Saturday, January 3, 2009

Home Mortgage Loan Guide

By John Bear

If you are considering buying a home, then you may be a little confused by all of the terms you hear about home loans. After all, lenders just throw around words like fixed rate, balloon mortgages and adjustable rate mortgages without a thought. What follows are the three most common types of home loans. Study it, and determine which one would be right for you.

First is the fixed rate loan and with this, you will have a fixed interest rate and that will not change for the life of the loan. So if you plan to buy a home and stay in it until you pay it off, then this would be the loan for you. Just take note that if interest rates go higher, yours will just stay the same. But just hope that they will not go down as you will be paying a higher interest rate.

The second type of loan is the adjustable rate mortgage or ARM wherein its interest rate goes along with the market. So when the interest rate goes low, your home mortgage rate goes low as well and if high, then your rate goes high too. Since the rate on a home mortgage loan affects your payments, you will not have any idea how much you will be paying for your monthly mortgage.

To make good use of an ARM loan, individuals usually plan to sell a house quickly that they purchased for investment purposes so they may take advantage of the low interest rates especially if it looks as they may go lower.

Another reason to use an ARM as a home loan is if you are buying a home in a time when interest rates are on the decline. You can take out an ARM, and then have it changed to a fixed loan once the interest rates bottom out.

The third type is the Balloon Home Loan. With this type, you will make monthly payments for a fixed amount of time, with a fixed interest rate. The difference is that at the end of the payment schedule, you will likely owe the unpaid balance in one lump sum. So if you use a balloon mortgage, you will find that the interest rates are much lower than either a fixed rate mortgage or an ARM.

Just one big problem for this type of loan is the large payment due at the end. On the other hand, if you plan to hold the house for just a short period of time, the balloon home loan might just suit you well.

It is essential to know and understand the different types of home loans so as to be more prepared when the time comes for you to decide which home mortgage loan would be more beneficial to you and your family. - 16759