If you have not applied for a new home loan in quite some time, this article will explain the very basics of the home loan known as the fixed rate mortgage. This is a relatively easy mortgage to understand and is familiar to individuals who are purchasing or refinancing a home. As this is one of the biggest expenses you may encounter in your life, knowing a little about this type of mortgage will lay a foundation for you to be able to research both fixed rate mortgages as well as other mortgage products which have their foundation in this basic model.

These fixed rate mortgages are the most common type of mortgage product. They are not the only type of product, of course, by they are very prevalent. When people speak about getting a home loan, they are usually referring to this type of loan. The fixed rate mortgage product is the one that is probably advertised the most, at least with most state laws, the advertising you’ll here on the radio or see on TV or other media is typically providing information about their lowest fixed rate product.

These fixed rate mortgages are most commonly setup with 15 or 30 year term, but also have options for a 10 year or 20 year, or even a 40 year mortgage. The longer the mortgage term, typically the lower the interest rate as the bank or financial institution that is extending the loan will typically make more money, at least via interest paid on the loan. This is why the shorter term rates are typically a higher rate.

One of the main advantages to the fixed rate mortgage is that the rate doesn’t change. This can be great as your payment may stay low for the duration of the loan even if inflation or other financial considerations may change over that same period of time. Some mortgage programs also have a bi-weekly payment option where you’ll pay your mortgage every two weeks. Assuming your monthly mortgage was $2000 per month, this is broken down to about $1000 every two weeks which is nice because it has two benefits, one benefit is that it matches some pay structures, i.e. many companies in the US typically pay your salary every 2 weeks. Of course this also means that instead of 12 payments of $2000 or $24,000 per year, you’ll pay $1,000 every other week which would be 26 payments (52 weeks per year / 2 (every other week)). The total amount of funds that would then contribute to your loan amount would be $26,000 which would pay down your loan more this way or reduce your overall payment amount. Consult your loan officer for details on the bi-weekly payment plan.

With a fixed rate mortgage, at the end of the term, your home will be paid off completely. Several mortgage products have a balloon payment at the end of the term which means you’ll have a larger lump sum, usually a multiple of 10 to 20 times your monthly, or in the event of some interest only products, the principal would be due at the end of only a couple years into the mortgage product which would either require you to pay off the home completely or refinance the balance.

With a fixed rate mortgage, a percentage of your payments each month will go towards the interest and the rest will go towards the principal. This is not an even amount. What I mean is that the the first few years of your mortgage, the majority of the monthly payment goes to pay the interest and the smaller percentage goes towards the principal. Of course you can make extra payments on the principal which means the interest payment will decrease simply because the interest paid is done so on the balance, which if you pay more towards the principal above and beyond the monthly payment, there will be a lower balance due and less interest. This doesn’t mean your monthly payment will change, but it will decrease the amount of interest due and increase the percentage of your payment that is applied to paying down the principal.

This conservative mortgage program is possibly the easiest to understand of the mortgage products that are available. The key to success with this style or any other style of mortgage is to find a loan officer that you can trust who will guide you through the process of pricing loans, understanding the terms of a loan, whether a fixed rate, variable, interest-only, or other loan, and basically someone you can work with who can become familiar with your situation and provide appropriate advice for what your home ownership goals and objectives are. A good loan officer will typically be familiar with other loan products that will work for you as well.

Did you find this article interesting at all? If so, I have a website that is dedicated to mortgages in Utah that covers not only the basics for the state of Utah, but mortgage information in general as well. You can also review additional information about mortgages from Brian’s other website about Salt Lake City Mortgages.

All of us have probably been informed that our credit report is a very important document. Its importance will increase if we have been denied credit and realize that we must repair poor credit.

The three major credit reporting agencies are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The reports from all three agencies are needed because creditors and lenders may not all report to the same agency and the reports may be different. If you go to annualcreditreport.com you can find out the procedure for obtaining your reports. You can get a free report from all yearly.

The reports will all contain a section with the usual identifying information such as name, address, social security number, etc. The reports will not have information about you personally such as race, assets, salary.

There will be a section related to any credit lines. These credit lines will include loans, mortgages, credit cards, gas and department store cards. It will give the date each credit line was opened, credit limits, payment history (including late payments), balances, overdrawn bank accounts, and unpaid child support.

Credit reporting agencies also receive information from the court system. This section will have a listing of bankruptcies, liens, judgments, divorce.

An inquiry from a credit reporting agency will be made each time you apply for any type of credit. These inquiries will be on your credit report and stay on for 2 years. Also, when you make your own inquiry, it will also be on the report.

If the information on your credit report is positive, this is to your benefit. If the report has negatives, this information will remain for 7 years. A bankruptcy remains for 10 years.

It is our personal responsibility to monitor our own credit profile, have errors changed and work to repair our credit. Definitely request your credit reports from all 3 agencies, find discrepancies and mistakes and get them fixed.

Reviewing the information below will help you understand why you should review and maintain your credit report, using credit score repair basics.

All of us have probably been informed that our credit report is a very important document. Its importance will increase if we have been denied a loan and realize that we must repair it or if we have been a victim of identity theft. Below you will find what is typically on your credit report and some precautions you can take to prevent identity theft from happening.

