A mortgage loan, or a home loan, can come in many different forms. A 30-year fixed rate, a 15-year fixed rate, an adjustable rate mortgage, a jumbo loan. And what about prepayment or foreclosure? The articles, blog posts, videos and radio shows on this page will answer all your mortgage loan questions and help you find the right mortgage loan for you.
Don’t Sign Anything You Don’t Understand
A daughter is worried she signed onto her mother's mortgage loan when she refinanced several years ago. Not being sure what she signed, it's possible she became a co-borrower on the mortgage loan. Not knowing if she has a mortgage loan on her credit report is a good example of why you should never sign anything without understanding what it is.
Mortgage Lender Scams
Predatory lenders target elderly, low-income homeowners and those with credit problems. The Federal Trade Commission has warned consumers of five kinds of home equity scams from predatory lenders: equity stripping, loan flipping, credit insurance, bait and switch and deceptive loan servicing.
Keep The Bank From Foreclosing On Your Home
In rough economic times, don't ignore your mortgage payments. If you're juggling the bills to get them paid, make sure you pay your mortgage first. And pay it on time. Once you start paying late, you begin to wreck your credit history and could rack up late fees and penalties, which will make it tougher to get back on top of your payments.
Rolling Home Equity Into Mortgage Loan
Well Fargo is launching a new loan program with the hope that it will be the last loan you ever need. The new loan combines a mortgage and home equity line of credit, as well as other features into a single account that can be used to manage cash flow, gain potential tax advantages, plan for major expenses, and invest for the future. As your home increases in value, and you pay down the loan balance, you could tap into the available equity at any time.
Making Your Money Work Harder For You
A homeowner wonders if it might be beneficial to refinance their mortgage loan without the home equity loan -- and transfer the home equity loan balance to a credit card so it can be paid off quicker. But it may be possible to keep the original home equity loan and just refinance the mortgage, thus not risking a high credit card balance and interest rate.
Refinance Or Ask Mortgage Lender For Interest Rate Change
When you apply for a mortgage loan you may decide to lock in the interest rate early on. As your closing date approaches the going interest rate for mortgages of your type may change. What can you do if the interest rate available at the time of your closing is lower than the rate that you locked in? You can either close on that loan and start the refinance process right away or you can ask your mortgage lender to lower the rate on the loan you're about to get.
Are Interest-Only Mortgages For you?
With interest-only mortgages, every monthly mortgage payment is 100 percent interest. On the other hand, paying interest only means you never build up any equity in your home, unless your home appreciates in value. Interest-only loans typically carry a variable rate of interest, for at least part of the time.
Making The Most Of Your Mortgage Money
The economy is starting to pick up, which could be bad news for home buyers and those looking to refinance. An upswing could mean growing interest rates, which makes less money available for home buyers to borrow. The first step for a home buyer to make the most of their mortgage dollars is to shop around.
When Should You Refinance
As the Federal Funds Rate is lowered, long-term interest rates might come down significantly. With these lower rates, you might be thinking now is the time to refinance. Who should refinance? If you have a high-interestrate loan, you ahve good credit, you have equity, or you need cash, now might be a good time to refinance. You can also talk to your mortgage lender about streamlining your loan.
Interest Rate Changes Affect Consumers
Whenever the Federal Reserve raises or lowers interest rates, those changes affect the loans that consumers have that are tied to those rates. Interest rate changes affect mortgage loan rates, credit card interest rates and the rates that government bonds pay. Learn how the Federal Reserve may lower interest rates to try to boost the economy.