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
The upfront and/or periodic charges that the borrower pays for mortgage insurance. There are different mortgage insurance plans with differing combinations of monthly, annual, and upfront ...
A Web site of an individual lender offering loans to consumers. Most Internet shoppers want a list of lenders in whom they can have confidence, who will provide them with the information ...
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 ...
Fees assessed by lenders when payments are late. Late fees are usually 4% or 5% of the payment. A borrower with a 6% mortgage for 30 years who pays a 5% late charge every month raises his ...
The payment of principal and interest made by the borrower. ...
A mortgage lender that sells all the loans it originates in the secondary market. ...
Also called variable or flexible rate mortgage, an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) is a mortgage where the interest rate is not constant, but changes over time by the mortgage lender. ...
In connection with a home, the value of the home less the balance of outstanding mortgage loans on the home. ...
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 ...

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