First its important to obtain copies of your report from all three credit bureaus. A good place to do this is at Equifax themselves. You can get the 3 in 1 credit report – I personally monitor my Fico score as well but you don’t have to. These are the bureaus that your creditors report to and you will need to investigate all three to determine what incorrect and derogatory items you have.

The reports will have several sections. Know that there will not be personal or private information about your race, net worth, or salary included. There will be the usual identifiers such as name, address, and social security number in the first section. There will be a section related to any trade lines. These lines will include loans, mortgages, credit cards, gas and department store cards. It will give the date each trade line was opened, limits, payment history (including late payments), balances, overdrawn bank accounts, and unpaid child support.

The court system also provides information to the reporting agencies. Such reported information will include bankruptcies, divorce, judgments, and liens.

Each time you apply for a credit card, car loan, or other type of line of credit, an inquiry is made on your credit report. At the end of your credit report there is a list of all of the companies that have inquired about you. Make sure that you are paying special attention to that area, as that is an area that could warn you of someone trying to get credit in your name.

Of course, you want to do your best to keep your credit report clean. Every piece of negative information on your credit report will stay there for seven years. If you have a bankruptcy, it will stay there for ten years. .

It is important that we obtain and seriously review our reports to be aware of differences on each one, locate any and all errors. It is up to each individual to monitor his/her own profile, fix errors, and repair, if necessary.

Once you have accepted credit, you are, in effect, using someone else’s money to pay for what you want. In addition, it also means that you guarantee to repay the money to the agency or person that loaned you the cash within an agreed time frame.

If you are applying for a loan, credit card or mortgage, it is normal for the agency or bank to check up on your credit status. This is essentially based on an assessment of your credit history, thereby helping them assess the possible risks of the transaction and set the terms of the loan. A positive assessment means that you have a good financial history, which increases your chance of being granted credit.

Credit Repair: The process, by which people with a bad credit history try to re-establish their credit worthiness is called credit repair. It involves procuring a copy of your credit status from the reporting agencies and carefully taking any steps necessary to address any issues, such as omissions, mis-reporting, mis-interpretation or any other inaccuracies.

If there are any errors found in the credit report, the consumer is entitled to investigate the errors that have unjustly damaged their financial health. There are several laws and regulations that are meant to ensure the fair and legal reporting of someone’s credit worthiness. You can make use of these laws to formally commence the process of repairing your credit.

Everybody may ask for one copy of his/her credit report each year from each credit reporting agency. You will need to investigate the true cause of the inaccuracies in order to ensure successful credit repair.

Your credit record affects your purchasing power and eligibility for getting credit lines in the future. You should bear in mind that a good credit rating can help in several areas like as: mortgaging a home, buying a car or even applying for a job. On the other hand, a bad credit rating can make you vulnerable to outrageous interest rates and unnecessary loan conditions from the loan agencies. These two facets are important to help you understand why maintaining a good credit rating is absolutely vital.

How Should You Repair Your Credit?: The process of credit repair can be accomplished through diligent work and discipline on your own. However, some companies will offer you ‘quick and easy’ ways to repair your poor credit history and they really can be quite tempting. However, these easy ways-out can also lead to more difficulties in the end, especially if they are unlawful.

If your poor credit history was caused by circumstances beyond your control, you could ask for an upgrade of your credit rating from your creditor, but this may only be done, if you have been able to make amends to your credit records afterwards.

Creditors do not usually trust consumers who have defaulted on their payments. This can create difficulties for you in obtaining any credit. However, once you are able to demonstrate a stable income and patterns of prompt payments, the situation can improve in the span of two to three years. This way, even if there was a bankruptcy, you are likely to be eligible for credit cards within two years, if a steady income is maintained.

Keep in mind that there are no fast fixes when you are trying to repair your credit. However, by contacting the credit bureaux, correcting any errors, budgeting and consolidating your debts, you can increase your own credit score really very quickly.

If you have horrible credit and are looking for bad credit mortgage loans that are available, there are a several things that you should be doing while hunting. Without doing these must do items, you will surely fail in your goals of being approved to purchase or refinance a home.

Credit checking and repairing is essential to your ability to qualify for a loan. Just like brushing your teeth to keep your teeth clean and healthy, there are things you must do to keep your credit strong and healthy.

We are not telling you to pull a credit report every month, but do it at least once a year. Just like a regular doctors check up to see if anything is wrong, a credit checkup can save you many horrible problems. One growing problem is identity theft and fraud. Checking your credit report is the best way to know if someone has stolen your identity. Checking your credit will also help you see what accounts are being shown and accounted for on the credit report.

The next big thing to ensure your credits health is by nourishing it and cultivating it. How do you nourish and fix a credit score? When you plant a seed you need some essential things for it to grow. Credit is exactly the same way as far as how it grows except you don’t need sunlight or water. Credit scores raise naturally every 6 months if proper care and nourishment has been given.

To help your credit score grow, make sure you are making credit payments on time, not opening new credit accounts, and make sure to pay down high credit balances, and DO NOT close any open credit accounts. Too often people pay things off and close accounts. What you are essentially doing is plucking a beautiful flower from its stem.

Take care of that credit as it is so important in finding a mortgage loan.