A mortgage is basically a long-term
loan that you arrange through a financial institution or
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.
What's In a Payment?
A monthly mortgage payment typically includes the following, known as PITI:
PMI gives the lender protection if the
homeowner should default on the loan. The mortgage company charges insurance if
the down payment is less than 20 percent of the sale price or appraised value. PMI usually can be eliminated once the principal balance of the mortgage reaches
80 percent of the sale price or appraised value, which is known as the
loan-to-value (LTV) ratio.
The process of paying the principal
takes years because mortgages are based on a repayment plan called amortization. During the years of the mortgage, a homeowner pays a lot of money toward
interest in order to have manageable monthly payments on the huge house debt.
During the first few years, most of the mortgage payments will be applied toward
the interest. During the final years of the loan, the payments will be applied
primarily to the remaining principal.
Example
Let's look at a $100,000 mortgage, at a fixed interest rate of 7.5 percent, for
30 years. In three decades, the homeowner would pay $151,717 in interest.
Of course, you cannot put a price on the
pleasure of living in your own home and building equity, an unencumbered
interest in your property. Equity grows as you pay off the principal of the
mortgage and as the property appreciates in value. Also, there are tax
incentives, since mortgage interest is a deduction on your federal income tax.
For
an estimate of buying, refinancing or home equity potential, please fill out our
simple loan application.
