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fixed rate mortgages, FL Floridafixed rate mortgages - FL Florida: mortgages, loans of any type, refinancing, quick easy online quotes, home equity loans, See if you could save on your mortgage today. PAY THE MOST ON THE LEAST: You want to pay as much as you possibly can on the debt that you can pay off the fastest which is the one at the bottom of the list. Housing Expenses Your monthly housing costs include the mortgage principle, interest, taxes and insurance often abreviated PITI. Now lets look at the counter-argument: Supposing there were no agent in the picture, would the price be $15,000 less for the house? You and the seller could save that money and split it. Fixed Rate Mortgage The amount you repay the lender each month can be at a fixed interest rate for a certain period of time, regardless of the interest rate in the market place. It is common for lenders to offer rates fixed for a period of 2 to 5 years, but shorter and longer periods can be found in the market. At the end of the fixed rate (or ‘benefit’) period the rate will normally convert to the lenders Standard Variable Rate (SVR). Lower your monthly payment. FIXED CAPPED DISCOUNT VARIABLE What if the valuation is less than the asking price? You have a problem. The maximum you can borrow may not be the same as what the lender will advance you. This is because the lenders valuation of the property may be less than the asking price. Unless you can persuade the seller to reduce the price, you have to make up the shortfall. It is normal for lenders to charge up-front fees in the form of booking and/or arrangement fees. In addition lenders frequently apply an Early Redemption Charge (ERC) for fixed rate mortgages. This acts as a ‘lock-in’ making an often heavy charge for borrowers paying off their mortgage early. Watch out – the ERC can sometimes last longer than the fixed rate period e.g. a 3 year fixed rate with a 5 year ERC. Flexible / Lifestyle Mortgages A Flexible or ‘lifestyle’ mortgage is designed to let you to make extra repayments when you have extra money, and to reduce or even skip payments when necessary. Borrowers will normally have to build up a reserve through overpayments before being allowed to underpay or skip payments. The main benefit of flexible mortgages is that many schemes are offered on a Daily or Monthly Interest Calculation basis (sometimes referred to as ‘daily rest’ or ‘monthly rest’). Until the arrival of flexible mortgages most, if not all, UK lenders were charging interest on an annual basis which meant that borrowers making over-payments were not getting the benefit straight away because it could be a year before the capital was reduced by the over-payment. Whereas, on a mortgage where the interest is being calculated on a daily basis, any over-payment reduces the mortgage balance immediately hence the borrower will be charged less interest from the next day. Without going into detail to explain this feature the up-shot is that over-paying the mortgage on a monthly or regular basis, even by a relatively small amount, will reduce your mortgage term by years (hence saving payments). Interest Rates On Mortgages When you have chosen the right mortgage for you, whether it be a repayment or an interest only mortgage, you will need to consider the 4 main mortgage rate options available. Refinance mortgageA mortgage is basically a long-term loan that you arrange through a bank or other financial institution, or even through the seller of the property. The house and/or property serve as collateral for the loan. A home mortgage is most likely the largest debt you will assume. You typically pay off that debt in monthly payments over a long period of time, most often 15 to 30 years. How frequently does the ARM adjust, and when is the adjustment made? After the initial fixed period, most most ARMs adjust every year on the anniversary of the mortgage. Some ARMs adjust every three years, based on yields on three-year Treasury securities. The new rate is actually set about 45 days before the anniversary, based on the index at that time. How high could your monthly payment go if interest rates rise? Example: On a $100,000 adjustable-rate mortgage, there is maximum annual increase of two percentage points and a lifetime cap of six percentage points. Note: This is a worst-case scenario in that the interest rate rises to the maximum 2 percent each year. Still, you need to ask if you can afford the highest possible payment in such a worst-case situation. Year of ARM Rate Monthly Payment First year 5.75% $583.57 Second year 7.75% $713.46 Third year 9.75% $850.95 Fourth year (6% lifetime cap) 11.75% $993.04 (up $409.47 more than first year) How do I put in an offer? Opening offer determines final selling price, so work out where you want to finish before you start. If the house is selling for £90,000 and you can afford to pay £85,000, offer £80,000. If the bid is knocked back, add £1,000 more at a time until you reach an agreed price. If however, you think the house is a steal or undervalued, or in a housing hot spot when several people could be after the property - act fast. Say then and there that you want it, on condition that the seller takes the house off the market - this makes gazumping - when another buyer comes in with a higher offer - less likely. Say youll buy it on condition that a survey is done. But dont let emotion get in the way. If you cant strike a deal at a price you want - walk away. But before you finish buying the house, there are other typical closing costs. You need to have enough cash to cover these basic costs plus your down payment. Lenders estimate 3 percent to 6 percent of the loan amount in closing costs. On a $100,000 mortgage that would be $3,000 to $6,000. Additional costs There are many fees and charges associated with home buying that arent apparent and push the cost of borrowing even higher. Some of these fees are: solicitors fees, bank application fees, property valuation fees, stamp duty, building and pest inspections, and mortgage protection insurance if you borrow more than 80 per cent of the value. The costs continue once youve moved in with payments for removalists, cleaners, building and contents insurance, connections for gas, electricity and telephone and ongoing maintenance fees such as council and water rates. Capped Rate Mortgage A capped rate mortgage is very similar to a fixed except that if the variable rate drops below the capped rate, the borrower will make payments based on the lower variable rate. However should rates increase the payments will be ‘capped’ and will not rise over the capped rate. So as a rough ‘rule of thumb’ a capped rate is better to have than a fixed if all other factors are equal. Again, as with fixed rates, up-front charges and ‘lock-ins’ are common. With No Redemption mortgages you will not have to pay this redemption fee (although there may still be other costs such as sealing fees and legal fees.) As a consequence of not being ‘locked-in’, the rate offered on these schemes will usually not be as competitive as for mortgages with redemption penalties, making them most suitable for those who are likely to keep track of current rates and wish to remortgage quickly if they find a better rate, or those who may have to repay their loan in the first few years. Mortgage financing services, tools and resources that are available online help you to determine and compare options for financing your property. Submitting a mortgage financing application is made easy on the Internet. |