Mortgage Basic
Buying a home is probably one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life time, and securing a loan to finance this purchase is another major step that would expose you to financial jargons that may make this entire process both tedious and stressful.
Mortgage Basics intends to give you the foundation you need to make an informed decision with regards to buying a home and securing a mortgage that is best suited to your unique financial condition.
- Chapter 1 Mortgage Basics
In this chapter, you will be able to assess your own financial condition and determine whether it is wise to own or to simply rent a home. It will put you in the know, and enable you to compute how much you can afford. The information you get will allow you to even pre-qualify yourself without the need of going to a lender for it.
- Chapter 2 How Mortgage Works
Chapter II gives you a birds eye view on how the mortgage system works. Mortgage programs are as intricate and as varied as the number of homes that is for sale out there. The chapter enumerates and defines the most common mortgage programs such as a fixed rate mortgage, an accelerated rate mortgage.
There’s a lot to learn in this chapter, since there are all kinds of ways to finance your home. We’ll tell you about fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages, as well as subprime mortgages for those who have credit problems. We also explain the less-well-known kinds—jumbo, balloon and others. Finally, we discuss the different types of lends and tell you which ones are the best choices in different financial situations.
- Chapter 3 What Determines Your Mortgage Payment
The mortgage payment is determined by your rate, the amount of the loan and the period of payment. When you change any of these factors, your monthly payment changes and correspondingly the lenders criteria will also vary in tandem with you debt to income ratios and your credit scores.
In this chapter you will learn what affects your credit scores and how to improve it. We will introduce you to the major lenders such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how they set the rates. Likewise you will learn how the index and points that the Lender use affect the rates and your monthly mortgage payments.
- Chapter 4 Paper Works and Fees
The only way to get your loan approved is to comply with the paper works and to pay the fees of the Lenders and line companies. There is no other way around it.
In this chapter you will learn what documents will the Lender require from you and why. This will get you a head start and get your loan approved quickly. It is not only you who have the obligations to submit documents to the Lender, the Lender by law also needs to submit documents to you that will enable you to decide to go through with the loan or not.
The chapter also enumerates the 10 most important questions you should ask your lender to ensure that you get the best possible deal in this transaction.
- Chapter 5 Underwriting
This chapter gives you a pre-view of what it means when your loan undergoes underwriting. Once you have submitted your application and the basic income documentation, your loan undergoes underwriting. In this Chapter you’ll learn about having the house appraised and inspected and getting a title search and title insurance.
Loan application is simply the first step and there will always be a possibility that you application will be stamped “denied.” The chapter shows you 3 steps to take in case this happens to you.
- Chapter 6 Closing
The Closing is the Home Stretch and here you will learn to understand the closing and the escrow process and what to expect.
- Chapter 7 Ownership After Closing
Once your loan is closed this open your door to the management of your finances to ensure ownership.
This chapter points out how important it is to closely monitor your loan and be abreast of any payment changes. It will show you how you can remove the mortgage insurance when you refinance and give tips as to when is a good time to make advance payments towards the principal.
