One of the first reasons is that we do not live the lives of our grandfathers; homeowners today are both physically mobile and socially mobile. We changed jobs frequently, and therefore need to move, and we also strive for bigger and better things, including homes, as we progress.
Financial innovators were not happy to merely introduce their complicated products in the stock market and commodity market; they also had to do it in the housing market.
If you would like a short outline of the types of mortgages you may expect to be offered, take an aspirin and read on.
Today's home loans are very different from yesterday's.
A conventional loan is a home loan that has no government guarantees at all.
A Government loan is the one that has a guarantee from a government or semi government agency.
Conforming loan: Two major quasi-governmental entities (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) guarantee certain loans that meet with their specific criteria. These types of conforming mortgages are also called "A" paper mortgages.
B and C loans have no such guarantees from companies such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and therefore do not "conform". B and C loans are usually used for borrowers who have bankruptcy, foreclosure or poor credit issues. They are used as temporary measures until regular financing can be secured. If you like to live in
Jumbo loan: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fix maximum values on the loans that they will guarantee; jumbo loans are over those values. These loans will usually have a higher rate of interest than conforming loans, since the market is much smaller.
Fixed rate loans: This loan is similar to your grandfather's home loan. The one really good thing everyone likes about this type of home loan is that the payment stays the same every month. Most of these loans have a maturity of about 25 years, but they exist from 15 to 40 year maturities. If you have a mortgage with a shorter maturity, you will normally have a loan with a lower rate and the reason for this is that banks can't set low rates too far in advance.
Balloon loan: A short maturity loan with payments based on a longer maturity, but with the full principal due at maturity. The interest rate on balloon mortgages is usually the lowest available and the reason is easy to understand: the bank has a short term exposure to interest rate fluctuations.
An Adjustable Rate loan doesn't act like you will have a low rate for a long time, since you agree that the interest will change every six months or year, or whatever you have agreed upon.
Even among this assortment of loans, there are further variations, so banks and consumers are practically tailor making each loan today. But because these loans are so complicatd, a potential borrower should talk to a mortgage professional to completely understand the commitment he is making.
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