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

The prime rate, a benchmark interest rate banks use, plays a significant role in the real estate market. Essentially, it’s the interest rate that commercial banks charge their most ...

An offering of securities, stock and/or debt, directly to investors rather then through the public exchange markets. An advantage of a private placement to a real estate business is that ...

(1) Judgment against a defendant who does not respond to the plaintiffs lawsuit or fails to appear in court at the hearing or trial date. (2) Judgment issued by the court against the ...

Formal statement by an auditor, after through examination and consideration, as to whether a real estate company's financial statements fairly present financial position and operating ...

The appraisal approach is used to estimate the value of an asset, based on various factors to reach the closest educated guess of the asset. While an appraisal approach does consider the ...

Judicially determined minimum selling price for auctioned property. For example, a judge rules that a foreclosed home may be sold for less than $200,000, ...

person designating an agent to act for him. Primary individual having full financial liability. Amount being risked in a real estate investment. Owner of a real estate business. ...

A reciprocal transfer of property from one entity to another. A market for securities of a real estate companies, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ...

Legal proceeding whereby a person's property is attached and used to pay an obligation. The employer may withhold part of the employee's salary to the court until the debt has been paid. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions