No-Cost Mortgage
Definition of "No-Cost Mortgage"
A mortgage on which all settlement costs except per diem interest and escrows are paid by the lender and/or the home seller. A no-cost mortgage should be distinguished from a 'no-points mortgage,' which will have other settlement costs, and a 'no-cash-outlays mortgage,' on which settlement costs are added to the loan balance. Calling the latter 'no-cost' is extremely deceptive. A true no-cost mortgage is one where the interest rate is high enough to command a rebate from the lender that covers the closing costs (except for per diem interest and escrows, which borrowers always pay). In general, they make sense only for borrowers who expect to hold their mortgages for no more than five years. A borrower with a longer time horizon and who has the cash to pay settlement costs ought to avoid the no-cost option. Lenders demand a high interest rate for rebates because they assume they won't enjoy it very long. The average life of high-interest-rate loans is short. A borrower who pays the high rate for a long time gets a bad deal. It is akin to a healthy person buying life insurance from a company that mainly insures diabetics and smokers and prices its insurance accordingly. The critical number for potential borrowers is the 'break-even period' (BEP) for a no-cost loan, relative to the same loan with a lower rate on which the borrower pays the costs. Over periods shorter than the BEP, the no-cost loan has lower costs. Beyond the BEP, the no-cost loan has higher costs. One important side benefit of no-cost mortgages is that shopping for them is relatively easy. The shopper needs quotes on only one price dimension the interest rate.
Popular Mortgage Terms
Interest from the day of closing to the first day of the following month. To simplify the task of loan administration, the accounting for all home loans begins as if the loan was closed ...
The initial interest rate on an ARM, when it is below the fully indexed rate. ...
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 ...
The maximum allowable decrease in the interest rate on an ARM each time rate is adjusted. It is usually one or two percentage points. ...
A payment made by the borrower over and above the scheduled mortgage payment. If the additional payment pays off the entire balance it is a prepayment in full; otherwise, it is a partial ...
A letter from a lender verifying that the price and other terms of a loan have been locked. Borrowers who lock through a mortgage broker should always demand to see the lock commitment ...
The interest rate used in calculating the initial mortgage payment in qualifying a borrower. The rate used in qualifying borrowers may or may not be the initial rate on the mortgage. On ...
Administering loans between the time of disbursement and the time the loan is fully paid off. Servicing includes collecting payments from the borrower, maintaining payment records, ...
A mortgage on which the interest rate is adjustable based on an interest rate index, and the monthly payment adjusts based on a wage and salary index. Dual index mortgages are not written ...
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