Definition of "PITI"

Nezam Juman  real estate agent

Written by

Nezam Juman elite badge icon

Gulf River Realty LLC

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.

Real Estate Advice:

Check our Real Estate Questions page; maybe someone else had the same doubts you have and we answered it already!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Opinion of a judge having no direct legal or binding effect on the outcome of a pending judicial decision. An obiter dictum is considered to be an incidental judicial remark about some ...

Assures that the title is free of any legal claims including encumbrances. It includes covenants of seizin, freedom from encumbrance, express warranties of title, right to quiet enjoyment, ...

State court where civil disagreements are decided by the judge or jury. A written record is kept of the deliberations. In some stats, civil and criminal courts are combined. ...

Item falling under Section 57 of the Internal Revenue Code that may result in the imposition of the alternative minimum tax (AMT). These items of otherwise exempt income or deductions or of ...

Costs taken over an above what one is entitled to. This can occur either by claiming depreciation costs exceeding actual depreciable value or by depreciating items that cannot be ...

The term ad valorem comes from Latin, and its literal translation is “according to value”, which makes the ad valorem tax definition easy to understand. Defining ad valorem tax ...

Valuation method for land or improvements to property. It takes into account gross rentals less operating expenses. ...

Rights allowing an insurer to act against a negligent third party to receive reimbursement for payments made to an insured. ...

A lessening in the inflation rate. This may occur during a recession when insufficient demand prevents sellers from passing on higher prices to prospective buyers of houses. See also ...

Popular Real Estate Questions