Today’s Mortgage Rates

Originally posted 2011-08-23 11:14:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Loan Type	Rate	APR
30 Year Fixed	4.12%	4.33%
15 Year Fixed	3.38%	3.64%
5 Year ARM	2.88%	3.14%

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What Does Mortgage APR Indicate?

Originally posted 2009-12-02 05:00:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

This post is written by Steven Parker.  Steven Parker is a financial writer and contributor for the last five years.  He specializes in mortgage and real estate industry and has written many articles on mortgage, reverse mortgage, loan modification, foreclosure and many more.

Mortgage APR or Annual Percentage Rate helps you to assess the total cost of the loan in percentage. For instance, if your mortgage attracts a rate of 10%, it means that you will be required to shell out USD$10 for every USD$100 you borrow yearly. Borrowers usually try to get a mortgage loan that has the lowest APR.

Mortgage APR however doesn’t affect your monthly mortgage payments. This is because your monthly mortgage payments take into account the interest rate and not the mortgage APR.

What does mortgage APR include?

The APR includes the following in its calculations-

• Pre-paid interests
• Points
• Underwriting fees
• Loan processing fees etc.
• Fees for preparing documents
• Private mortgage insurance

In addition to the above, under certain circumstances, the following fees may be included too. They are –

• Credit life insurance
• Loan application fee

Fees excluded from APR calculation

The mortgage APR doesn’t take into account the following types of fees in its calculation-

• Appraisal fees
• Notary fees
• Attorney fees
• Transfer taxes
• Fees from Escrow and Title
• Credit Reporting fees
• Recording fees
• Home Inspection fees etc

In other words, the mortgage APR helps you to find out the amount you have to pay as closing cost. It is mandatory as per Federal Truth in Lending Laws that the lender has to disclose the mortgage APR to the borrower.

It is important that you compare the rates from lender to another. You can also compare the Annual Percentage Rate online. It helps you to shop around for the correct deal. It is also important to remember that getting a low mortgage APR doesn’t necessarily mean that you are getting a good deal. Read the fine print before signing the agreement when you opt for a mortgage.

Second Mortgage, What is It?

Second Mortgage What Is It Exactly

Everyone has heard a friend or relative complain about
having to take out a second mortgage but don’t really know
what that means. Let’s find out!

The real term for this is called a home equity loan. This
is a common loan type that homeowners can use for whatever
they want.

A home equity loan requires that you use your house for
collateral just like a normal home loan. There are
different types of home equity loan out there and you can
always use the money for whatever you want.

College, bills, and home repairs are some common uses. You
will need outstanding credit to be approved for this kind
of loan though.

A closed end type home equity loan gives you a big chunk of
money immediately and you can’t get another loan until this
one is fully paid.

The amount you can get depends on factors such as how much
your home is worth, your income, credit score, and similar
things. A closed end loan usually comes as a fixed rate
type and allows you up to 15 years to pay it off.

An open ended home equity loan is a little different. This
loan will let you borrow money whenever you have a need for
it.

The loan lender will set up a line of credit that is pretty
much based on all the same factors as the closed end loan.
These usually have an adjustable rate and you can make
payment for 10, 15, or even 30 years.

So why are these called second mortgages Because you are
adding yet another loan payment that uses your house as
collateral and adding another monthly payment. Though
tempting, it can cause you a lot of problems in the future.

 

Related articles

• A Guide To Mortgage Equity Loan Options (massrealestatenews.com)
• Home Equity Loan Alternative: Peer Lending (bargaineering.com)

Latest Mortgage News

The latest news in mortgages from around the blogsphere:

Mortgage Rate At 38-Year Low
Wall Street Journal
By JOAN E. SOLSMAN Mortgage rates generally fell again this week, with the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages reaching the lowest level in at …

Weekly Mortgage Rates Reach Record Lows: Freddie : HousingWire …
By AUSTIN KILGORE
Freddie put the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) at 4.19% with an average 0.6 point, up from last week’s average 4.18%. The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 4.25% with an average 0.6 point, …

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