Archive for December, 2010

Mortgage Loan Basics: Interest Only Loans, Pay Option ARM

Monday, 12 December 2010

To understand loans and mortgages we need to understand loan limits first. If your loan amount exceeds the amount below, you will qualify for a Jumbo Loan, which carries higher interest rate.

One-Family (single family homes) 417,000
Two-Family(duplex) 533,850
Three-Family (triplex) 645,300
Four-Family(fourplex) 801,950

FIXED Loans:

30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates
This loan program is fixed for 30 years. Your interest rate will not change for 30 years. This is ideal for people who plan to stay at their present property for a long period of time.

20 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates
Fixed for 20 years. Your payment will be higher than 30 year fixed loan becuase your loan term is only for 20 years. Interest rate will not change for 20 years.

15 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates
15 year fixed loan has a loan term of 15 years and will not change during this period. Your monthly payment on this loan program will be much higher than 20 years fixed or 30 years fixed. Use this loan program if you plan to sell your home in 5-8 years. Interest rate will not change for 15 years.

ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage)

ARM Loans are fixed for a certain period of time, where after that period ARM loan becomes an adjustable loan. How do they work?

Each ARM Loan Program has these options:

1) Index: Most comon index-LIBOR

2) Margin: Is given to you by your lender, and it is the difference between the index rate and the interest charged to the borrower

For example 51 ARM. This loan is fixed for 5 years after which in 6th year it becomes an adjustable loan. Your loan officer will tell you what your index is and what your margin is. Usually 51 arm is tied to 1-year treasury index and margin is around 2.00%-3.00%

Your index + margin = Fully Index rate . Your new note rate (interest rate) after 5th year.

What about the 6th year? What would your payment be?

Let’s say that your loan officer told you that your margin is 2.5% with 1 year treasury index. You will have to look up 1 year treasury index for a specific month.

1 year treasury as of Oct.2005 is 4.18, and you know that your margin is 2.5%. Therefore you new interest rate is 1 year treasury 4.18% (index) + 2.5% (margin) = 6.68% for the begining of 6th year.

Index rate are move on monthly basis, therefore your payment may flunctuate each month. In most cases banks wills end you a statement advising you that your rate will change.

3) To protect consumers from high index rates, lenders implemented a CAPS.

An example of this is a 26 cap, which allows the interest rate on your ARM loan to go up or down by no more than two percent every adjustment period, and has a total limit of six percent for cumulative changes. Therefore a 26 cap on a 5% ARM will allow a maximum rate (6 + 5%) of no more than 11%.

In some cases you will see 226, which means 2% adjustment with 2 year prepayment penalty and total of six percent of cumulative changes.

4) With an arm you can have either a fixed rate or you can choose an Interest Only structure loan.

11 ARM Mortgage Rates
1 year ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) is fixed for 1 year and in 2nd year it becomes an adjustable.

31 ARM Mortgage Rates
3 year ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) is fixed for 3 years and in 4th year it becomes an adjustable.

51 ARM Mortgage Rates
5 year ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) is fixed for 5 years and in 6th year it becomes an adjustable.

71 ARM Mortgage Rates
7 year ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) is fixed for 7 years and in 8th year it becomes an adjustable.

101 ARM Mortgage Rates
10 year ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) is fixed for 10 years and in 11th year it becomes an adjustable.

Interest Only Loans

For example, if a 30-year fixed-rate loan of 100,000 at 8.5% is interest only, the payment is .08512 times 100,000, or 708.34. This is an example of interest only payment.

Each loan payment consists of Interest and Principal. Here you will be paying an interest each month and your principal will be adding to your balance, thus increasing it. You may also pay both principal and interest.

If a lender offers you an Interest only Loan these loans are tied to an index just like ARM loans.

MTA Index: The MTA index generally fluctuates slightly more than the COFI, although its movements track each other very closely.

. 1 Month MTA ARM Mortgage Rates
. 3 Month MTA ARM Mortgage Rates
. 6 Month MTA ARM Mortgage Rates
. 12 Month MTA ARM Mortgage Rates

COFI Index: This index rise (and fall) more slowly than rates in general, which is good for you if rates are rising but not good for you if rates are falling.

