 228,738.19

You can see from these scenarios this mortgage can be a great tool to reduce your monthly mortgage payment or to shave down the loan balance thereby increasing your equity. This mortgage interest program is termed negative amortization. Rather than paying off the interest over the time period, you are paying of a small portion of the interest but not the required amount. Interest rates can go as low as 1.25%. If you want savings refinance your mortgage.

27

05 2010