Archive for June, 2009

How Mortgages Work

Friday, June 26th, 2009

A Mortgage loan can be quite confusing for anyone looking at trying to buy a house.With all the information about getting a mortgage loan out there this article will try to make it easier to understand.Before you can even qualify for a mortgage or even a loan you have a different factor you have to look at. It is known as your debt to income ratio.

The banks first look at your income to debt ratio before you can even qualify for a mortgage loan.When approving a mortgage customers have to have a debt to income ratio of 28/36 at most.What the first number means is that 28 percent of your gross income per month can go towards housing.For the second number, being the 36, means that only 36 percent of your gross monthly income can go towards your total monthly debt.Your total monthly debt consists of any kind of long term loan like a student loan, car loan and credit cards.Generally speaking most mortgage loan lenders use the lesser of the two numbers.If your debt to income ratio is higher than 28/36 they may require a different type of loan or more of a down payment.

After looking at your debt to income ratio the next important thing they do for getting a mortgage loan is a background check on your credit report.Your credit report is the most important factor of getting a mortgage loan, unless you have a huge portion of the money up front.In general mortgage loan companies want to see on time payments on your report.They usually look at the last two years of activity of your credit report.If you have any payments that were not paid on time they will especially keep that in mind.

While looking at stability of your particular situation lenders want to see your last two years of employment.It will be very beneficial to you if you have been at a job for more than two years.However, if you have not been they look to see if you have been at least in the same field of work.Finally if you have any other income that you have earned over the last two years like part time work, bonuses, or self employment they will take that into account as well.

When you go get a mortgage loan you want to bring several papers with you.The most important papers are your W2 forms and a recent paycheck stub to show you still are working.The lenders also want to have proof of any kind of money you have in stocks, bonds and any other accounts you have.By bringing all these items and being fully prepared of what to expect it will help you have a better chance of succeeding in getting a mortgage loan.

What is Mortgage Refinancing?

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Mortgage refinancing is the set off of a previous mortgage by securing a new mortgage of the same property, generally for a lower interest rate. As both mortgages are secured over the same asset the proceeds from the new loan are directly used to repay the previous unpaid mortgage amount. The new mortgage can only be used for repayment and no other purpose, except if any of the loan amount is present after the previous loan is repaid it can be used for any other purpose.

Refinance can be used for a number of uses, such as Home improvement, lower interest rate, increase repayment period, reduce monthly payment and change in rate e.g. from fixed to adjustable etc. For uses such as home improvement a loan is secured for an amount more than the outstanding amount so the excess after repayment can be spent on home renovations.

For reducing monthly payments a new mortgage can be taken for a longer period, which would substantially reduce monthly payments but would lead to an increase in rate of interest. There has to be an optimization of both time period and rate of interest to suit your needs. If it is predicted that the variable rate of interest on mortgages shall rise it is better to refinance applying for a fixed rate of interest. If it is foreseen that in the future the rate of interest will reduce the customer can refinance so as to apply for a variable rate of interest.

There may be a case where you might like to reduce the time period for repayment, if you can afford to pay higher monthly payments. A good time to refinance is when the rate of interest on mortgages has dropped. The thumb rule in such a situation is to go in for a refinance when the difference in interest rate is more than 2%. There is no limit to the number of times you go in for mortgage refinancing.

It is generally advised when the value of property is running low you should refrain from refinancing. If you have been repaying your existing mortgage for a long time period there is no reason for refinancing where the new mortgage has a long time period as well as this would increase overall payment made. If only a few years are left for repayment of mortgage, it is advisable not to go in for refinancing.

There is no fixed rule as to when to refinance and when you should not, it is according to the wishes and the need of each individual customer. Each customer according to his needs, his advantage or in the face of contingencies has the prevailing option to refinance.

The Ins and Outs of Mortgage Refinancing

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

There are a myriad of ways to go through refinancing your mortgage. Typically, American homeowners would purchase a house by putting 20 percent of purchase price down, and paid off the remaining debt with a fixed rate loan. While this is often still the case, more people these days are choosing loans that have a smaller down payment with conditions that are changeable. In fact, the National Association of Realtors states that about 42 percent of home buyers do not even put money down, as of late. Although this may seem exciting because it can put an otherwise priced out of reach home on your list of options, it is still best to proceed with care if you are procuring a no down payment loan for mortgage refinancing. Often, particular loans feature smaller payments, but only for a limited time. Nevertheless, this could end up costing you more over time than conventional loans would. This is because in nearly all of these sorts of loans, the variable conditions allow payment fees to drastically increase before long.

