Minimum Down Payment

The longest period for which the lender will lock the rate and points on any program. On most programs, the longest lock period is 90 days; some go to 120 days and a few to 180 days. It ...

The process of determining whether a prospective borrower has the ability to repay a loan. Qualification Versus Approval: To be approved for a loan, a prospective borrower must ...

The rate charged the borrower each period for the loan of money, by custom quoted on an annual basis. A mortgage interest rate is a rate on a loan secured by a specific property. ...

A transaction in which interest is not paid on interest there is no compounding. For example, if you deposit $1,000 in an account that pays 5% a year simple interest, you would receive ...

An option exercised by the borrower, at the time of the loan application or later, to 'lock in' the rates and points prevailing in the market at that time. When lenders 'lock/' they ...

The ratio of total housing expense to borrower income. This ratio is used (along with other factors) in qualifying borrowers. ...

A government-owned or -affiliated lender that makes home loans directly to consumers. With minor exceptions, government in the U.S. has never loaned directly to consumers, but housing banks ...

The sum of all interest payments to date or over the life of the loan. This is not a good measure of the cost of credit to the borrower because it does not include upfront cash payments and ...

Trying to find the best deal on a mortgage. It isn't easy to do right, as a summary of the major steps involved will demonstrate. Step 1: Decide if you are a potential shopper. Step 2: ...