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
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A mortgage on which interest is calculated daily based on the balance on the day of payment, rather than monthly, as on the standard mortgage. ...
A mortgage on which half the monthly payment is paid every two weeks. This results in 26 payments per year, which is the equivalent of 13 monthly payments rather than 12. Because of the ...
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 ...
A borrower, usually refinancing rather than purchasing a home, who allows a lock to expire when interest rates go down in order to lock again at the lower rate. ...
A borrower who submits applications through two loan providers, usually mortgage brokers, without their knowledge. Home purchasers sometimes submit more than one loan application as a way ...
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 mortgage lender that sells all the loans it originates in the secondary market. ...
The standards imposed by lenders in determining whether a borrower can be approved for a loan. These standards are more comprehensive than qualification requirements in that they include ...

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