No-Cost Mortgage
Definition of "No-Cost Mortgage"
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 'no-points mortgage,' which will have other settlement costs, and a 'no-cash-outlays mortgage,' on which settlement costs are added to the loan balance. Calling the latter 'no-cost' is extremely deceptive. A true no-cost mortgage is one where the interest rate is high enough to command a rebate from the lender that covers the closing costs (except for per diem interest and escrows, which borrowers always pay). In general, they make sense only for borrowers who expect to hold their mortgages for no more than five years. A borrower with a longer time horizon and who has the cash to pay settlement costs ought to avoid the no-cost option. Lenders demand a high interest rate for rebates because they assume they won't enjoy it very long. The average life of high-interest-rate loans is short. A borrower who pays the high rate for a long time gets a bad deal. It is akin to a healthy person buying life insurance from a company that mainly insures diabetics and smokers and prices its insurance accordingly. The critical number for potential borrowers is the 'break-even period' (BEP) for a no-cost loan, relative to the same loan with a lower rate on which the borrower pays the costs. Over periods shorter than the BEP, the no-cost loan has lower costs. Beyond the BEP, the no-cost loan has higher costs. One important side benefit of no-cost mortgages is that shopping for them is relatively easy. The shopper needs quotes on only one price dimension the interest rate.
Popular Mortgage Terms
A very large increase in the payment on an ARM that may surprise the borrower. The term is also used to refer to a large difference between the rent being paid by a first-time home buyer ...
Same as term Interest Rate: 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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
A comprehensive and time-adjusted measure of loan cost to the borrower. IC on a Mortgage: IC is what economists call an 'internal rate or return.' It takes account of all payments made by ...
A term that small lenders sometimes use to distinguish themselves from mortgage brokers. ...
Requirements stipulated by the lender that the ratio of housing expense to borrower income and the ratio of housing expense plus other debt service to borrower income cannot exceed ...
Refinancing for an amount in excess of the balance on the old loan plus settlement costs. When the main objective of a refinancing is to raise cash, the relevant question is whether the ...
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. ...
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