Sunday, February 1, 2009

How To Choose Your First Home's Mortgage Loan

By Alexandria P. Anderson

If there is one important thing that first time homebuyers must remember, it is that they choose the right mortgage package. However, the selection process can be tricky at times even when you are coordinating with a mortgage loan officer.

How does this happen? Loan officers will qualify you for a loan based on your income ratio and not necessarily how much you're prepaid to pay in housing payments each month. If you borrow the entire loan amount that you "qualify" for, it's likely that your monthly payment will be pushing your monthly budget to the max.

Being specific about the amount to be borrowed can spare you the possibility of having trouble with the payment terms offered by the loan officer. This can also help you adjust your housing expenditures based on your income. These are several ways to help you choose the best mortgage for your new home:

1. Consider the tax benefits. Some mortgages are 'interest only' loans which means you can deduct the entire payment on your taxes for that year. However, loans that are designed with a negative amortization scale won't allow you to deduct interest from your monthly payment.

2. Evaluate the long-term advantages. Whether you're planning to live in your home for 30 years and more or not, it is still advisable to know the pros and cons of your mortgage package. A fixed interest rate loan is somewhat higher in amount but unlike ARM and other loan products, it can safeguard you from changing market conditions. But a fixed interest loan also has its limitations. Smart Consumer's Guide to Home Buying's author, Barron, proposes that the fixed interest rate may increase your payments because of the demands of the escrow account linked with it.

3. Know the payment options. With a flexible payment option, you can maximize your funds and avoid yourself of possible debts in the future. There are mortgage loans wherein you can make extra payments towards your principal loan without a penalty. This is good because as soon as you have some extra funds in your hands, you can begin to easily pay your mortgage.

4. Discover some other techniques to pay affordably. Keeping your loan payments manageable means making necessary adjustments on the loan amount such as when the lender offers you a huge loan. An example of this is keeping your payments only within your budget level through a low interest rate, longer payment terms for the loan, and a good plan to make interest only payments.

5. Avail yourself of mortgage insurance. Nowadays, majority of people do not have enough resources to pay for down payment. However your down payment can no longer be a problem since it can be provided by mortgage insurance and in some instances, you can even apply for your desired loan without making any kind of down payment. - 15224

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