What Is A Subprime Mortgage?
To understand what is a subprime mortgage, we need to talk about the subprime definition. Subprime means something that is not in the best conditions and, in this scenario, it refers to a subprime borrower; that is someone who has a complicated financial history and provides too much risk for the lender. These borrowers might have filed for bankruptcy in the last 5 years, defaulted two or more times in the recent past, might have a large pending debt and/or a low credit score – or even no established credit history at all. A subprime mortgage is the type of mortgage offered to that profile of borrower.
But so what; is this subprime mortgage just like regular mortgages? Is the subprime mortgage definition made just to separate bad borrowers from good borrowers?
No, to compensate potential losses from those customers who may run into trouble and default, subprime mortgages have a higher interest rate. Those loans are also usually easy on the way in but become burdensome on the way out – they take advantage of the fact that the person has no other option. Most subprime borrowers that manage to fix their situation try a second mortgage later on to try and soften the weight of the later payments.
Subprime mortgages played a big part in the financial crisis of 2008 when hedge funds noticed they could make a lot of money off the buying and selling of those mortgages. They would buy the mortgage from the Lender and manage it with the borrower and everything went well for them until housing prices started to decay lower than the mortgage itself. That took the refinancing possibility off the table – and you couldn’t sell the home either because there was no one buying – which lead to (too) many owners of these mortgage-backed securities trying to collect their insurance against the mortgage defaults, which, in turn, made it financially overwhelming to powerhouse insurance companies that almost went bankrupt, and so was set the scenario for the period that became known as “The Great Recession”.
Popular Mortgage Questions
Popular Mortgage Glossary Terms
A borrower with the best credit rating, deserving of the lowest prices that lenders offer. ...
A mortgage on which all settlement costs except per diem interest and escrows are paid by the lender and/or the home seller. A no-cost mortgage should be distinguished from a ...
A contract provision that adjusts the payment on an ARM periodically to make it fully amortizing. ...
The lowest interest rate possible under an ARM contract. Floors are less common than ceilings. ...
Fees collected by a loan officer from a borrower that are lower than the target fees specified by the lender or mortgage broker who employs the loan officer. An underage is the opposite ...
A computer-driven process for informing the loan applicant very quickly, sometimes within a few minutes, whether the application will be approved, denied, or forwarded to an underwriter. ...
Markets in which mortgages or mortgage-backed securities are bought and sold. 'Whole Loan' Markets Versus Securities Markets: Secondary mortgage markets are of two general types. 'Whole ...
The standards imposed by lenders in determining whether a borrower can be approved for a loan. These standards are more comprehensive than qualification requirements in that they include ...
Same as term housing expense. The sum of the monthly mortgage payment, hazard insurance, property taxes, and homeowner association fees. Housing expense is sometimes referred to as PITI, ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.