. 1 Month COFI ARM Mortgage Rates
. 3 Month COFI ARM Mortgage Rates

LIBOR Index: LIBOR is an international index, which follows the world economic condition. It allows international investors to match their cost of lending to their cost of funds. The LIBOR compares most closely to the CMT index and is more open to quick and wide fluctuations than the COFI.

. 6 Month LIBOR ARM Mortgage Rates
. 12 Month LIBOR ARM Mortgage Rates

Pay Option ARM Loan

Pay Option ARM in a new loan program allowing customers to choose from up to 4 different payments. This loan program is part of an ARM, but with added flexibility of making one of the 4 payments.

Your intial start rate varies from 1.000% to anywhere around 4.000%. The intial start rate is held only for one month, after that interest rate changes monthly.

4 major choises are:

1) Minimum payment: Fot the first 12 months interest rate is calculated using the start rate after that interest rate is calculated annually.

Example:

Loan Amount: 200,000.00
Initial Rate: 1.25%
Index: 3.326 (MTA as of October 2005)
Margin: 2.75%
Payment Cap: 7.5%
Fully Indexed Rate: 6.076% (ndex + margin )

Minimum Payment Changes:
Year 1 666.50 Minimum Payment
Year 2 716.49 = 666.50 + 7.50%
Year 3 770.22 = 716.49 + 7.50%
Year 4 827.99 = 770.22 + 7.50%
Year 5 890.09 = 827.99 + 7.50%

The Option ARM’s 7.5% payment cap limits how much the payment can increase or decrease each year, except for every fifth year (beginning in the 10th year on certain programs), when the cap does not apply. In the event your balance exceeds your original loan amount by 125% (110% in N.Y.), the payment amount may change more frequently without regard to the payment cap.

Becasue you are paying “minimum payment” this option will defer a payment of an interest which will be added to your balance.

Minimum Payment Adjustment Period: The minimum payment is usually set to 12 months, unless negative amortization limit is reached.

Minimum Payment Cap: This is a limit on how much the minimum payment can change. Your payment cap will be 7.5% for the first five years. On your next payment due, your minimum payment cannot increse or decrease more than 7.5%. If it does than a loan is recast.

Recast (Recasting) or re-calculating your loan is a way of limiting negative amortization (neg-am). Option ARM’s recast every 5 years. When the loan is recast, the payment required to fully amortize the loan over the remaining term becomes the new minimum payment

2) Interest Only Payment: With Interest Only you will avoid deffered interest, becausue you are paying principal and interest. If you pay only Interest or Principal your loan balance will increase because you are adding either pricipal payment or interest payment to your loan balance, thus leading towards Neg-Am Loan.

Your payment may change on monthly basis based on ARM index (LIBOR,COFI,MTA).

3) Fully Amortizing 30-Year Payment: It’s calculated each month based on the prior month’s interest rate, loan balance and remaining loan term. When you choose this option, you reduce your principal and pay off your loan on schedule.

4) Fully Amortizing 15-Year Payment: It is calculated from the first payment due date.

Negative Amortization Loan (Neg-Am Loan)

Negative amortization loans calculate two interest rates. The first is called the payment rate the second is the actual interest rate. The true interest rate is calculated as simply the index plus the margin without periodic caps. Borrowers are given a choice of which rate to pay. Thus advertisers of negative amortization loans often refer to these loans as “payment option” loans.

A loan that allows negative amortization means the borrower is allowed to make a monthly mortgage payment that is less than the interest actually owed during that month. For example, let’s say we have a 200,000 loan with an adjustable rate that’s currently sitting at five percent. Simple interest on this loan is easy to calculate. Multiply the interest rate by the loan amount and you have the annual interest of 10,000. Divide 10,000 by 12 months and the monthly “interest only” payment is 833.33 or simply here is the formula for your monthly payment for interest only loans: loan balance x interest rates 12 = monthly payment.

