Definition of "PITI"

Nezam Juman  real estate agent

Written by

Nezam Juman elite badge icon

Gulf River Realty LLC

You open your mortgage documents and you see this big amount of money owed under “PITI”. But you have no clue as to what is the right PITI definition. Don’t worry; we got you!

PITI is not someone with an accent trying to say “pitty”. The correct PITI definition is of an acronym to the primary elements of many monthly mortgage payments:

  • P for Principal
  • I for Interest
  • T for Taxes
  • I for Insurance

So, Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance  - or PITI – are actually the main components of what you will pay back to the lender monthly once you get a mortgage.  However, not all mortgages include taxes and insurance in the payments. That doesn’t mean they will charge you a “PI”; they’ll probably just single out principal and interest.

But saying that PITI is just an aggregation to make the understanding of borrower’s expenses is not the most thorough PITI definition. The PITI assembling is as important for the lender itself, so it can determine the affordability of an individual mortgage and approve it or decline it. The lender calculates one’s PITI to determine the borrower’s risk, just like the borrower does to determine if his pockets are big enough to purchase that home.

Real Estate Advice:

Check our Real Estate Questions page; maybe someone else had the same doubts you have and we answered it already!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Group of rental occupants acting together. ...

Doing business as, or DBA, means an official moniker for your enterprise or company. Regularly, a DBA is a state certificate serving as a registration name and issued under a ...

Financial standing of a debtor as a basis to pay obligations. ...

An insurance company or underwriter. An insurance policy is a legal instrument assuming the risk of loss for stated perils to real property in exchange for insurance premiums paid. ...

Combined action of two or more people either for or against something. In real estate, used to indicate a common property ownership interest. Joint is also used to indicate a shared ...

Pit or cavity built into the basement of a building to avoid or minimize flooding. It allows for the drainage of excess water and moisture. ...

tenancy having no written lease or contract. A periodic tenancy can be on a month-to-month or week-t-week basis. ...

Valuing real property based on the expected cost to buy property of identical value. The replacement cost to build a structure should be based on current prices. The appraisal should ...

Economic policies designed to reduce the fluctuation in the business cycle. An example is Federal reserve monetary policies. An attempt by an underwriter to prevent a market price of a ...

Popular Real Estate Questions