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
The party advancing money to a borrower at the closing table in exchange for a note evidencing the borrowers debt and obligation to repay. Retail, Wholesale, and Correspondent Lenders: ...
Charging unwary borrowers interest rates and/or fees that are excessive relative to what the same borrowers could have found had they shopped the market. ...
All the combinations of interest rate and points that are offered on a particular loan program. On an ARM, rates and points may also vary with the margin and interest rate maximum. ...
A contribution to a borrower's down payment or settlement costs made by a home seller, as an alternative to a price reduction. ...
The amount of the original loan remaining to be paid. It is equal to the loan amount less the sum of all prior payments of principal. ...
The amount of interest, expressed in dollars, computed by multiplying the loan balance at the end of the preceding period times the annual interest rate divided by the interest accrual ...
An ARM on which the lender has the right to change the interest rate at any time, for any reason, by any amount, subject only to a requirement that the borrower be notified in advance. The ...
The option to convert an ARM to an FRM at some point during its life. ...
The monthly index is a ratio of monthly interest costs to total funds, expressed as a percentage. Annualized interest, the numerator, is calculated by multiplying the deposit balances at ...

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