Mortgage & Refinancing Information

Home Mortgages: Think Before You Borrow


In today's overheated housing market, lenders are making it easier and easier to get a mortgage. For example, some lenders have lowered the credit score needed to qualify for a mortgage. Others have increased the debt load that borrowers can carry or have made it easier for borrowers to get loans while providing little documentation. In some cases, lenders have even made it easier for people to borrow money to buy investment properties.

There are also many kinds of mortgages available today that were never available before. There are interest only mortgages, adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) for 3,5 or 10 years and adjustable rate mortgages with balloon payments at the end of a five or ten year period.

There are even adjustable rate mortgages that have introductory rates as low as 1% and that give borrowers multiple payment options.

Lenders also used to loan only 80 percent of a home's value, meaning that the borrower had to come up with 20 percent as a down payment. So, if you wanted to buy a home valued at $150,000, you had to put down at least $30,000. This might have been difficult, but at least you started out with $30,000 in equity in your home.

This standard was then lowered to ten percent, meaning you needed only $15,000 to buy that $150,000 home.

Today, it's possible to find mortgage brokers who will lend 100 percent of the value of a house or even more than 100 percent.

This can be good news for families who, until now, might not have been able to afford a $10,000 or $20,000 down payment. But you need to be careful of. Some unscrupulous lenders may try to sell you a mortgage you can't really afford. Let's say your monthly take home pay (after taxes and other deductions) is $4,000. You find a house for $150,000 and a mortgage broker willing to lend 100% or the full $150,000. A 30-year fixed FHA loan (not including taxes and insurance) will have a monthly payment of about $851.00. The total monthly payment PITI (with taxes and insurance) would most likely be close to $1,000.

A good rule of thumb is that your cost of housing should not exceed 20 percent of your net monthly take home pay (after taxes and other deductions). This means that for a $1,000 monthly mortgage payment, your net monthly income should be at least $5,000. If your income were only $4,000 a month, you would be spending about 25% of your income on housing alone.

Before you make this kind of commitment, you should take a long, hard look at your other commitments, such as car payments, tuition, and insurance to make sure you can cover them as well as your normal living expenses.

Easy, no-down mortgages can be very tempting, but it's important that you understand the exact terms and that you can meet them without stressing your finances.

For FREE help with debt and credit, subscribe today to Douglas Hanna's free email newsletter "8 Simple Steps to Debt Relief" at http://www.all-in-one-info.com

  


MORE RESOURCES:

Washington Times

The Truth About Mortgage Refinancing Revealed By Connecticut ...
SBWire (press release), WI - 16 hours ago
Westport, Connecticut based Mortgage Broker Don Caiati reveals mortgage refinancing secrets at a new web site that is full of free reports, a home buying ...
Refinancing suddenly booms Honolulu Advertiser
Lenders Backlogged By Refinancing Rush Washington Post
Low Mortgage Rates Bring Refinancing Boom MSNBC
Forbes - Washington Times
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Reuters

Average Mortgage Rate Hits 5%, Lowest in Decades
New York Times, United States - 8 hours ago
Of course, buying a home is a more lengthy process than simply calling up a mortgage broker to refinance, and activity typically slows during the holiday ...
US Banks Offer Mortgages Below 5% After Fed Action Bloomberg
Rates lowest since '71; time to refinance? Modesto Bee
Long-Term Mortgage Rate Falls Again Wall Street Journal
Forbes - Boston Globe
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Cardoza proposal could aid housing crisis
Stockton Record, CA - 2 hours ago
Under the Cardoza plan, the payment on that mortgage refinanced to 4 percent fixed rate would drop to $1194 a month. Contact reporter Bruce Spence at (209) ...


REFILE-UPDATE 1-US mortgage demand dipped before Fed move-MBA
Reuters - Jan 7, 2009
The jump in applications during December may have been driven by homeowners already "on the fence" and prepared to refinance on a drop in mortgage rates, ...
Mortgage applications down in latest survey Forbes
Week-to-week mortgage applications down 8.2% MarketWatch
Fewer apply for home loans; credit line delinquencies increase Los Angeles Times
KVOA.com - Kansas City Star
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Boston Globe

Fed’s Rosengren Calls for ‘Concerted’ Fiscal, Monetary Policies
Bloomberg - 4 hours ago
... to purchase or refinance homes,” Rosengren said. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped for a 10th week to 5.01 percent yesterday, ...
Rosengren sees path to recovery Boston Globe
Fed's Rosengren says recession more severe than thought Reuters
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Boston Globe

Congressional Press Release on Mortgage Deal
Wall Street Journal - 9 hours ago
"Despite efforts by Congress to address this issue, not enough lenders have come to the table to help borrowers with bad mortgages refinance into new, ...
Citigroup reaches agreement with key senators on mortgage ... Minneapolis Star Tribune
Citigroup agrees to allow judges to help modify some mortgages IdahoStatesman.com
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TopNews

Question & Answer on mortgage refinancing
Boston Herald, United States - Jan 1, 2009
If I refinance the mortgage on my current house, will I hurt my chances for getting a loan for a new place later on? A: No. Refinancing a loan shouldn’t ...
MORTGAGES: 30-year Mortgage Rate Falls For Ninth Straight Week To ... CNNMoney.com
Mortgage Rates Hit 37-Year Low Poynter.org
30 Year Fixed Rates Drop to 5.10 percent Best Syndication
Wall Street Journal - Ventura County Star
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Refinancing shoots through the roof
Plano Star Courier, TX - 14 hours ago
“Quite a few people have remortgaged,” said Craig Jarrell, loan officer with Pulaski Mortgage. “Most people who refinance are new homeowners as recent as ...


Mortgage refinancing skyrockets
Cincinnati.com, OH - Jan 3, 2009
... 2009 With US mortgage rates the lowest in 30 years, local lenders say they've seen a strong surge in loan applications as homeowners seek to refinance ...
Waco banks seeing a boom in mortgage refinance applications Waco Tribune Herald
Borrowers seeking to refinance may face challenges WTOP
As mortgage rates slide, refinancing applications take off Dallas Morning News
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Congressman sees support for home refinancing bill
Central Valley Business Times, CA - Jan 8, 2009
“So many folks have found themselves underwater in their mortgage … they can’t refinance,” says Mr. Cardoza. Often those who have lost their investments in ...
Cardoza submits plan to refinance mortgages Merced Sun-Star
Congressman Cardoza Introduces Housing Legislation ABC30.com
Cardoza sponsors bill to reduce mortgage payments, stabilize ... Central Valley Business Times
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mortgage refinance - Google News

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