Mortgage Price
The interest rate or rates and upfront fees paid to the lender and mortgage broker. Some upfront charges are expressed as a percent of the loan, and some are expressed in dollars. The price includes the total of each type. On a fixed-rate mortgage (FRM), one interest rate is preset for the life of the loan. On an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), the rate is preset for an initial period, ranging from one month to 10 years, and then can change. For ARM shoppers who are uncertain about how long they will be in their house, the price includes ARM features that affect the ARM rate after the initial rate period ends. These include the margin, maximum rate, rate adjustment period, and rate adjustment caps. The margin is the amount that is added to the index used by the ARM in determining the rate after the initial rate period ends. In a stable interest rate environment, the ARM rate will become the index plus margin, called the 'fully indexed rate.' Both the index and the margin are specified in the ARM contract. The maximum rate is the highest rate permitted by the ARM contract. It tells shoppers how high the ARM rate can go in a rising rate environment. The rate adjustment period and rate adjustment caps indicate how often the rate is changed and the maximum amount of any change. Hence, they indicate whether any rate increases at the end of the initial rate period will be abrupt or gradual.
Popular Mortgage Terms
After reaching a certain annual income, you might be interested in finding the definition of a jumbo mortgage. What is a jumbo loan? It is something like a mortgage with ...
Points paid by a lender for a loan with a rate above the rate on a zero point loan. For example, a lender might quote the following prices: 8%/0 points, 7.5%/3 points, 8.75%/-2.5 points. ...
Using a brokers time and expertise to become informed and creditworthy, then jumping to the Internet to get the loan. ...
Insurance provided the lender against loss on a mortgage in the event of borrower default. In the U.S., all FHA and VA mortgages are insured by the federal government. On other mortgages, ...
The definition of affordability in real estate is simply a buyer’s capacity to afford a house. Affordability is usually expressed in terms of the maximum amount a buyer will be able ...
The largest loan size permitted on a particular loan program. For programs where the loan is targeted for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the maximum will be the largest loan ...
The assumption that the index value to which the interest rate on an ARM is tied follows the same pattern as in some prior historical period. In meeting their disclosure obligations in ...
The monthly index is a ratio of monthly interest costs to total funds, expressed as a percentage. Annualized interest, the numerator, is calculated by multiplying the deposit balances at ...
A documentation option where the applicant's income is disclosed and verified but not used in qualifying the borrower. The conventional maximum ratios of expense to income are not ...

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