Principal Limit

USDA loans are a form of government-backed financing for both first-time home buyers and move up buyers looking for a second or third property. These loans have little to do with ...

A mortgage loan for 125% of property value. Since such loans are only partly secured, they have many of the characteristics of unsecured loans, including relatively high interest rates. ...

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 ...

A credit report contains detailed information regarding the relationship history of an individual with several financial institutions. How do I get a Credit Report?You ask a credit bureau. ...

Total costs charged to the borrower that must be paid at closing, by the borrower, the home seller, or the lender. In dealing directly with a lender, settlement costs can be divided into ...

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. ...

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 ...

To define a home equity line of credit, we can also take a look at how credit cards work. Similarly to credit cards, home equity lines of credit are sources of funds that can be accessed ...

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 ...