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 derogatory term for lender fees that are expressed in dollars rather than as a percent of the loan amount. ...
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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 comprehensive and time-adjusted measure of loan cost to the borrower. IC on a Mortgage: IC is what economists call an 'internal rate or return.' It takes account of all payments made by ...
A lender commitment to make a mortgage loan to a specified borrower, prior to the identification of the property that will be mortgaged. On a pre-approval, unlike a pre-qualification, the ...
A lender who specializes in lending to sub-prime borrowers. ...
Adjustable rate mortgages on which the interest rate is mechanically determined based on the value of an interest rate index. Indexed ARMs are distinguished from Discretionary ARMs, in that ...
The provision of the U.S. tax code that allows homeowners to deduct mortgage interest payments from income before computing taxes. Points and origination fees are also deductible, but not ...
The definition of credit risk is at the core of lending. Banks lend money to businesses and individuals and expect to recover the principal and win interest. Banks offer a variety of loans, ...

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