Now, let’s say that there’s a provision in the loan documents that allow the borrower to make a minimum payment based on a “payment rate” of four percent. So your lowest payment would be 666.67 because the “payment rate” is based upon four percent, not the actual interest rate, which is five percent.

So if you make make the lowest allowable payment you are actually losing 166.67 in equity. The balance of the loan increases to 200,166.67.

Exotic Mortgage

You may have heard this term before. So what are they?

The latest and most exotic mortgages out there include:

1. The 40-Year Mortgage: This is similar to a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, except the payment is being stretched over an extra 10 years. The lender will charge a slightly higher interest rate, as much as half a percentage point.

2. The Interest-Only Mortgage: With an interest-only mortgage, the lender allows the borrower to pay only the interest for the first so many years of a mortgage. After the grace period, the loan essentially becomes a new mortgage with the interest and principal being stretched only the remaining years. Please refer above for Interest Only Loans.

3. The Negative Amortization Mortgage: This interest-only type of mortgage allows a buyer to pay less than the full amount of interest. The difference between the full interest payment and the amount actually paid is added to the balance of the loan. Please refer above for more information.

4. The Piggy Back Mortgage: This is actually two mortgages, one on top of the other. The first mortgage covers 80% of the property’s value. The second covers the remaining balance at a slightly higher interest rate.

5. 103s and 107s: You may not need to save for a down payment at all. You could borrow 3% or 7% more than your home is even worth. These loans give you the option of borrowing money needed for closing costs and moving costs. You can include it all in the mortgage.

6. Home Equity Line of Credit: These aren’t just for those who own a home! They are commonly known as HELOCs, and they can finance an original home purchase using a credit line instead of a traditional mortgage. HELOCs are variable-rate mortgages tied to the prime rate. If you use this mortgage as your first mortgage, all of the interest is tax deductible.


Mortgage Leads, Jump Start Your Activity

Monday, 12 December 2010

As loan officers and mortgage brokers there are many avenues to go down in order to obtain mortgage leads for potential loan customers.

Activity is the key to obtaining leads in any sales industry. Sitting idle will get you no where except hungry and out of a job.

For instance, if you have a one oclock appointment with a customer, dont spend your day waiting around to leave for the appointment, build appointments in and around the vicinity of your one oclock appointment.

This can be accomplished in the following way. Cold calling.

The day before your appointment, spend a couple of hours making some calls to potential customers in the neighborhood of your appointment.

Let them know that you will be in the area and you would like to stop by to introduce yourself and drop off some brochures. Keep it short and sweet.

In the mortgage industry your activities consist of many things to obtain leads. Such as chambers, rotaries, customer referrals, family, friends, community involvement, etc.

That being said, it is always nice to have a back up plan for slow times such as summer months and the holiday season.

This is where mortgage lead companies come in.

But just dont go and invest with any old lead company, you want to make sure you get your moneys worth, so do your research.

Check out the mortgage lead companys web site and speak with someone in their customer service department. Find out how they obtain their leads and what the quality of their leads is.

If the mortgage lead company is not obtaining their leads from web sites they own and operate on their own, than most likely they are recycling old leads and will be selling you old junk.

Remember, if you are not happy with the information you gather on their web site or through their customer service department, chances are you wont be happy with the leads either.


Mortgage Interest Rates 101

Monday, 12 December 2010

Many things affect mortgage rates – which is why they fluctuate. So it pays to understand a little about how mortgage interest rates are generated. The more you know about the economic factors that change rates, the more prepared you are to find the perfect home loan at an interest rate that’s perfect for you as well.

Market Conditions
When the Federal Reserve Board raises or lowers rates, there is usually an impact on the rate you will get for your fixed rate home loan, although it’s not as direct as it may seem. The Federal Reserve adjusts federal funds rate, which is the rate at which banks lend to each other. When federal funds rate decrease, we spend more, which can actually increase inflation. Mortgage rates tend to be longer-term rates that are affected by concerns about inflation, as well as other economic indicators like job growth. So it’s more accurate to say that mortgage rates are indirectly affected by the Federal Reserve Board, and more directly affected by what happens every day in active public markets. The market sets the interest rate, and then a margin is added to the index to determine your final mortgage interest rate.

