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November 15, 2010

Option Arm Mortgage Loans: How do they work?

Typically, option arm mortgage loans give the consumer four payment options each month – a 30year fixed payment, a 15 year fixed payment, an interest only payment and a deferred interest or minimum payment.mortgage

The 30 year, 15 year and interest only payments are based on the fully indexed rate. The fully indexed rate is calculated by adding the margin to the index. The index would most likely be the Libor, MTA, COSI, COFI, or CODI.

Heres an example:

Lets say you have a margin of 3.15 and an index of 3.32. This would give you a fully indexed rate of 6.47% (3.15 + 3.32 = 6.47). This is the rate that is used to compute the 30 year, 15 year, and interest only payments.

Depending on the lender and loan program you select, the deferred interest or minimum payment could either stay fixed between 1% and 2% for 5 years or the PAYMENT could start at around 1% and go up or down a maximum of 7.5% annually for 5 years.

The minimum 1% to 2% payment is an interest only payment and is based on a 30 or 40 year amortization.

The reason an option arm loan is called a deferred interest or negative amortization loan is because the difference between the minimum 1% payment and the interest only payment is added to the loan amount each month if the consumer chooses to make the minimum payment. So the loan balance increases over time instead of decreasing.

Once the loan hits the 5 year mark or if the deferred interest reaches 110% or 115% of the original loan amount, the loan will recast. Which means it will convert to an interest only or principal and interest loan at the fully indexed rate.

The fully indexed rate is calculated monthly and therefore could change from month to month.

Here are a few benefits of the option arm mortgage loan:

* The minimum payment is 100% interest; therefore, 100% of the payment is tax deductible

* The deferred interest is mortgage interest so it may be tax deductible

* If the client makes bi-weekly payments, the amount of deferred interest will decrease by approximately 30% or be completely eliminated.

* The minimum payment increases the clients cash flow

* This loan gives the client several payment options

* It also allows clients to use their mortgage as a financial tool to build wealth.

In closing, here are four important points to keep in mind when selecting an option arm loan program:

1) Get a 30 year amortization (not 40 years). The 30 year amortization will keep the 1% payment option available longer.

2) Choose an index which is less volatile. Like the MTA instead of the Libor.

3) Select an option arm program that has a 115% recast instead of a 110% recast to increase the chances of the payment options being available for the full 5 years.

4) Select an option arm with a low lifetime interest rate cap

For more information on this and other mortgage related topics, please visit:

http:Mortgage-Training.Mortgage-Leads-Generator.com

Please feel free to reprint this article as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.

May 31, 2010

Five Ways To Benefit From Free Mortgage Loan Calculators

An astonishing 80 per cent of home buyers now conduct at least part of their home search on the Internet. In response to this influx of surfing home buyers, there is now a large number of freemortgage mortgage loan calculators available online. All of these calculators share basic core functions and some of them include additional features. But they all can provide valuable insight as you navigate the home mortgage process. Let’s take a look at some of the different types of free mortgage loan calculators available online, and see how we can put them to best use.

Monthly Payments

All free mortgage loan calculators are able to calculate monthly mortgage payments. All you have to do is enter your total mortgage amount and the length of the mortgage, along with the interest rate and the starting date of the mortgage. The calculator will take this information and show you the amount of your monthly mortgage payments.

Some free mortgage loan calculators include an additional feature that will let you calculate the beneficial impact of making extra payments on your mortgage. By entering additional monthly or annual amounts, or adding a one-time payment, you can predict how much earlier your loan pay-off date could occur.

Amortization

Free mortgage loan calculators can also help you figure out your amortization schedule. Whether or not your amortization schedule is based on prepayments, free mortgage loan calculators will help you compute the amount of a monthly payment.

Free mortgage loan calculators determine this by basing their calculations on your data: the principal amount borrowed, loan term, and the annual interest rate. Once the free mortgage loan calculator computes your monthly payment based on this data, you can then create the amortization schedule report.

Bi-Weekly Mortgage

Free mortgage loan calculators can also help you with your bi-weekly mortgage calculations. Making bi-weekly mortgage payments is a relatively painless way to pay additional amounts on your mortgage, saving you interest and shortening the mortgage term. Several free mortgage loan calculators can calculate what your bi-weekly payments will be and show you the amount of interest you will save.

To calculate your bi-weekly payments, total interest, and average interest each bi-weekly period, you will need to input into the free mortgage loan calculator the principal loan balance, the annual interest rate and the amortization. This should be enough for the tool to compute your savings on interest and monthly payments.

Scenarios

Here’s where the free mortgage loan calculators start to get interesting. They help you answer the “what if” questions. You can compare different scenarios to see which course of action leads to the most desirable outcome. For example, you can figure out how the size of your down payment can affect your monthly mortgage payments.

Missing Variable

Free mortgage loan calculators can also help you determine missing variables of a loan. For instance, you can find out how much money you would have to earn in order to afford one.

There are many very good free mortgage loan calculators available online, each equipped with different functions. Just enter “free mortgage loan calculator” in your favorite search engine, and you’ll be rewarded with millions of choices. Explore, compare, and find one you’re comfortable using. It will become your tireless advisor, providing the answers you need for a good home mortgage decision.