Thursday, February 12, 2009

How to Select a Great Mortgage

By Alex Velez

When you look at all of the choices that banks and lending companies offer you for your new mortgage you might be a bit confused. How do you know which one is the best one? Well, picking a mortgage loan is more complicated than a lot of people think and it is going to take a lot of research, a lot of calculations and a lot of time on your part to get the best deal.

The first thing you need to do when picking your mortgage is to have your budget ready. When you are looking at this budget, make sure to include new house expenses, including property taxes, insurances and a little nest egg for repairs that might come up. You never know when you are going to have to put a new roof on your house. When you have your budget hammered out, you are going to be able to see exactly how much you can afford.

Now, take a look at how much your dream house costs and compare that to how much you can afford. If your dream house is a lot more expensive than your budgeted mortgage payments, you need to find a new house. Taking out a mortgage for more than you can afford, even if you take out a less than traditional mortgage is very risky and should be avoided. Remember, you are going to have to pay off this mortgage, so you need to be able to afford it. You may think that your income is going to grow in time to help you pay off your mortgage, but you shouldn't count on it and risk your house. By being more pessimistic about the future rather than optimistic, you are going to be sure that you always have enough money for your mortgage.

The first step is to decide how much to borrow and the second step is going to be to estimate how long you are going to live in your new home. If you are buying a bachelor pad, but plan to have kids in the near future, you are going to want to get a mortgage that is going to give you the best deal now. An adjustable rate mortgage might be a good choice because it is going to give you an introductory rate of interest for the first couple of years before reverting to a fixed interest rate. If you are sure that you are going to need to upgrade your house (or move) in the near future, you are going to want to get this type of house.

Now it is time to talk to some banks. Only once you have figured out how much you want to borrow and what type of home you want will you be able to go to some banks and ask them to give you a recommendation for the best mortgage for you. A bank should be able to tell you exactly how much the fees, monthly payments and interest rates are going to be on each mortgage that they recommend. The first thing that you are going to see is that the interest that you pay every month is a good chunk of your total payment. To reduce the amount of interest that you pay, consider making double payments if you can and try to pay off your mortgage early. Making extra payments in the long run will help you out for years in the future.

Picking the right mortgage loan is difficult, and it is going to take research. But, this research is going to pay off for the next fifteen or thirty years while you are saving money because you made the right choice.

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