30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage - A mortgage in which the interest rate remains the same for the life of the loan. Payments are amortized for 30 years. In other words, payment is calculated in such a way that the borrower makes equal monthly payments and pays off the home loan in 30 years.A hybrid of sorts to the standard thirty year fixed, is the thirty year fixed, with an Interest Only payment option. For the first ten years of this loan, the borrower has the option to make an interest only option, which offers a lower monthly payment. The interest rate on this loan does not change for the entire thirty years term.
If you plan on staying in your home for the rest of your life, a 30 year mortgage may be your best option. While the monthly payment may not be as low as with an ARM, you have the security of knowing you will never have to refinance and worry about being stuck with a higher monthly payment down the road.
With rising interest rates looming in the horizon, many home buyers are now seeking the payment stability the 30 Years Fixed Rate Mortgages (FRM) offer. The 30-Year Fixed has again become a popularly demanded loan.
The 30 year fixed rate mortgage is probably still the most popular mortgage option. When deciding between mortgage programs, you need to consider different variables such as the length of time you will be in the home. Sometimes you may be better off with an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), if you only see yourself being in the home for a few years.
A 30 year mortgage is the most common because many people can not afford to go to a lower term. Also, a 30 year mortgage comes highly recommended for the tax benefits it provides along with a low monthly payment. Remember, it is always better to have the cheaper monthly payment that you can afford that gives you a little flexibility each month, and then you can always pay extra when it is convenient so you can pay your loan off quicker.
While the most popular mortgage, before going with a 30 year fixed, consider how long you plan to be in the home. If not more than 5 years or so, take a look at what rates you can get on a 5/1 ARM and compare the two.
In the investment world, the longer the capital is committed for, the higher the return. This is true with corporate bonds, T-bills, bank certificates of deposit, etc. This is also true with mortgage loans. Although the 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage have payments lower than that of the 15 Year Fixed, the 30 Years Fixed interest rates are often one half percent higher than that of 15-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages.
While most borrowers feel that a thirty year fixed mortgage is the best option, it is not always the case. The average homeowner lives in their home for 5-7 years and may be better off with a mortgage that is fixed for 5 to 7 years and adjustable afterward. This gives the stability of a fixed rate mortgage with the lower rates that are available with an ARM.
15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage - A type of mortgage where the interest rate never changes for the duration of the loan. Unless the mortgage has an interest only or other payment option features, payments are amortized over 15 years, that is, the homeowner makes equal monthly payments and the entire loan would be paid off in 15 years.
If you are unsure whether you will be able to continue making payments on a 15 year mortgage at some point down the road, consider a longer-term mortgage, where you pay less each month. Your mortgage professional should be able to tell you how much extra to pay each month if you still want to pay off the loan in 15 years.
Since a 15 year fixed rate mortgage comes with a considerably higher monthly payment than its 30 year counterpart, this loan would be best suited for borrowers who have good monthly cash flow. Also borrowers who have high balances on other consumer type debt would be advised to avoid this loan at least until the other debt is paid down. It usually would not make sense to accelerate the payment of low interest, tax deductable mortgage debt while slowly servicing high interest, non-tax deductable consumer debt.
Amidst all the various newly introduced home financing options, Fixed Rate mortgages remain a popular loan program, mostly due to the fact the some homeowners are uncomfortable with the thought that their mortgage payments can fluctuate.
It is also possible to pay the equivalent of what would be a 15 year amortized payment, even on an actual 30 year amortized loan. Doing this will give the borrower a huge interest savings by paying the loan off earlier, and at the same time, give them the option to make a lower monthly payment, or revert back to their 30 year payments all together, should they need to.
Interest rates are typically lower on a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, depending on the lender and the loan program. You will build equity faster with a 15 year loan, than what you will with a 30 year loan. The reason is that more of your payments are being applied to the principal, at an earlier point than that of the 30 year fixed rate mortgage.
People are amazed at how much money they save on a 15 year mortgage versus a 30 year mortgage. Anytime you are over 80% LTV and you are required to pay PMI and you obtain a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, the percentage of coverage required for PMI is significantly lower than the percentage required for a 30 year mortgage. An example would be on a 100,000, 30 year loan at 90% LTV you might be required to have 25% coverage for your PMI (which would basically equal a PMI monthly payment of around $43.33). Now on a 100,000 loan on a 15 year term at 90% LTV you might be required to have 12% coverage for your PMI (which would equal a PMI payment of $19.17 per month). Therefore, by using a 15 year term vs. a 30 year term you may be able to cut your PMI by less than half.
When an investor purchases bonds or invest in bank CD's, the longer he commits his money for, the higher his interest rate, or yield, will be. The same is true in the mortgage industry, loans with longer terms have higher interest rates. The 15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage usually carry interest rates that are 0.5% lower than the 30-Year Fixed.
