Conforming Mortgage
A loan eligible for purchase by the two major federal agencies that buy mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Conforming mortgages cannot exceed a legal maximum amount, which was $322,700 in 2003; it is raised every year. They must also meet the agencies' underwriting requirements regarding credit, documentation, property features, and other factors. A mortgage in excess of the conforming maximum, which is identical in other respects, will have an interest rate about 3/8% higher. Borrowers who need an amount larger than the maximum will often do better taking a conforming loan for the maximum and a second mortgage for the excess.
Popular Mortgage Terms
The period until the last payment is due. The maturity is usually but not always the same as the period used to calculate the mortgage payment. ...
A multi-lender Web site that offered borrowers the capacity to shop among multiple competing lenders. ...
The maximum allowable increase in the interest rate on an ARM each time the rate is adjusted. It is usually one or two percentage points. ...
A documentation requirement where the applicant's income is not disclosed. ...
A facility offered by some lenders to mortgage brokers where de jure the brokers become employees of the lender but de facto they retain their independence as brokers. One of the ...
Charging unwary borrowers interest rates and/or fees that are excessive relative to what the same borrowers could have found had they shopped the market. ...
The interest rate used in calculating the initial mortgage payment in qualifying a borrower. The rate used in qualifying borrowers may or may not be the initial rate on the mortgage. On ...
A mortgage on which the borrower gives up a share in future price appreciation in exchange for a lower interest rate and/or interest deferral. SAM's in the private market had a brief ...
A lender commitment to make a mortgage loan to a specified borrower, prior to the identification of the property that will be mortgaged. On a pre-approval, unlike a pre-qualification, the ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.