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
A particular combination of loan, borrower, property, and transaction characteristics that lenders use in setting prices and underwriting requirements. ...
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. ...
A contract provision that adjusts the payment on an ARM periodically to make it fully amortizing. ...
A multi-lender Web site that offered borrowers the capacity to shop among multiple competing lenders. ...
If you’re a student in medical school, a resident or a medically qualified doctor, you must know the definition of Physicians Mortgage Loan, also known as Doctor Loans. Why? Because, ...
The array of laws and regulations dictating the information that must be disclosed to mortgage borrowers, and the method and timing of disclosure. ...
The monthly mortgage payment which, if maintained unchanged through the remaining life of the loan at the then-existing interest rate, will pay off the loan at term. ...
A derogatory term for lender fees that are expressed in dollars rather than as a percent of the loan amount. ...
On an ARM, the assumption that the value of the index to which the interest rate is tied does not change from its initial level. ...

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