Debt Consolidation
Rolling short-term debt into a home mortgage loan, either at the time of home purchase or later. The Case for Consolidation: Borrowers consolidate in order to reduce their finance costs. Usually, the interest rate on the mortgage is below that on short-term debt, and mortgage interest is also tax-deductible. Borrowers also like the convenience of making fewer payments. The Case Against Consolidation: When borrowers consolidate, they convert unsecured debt into secured debt. That is the major reason the mortgage interest rate is usually lower. Borrowers who encounter financial distress and fail to pay their unsecured debts lose their good credit but they don't lose their home. By increasing the size of the claim against their home, they increase the risk of losing it. If consolidation causes the mortgage amount to exceed the property value, borrowers may also lose their mobility. Sale of the property requires that all mortgages be repaid, which means that the seller must come up with enough cash to cover the deficiency. Borrowers in this situation may also have to pass on opportunities for profitable refinance, since it is very difficult to refinance when debt exceeds value. Consolidation that reduces the borrowers total monthly payments while eliminating their short-term debt may encourage them to build up that debt all over again. This could result in so much debt they never get out from under.
Popular Mortgage Terms
Same as term Bridge Loan: A short-term loan, usually from a bank, that 'bridges' the period between the closing of a home purchase and the closing of a home sale. To qualify for a bridge ...
A borrower who does not meet the underwriting requirements of mainstream lenders. Sub-prime borrowers pay more than prime borrowers and are sometimes taken advantage of. ...
In connection with a home, the value of the home less the balance of outstanding mortgage loans on the home. ...
Mortgages typically amortize over time through fixed value installment payments. However, there's a type of mortgage that doesn't: the Balloon Mortgage. It's called this way because, with ...
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. ...
Fees collected by a loan officer from a borrower that are lower than the target fees specified by the lender or mortgage broker who employs the loan officer. An underage is the opposite ...
A charge imposed by the lender if the borrower pays off the loan early. The charge is usually expressed as a percent of the loan balance at the time of prepayment or a specified number of ...
A condominium project with features that lenders view as favorable in terms of their risk exposure on loans secured by individual condo units. The requirements of warrantability include ...
Every ARM is tied to an interest rate index. An index has three relevant features:availibility, level, volatility. All the common ARM indexes are readily available from a published source, ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.