Insights and Updates

A mortgage is an agreement between a lender and a borrower (buyer), that allows the buyer to take ownership of the home, while making monthly payments to the lender.

The Down Payment is the initial amount of money used for the purchase of a new home. The traditional thinking has been that lenders always require 20% of the sales price for a down payment, but that is not the case.

When you are buying a home you generally pay all of the costs associated with that transaction. However, depending on the purchase agreement or what you negotiate, the seller may end up paying for some of these costs.

A mortgage is always made up of three different elements: the loan type, the loan term and the interest rate type. Let’s take them one by one.

Mortgage insurance lowers the risk to the lender of making a loan to you, so you can qualify for a loan that you might not otherwise be able to get.

The home price you can afford depends on four key factors: How much you can pay monthly, up front in a down payment, the kind of loan you get, and the interest rate and terms of your loan.

A credit score predicts how likely you are to pay back a loan on time. Companies use a mathematical formula – called a scoring model – to create your credit score from the information in your credit report.