ARMS loans, or option adjustable rate mortgages have four potential monthly options, from a full amortized amount (which represents traditional fixed rate loans) to lower minimum payments, and the vast popularity of these sorts of mortgages have even shocked the experts. “Traditional banker that I am, I didn’t think there would be much interest in this product, but consumers have loved it,” Anthony Hsieh, President of LendingTree.com was quoted saying to CNN. However, Hsieh is careful to point out that options ARMS are only in the best interest of certain buyers: “If you have seasonal income or are self employed with monthly income that is inconsistent, this loan may be great for you. You can pay the minimum a few times per year and catch up in months when your income is higher.” If this is hard for you to accomplish, however, you could end up in financial debt while attempting to buy a home, or during mortgage refinancing. Regardless, options such as negative amortization and interest only loans are gaining ground, too.

Non amortized loans are unlike conventional loans in that you only need to pay interest every month, rather than principal and interest. Also, if you decide upon a negative amortization loan you do no even need to pay the full amount of interest at the end. Mortgage refinancing with these sorts of loans are a great option for people with a temporary decrease in income. For instance, if you have been laid off, or if you are returning to school. Whatever the case, if you know your income will return to its previous level, this could be a great option.

Loans such as interest only sorts can be perfect for investors. If you only wish to keep a property for a short time, you will end up paying quite a bit less than with traditional loans. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that you should not hold onto this property too long, because equity can be lost with every month. In addition, interest only loans are changeable and will have to be paid back on a sped up schedule once they change. If the burden of this financial change is too great, you might end up having to sell the property whether or not you had planned to. It is a good thing, then. that you have the option of getting a piggyback loan to take care of these costs.

When a loan is worth 80 or more percent of the value of the home, piggyback loans can help offset additional fees charged for PMI incurred (which is private mortgage insurance). Under the conditions that a buyer can pay 5 to 10 percent or more of the loan for down payment, a piggyback loan can usually be secured to cover the remainder. A piggyback loan is basically a second mortgage which is seen as an equity line of credit. Since this is tax deductible, it is often cheaper than PMI. Regardless, a piggyback loan is another payment added to what you are already shelling out for your primary mortgage. Weighing the pros and cons, as well as assessing your financial assets to be sure you can go through with mortgage refinancing is best before making any big decisions. Here is a chart, which discusses the benefits and pitfalls of each option.

Mortgage loans 101

Monday, June 1st, 2009

A loan which you secure on your immovable property is known as mortgage loans. Such a loan is secure from a financial institution such as a bank against the property either by a buy or a builder as well. Each loan has various features such as size of loan, payback period and method, maturity period etc, these features vary in each individual case according to the customer and the bank.

Historically a landowner when in dire need of money would use his land as a security to secure a loan which he would mostly use to develop his land or for any other purpose etc. Mortgage loan are accepted worldwide and land is used as a primary security for a loan as it is one of the most widely traded properties. When a borrowed is unable or does not return a loan the financial institution mostly the bank gets a right of lien over the property of the borrower which it can subsequently dispose to recover the loan amount. As it is virtually impossible to have enough money or to come up with enough money to purchase a house in cash completely, mortgage loans are a primary method of having private ownership of a residential property.

There are many essentials to a mortgage, such as the property i.e. the land to be mortgaged, a mortgage the legal instrument which creates a charge on the property and results in the limited ownership of the owner to the land, and also other essentials such borrower, lender etc. The two basic types of mortgages which are present are the fixed and the floating rate mortgage though the world over many banks have engineered many different forms of a mortgage which are impossible to enlist. There are various combination of both systems also present where a mortgage would have a fixed rate of interest for a specific time period and then have a variable rate of interest for the rest of the time.

Though the floating rate mortgage loans are preferred in many countries and are known as the standard system but it has not always been beneficial for the people or the economy as has been the case for the United States in the sub prime crisis. A borrower should be careful of predatory loans which use manipulation and aggressive sales tactics to make borrowers take high cost and high rate loans. The primary indicator of a predatory loan is where the lender lends the loan amount disregarding whether the borrower will be able to pay the lender back or not. Thus mortgagors with dubious information and lack of transparency should be avoided.