Timing
Since interest rates change daily, the longer a lender locks in a rate, the higher the risk that the market will move against them. Therefore, you pay more (in points) for a longer guarantee. If interest rates appear to be on an upswing, it makes sense to lock in your rate. If they are steadily dropping, it makes sense to float your interest rate so that you can take advantage of a shorter lock-in period, saving you money.

Points
You can often receive a lower mortgage interest rate by paying extra points – mortgage costs that are up-front rather than built into the interest rate. Each point equals one percentage point of the total amount of the loan. For example, one point on a $100,000 loan is the equivalent of paying $1,000 to ensure you get a lower interest rate that saves you money over the life of your loan.

Credit and Payment History
A less-than-perfect track record may make you seem like a high credit risk, which means you’d only be eligible for higher mortgage interest rate loans. If you find yourself in this position, don’t worry – we have loans that could still help you make your dream a reality.

Credit and Payment History
A less-than-perfect track record may make you seem like a high credit risk, which means you’d only be eligible for higher mortgage interest rate loans. If you find yourself in this position, don’t worry – we have loans that could still help you make your dream a reality. Learn more about Bad Credit Loans.

Debt-To-Income Ratio
Your monthly debt obligations are calculated against your current income. The higher the ratio, the higher the risk which could mean a higher interest rate.

Loan-to-Value
The loan-to-value is the amount you need to borrow versus the value of the home you want to buy. The more equity you have or the more money you give as a down payment decreases a lender’s risk, often resulting in a lower rate for you.

Property Type
Lender risk plays a big part in your rate. For instance, a loan for a single-family home is less risky than one for a multi-family home because there are fewer variables. The less risk, the better the rate.

Occupancy
If you plan on living in your new home, you will probably get a better rate versus a loan on a rental unit, which carries more risk for the lender.

Loan Amount
The amount of money you borrow could affect the interest rate you get.


Mortgage Interest Rate Analysis

Monday, 12 December 2010

In the very beginning of the month of August the mortgage interest rates remained quite stable. Except a few mortgage program interest rates most of then remained unchanged to what it was in the last week of July. Interest rates of mortgage programs like 10-Year Treasury and 30-Year Treasury were down by 0.06% and 0.04% respectively. And the interest rate of programs like USD LIBOR 6-month and USD LIBOR 1 Year were up by very nominal 0.015% and 0.022%. Other than these, the interest rates of 30 year fixed average, 15 year fixed average, 51 ARM average, 31 ARM average and some other programs remained unchanged.

On the third day of the month most of the mortgage interest rates fell down by units in decimal due to change in market conditions. But the interest of short-term mortgage loans like USD LIBOR 6-month and 1-year were raised up to 5.318% and 5.230%.

During the first 15 days of the month the mortgage interest rate fluctuated a lot. Though the average fluctuation rate was very low but it kept on fluctuating up and down. On most of the occasions the short-term loan interests got affected and kept changing everyday.

Analysts believe that the decline in the mortgage industry is due to the higher unemployment in the recent times. Some believe that the recent drastic drop in mortgage market is due to the tighter lending standards and cooling home prices. This fall in the mortgage interest rate has in fact started to affect the sub-prime lending too.

Due to the fall in mortgage interest rates the U.S. mortgage applications rose for the second straight week. Experts believe that the recent disturbance in the mortgage market is the reason behind the rising applications. The housing sector and the homebuilders market are down and so are the financial companies including mortgage companies. Last week, the fall in the mortgage market spread to the financial markets with a rapid speed and provoked the fear that tighter credit will have a bigger impact on consumers, markets and the economy.

It has been forecasted that the interest rates for the 80% of homeowners and buyers that qualify for A-paper mortgages will probably remain stable or slightly increase in the near future. Those who are with sub-prime credit or don’t have proper documents to prove income, may face difficulty in getting the loans or they might be charged with higher interest rates or huge down payment.