You open your mortgage documents and you see this big amount of money owed under “PITI”. But you have no clue as to what is the right PITI definition. Don’t worry; we got you!
PITI is not someone with an accent trying to say “pitty”. The correct PITI definition is of an acronym to the primary elements of many monthly mortgage payments:
- P for Principal
- I for Interest
- T for Taxes
- I for Insurance
So, Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance - or PITI – are actually the main components of what you will pay back to the lender monthly once you get a mortgage. However, not all mortgages include taxes and insurance in the payments. That doesn’t mean they will charge you a “PI”; they’ll probably just single out principal and interest.
But saying that PITI is just an aggregation to make the understanding of borrower’s expenses is not the most thorough PITI definition. The PITI assembling is as important for the lender itself, so it can determine the affordability of an individual mortgage and approve it or decline it. The lender calculates one’s PITI to determine the borrower’s risk, just like the borrower does to determine if his pockets are big enough to purchase that home.
Check our Real Estate Questions page; maybe someone else had the same doubts you have and we answered it already!
Popular Real Estate Terms
Map showing the kinds of soil in a designated locality. ...
Contiguous shore area bordering a river that is subject to periodic water level increases. In the flood stage, the flood plain can be under water. ...
Welcome to the world of magical yet perplexing real estate! Undeniably, there's a lot to learn, but we're here to explain miscellaneous terminology so that you can make educated decisions. ...
Enumeration of the consideration given by each party to a contract which in some cases must be in written form to be enforceable. For example, the statute of frauds requires that all ...
Work required as a court judgment because of a crime committed. ...
An arm’s-length transaction is a business deal, or transaction where the seller and buyer act independently of each other without influence on the other party. What sets these types ...
Founded in 1934 and located in Garden, CA with 1993 membership of 9,000, the IRWA is a professional association of appraisers, property managers, title examiners, and others having interest ...
A building having one house hold on the first floor and a second household on the second floor. ...
Founded in 1947 and located in Washington, DC, the NAREB has 7,500 members with 15 regional groups and 6 state groups. It offers certification programs for members of the real estate ...

Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.