How Mortgage Structure Affects Your Interest Rate?

The loan structure is one of the first decisions you’ll have to make when taking out a mortgage. The two main types of mortgages are fixed-rate and adjustable rate, the main difference being the way your interest is calculated. Each structure has its own pros and cons, and it’s important to know which one best suits your situation. This article lists some of the basic differences between the two.

Fixed-rate Mortgages
A fixed-rate mortgage, as the name suggests, uses a single interest rate for the life of the loan. The main advantage of this loan is stability: because the rate never changes, your monthly payments remain the same regardless of the market situation. Fixed-rate mortgages are typically offered in 10-year, 20-year, and 30-year plans. Some loans also have a bi-weekly option, which allows you to make extra payments and pay off your loan sooner.

On many fixed rate mortgages, you start off paying more interest than principal in your early payments. But since your principal gets smaller each year, the situation eventually reverses and more of your payments are counted against the actual cost of the loan.

The fixed rate doesn’t apply to property taxes and insurance premiums—these are controlled by the government and your insurance provider respectively. But since your monthly payments are mostly made up of principal and interest, you can expect fairly stable payments with only minimal changes.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages
An ARM bases its interest on a third-party index that determines the market interest rate. This means that your interest rates can change from time to time, depending on current market indicators. Some of the commonly used references are the Certificate of Deposit Rate (CD), the Treasury Security Rate, and the Cost of Funds Index (COFI) of the Federal Home Loan Bank.

To protect borrowers from drastic increase, most ARMs impose a cap on either the payment itself or the change in interest rate. For example, a mortgage may allow a maximum increase of 2% each year, no matter what the current rate is. Others may cap the actual amount your payments can go up. Ideally, this will be a "lifetime cap"; that is, the cap applies throughout the life of the loan.

ARMs typically have an introductory period where you pay a fixed or low interest rate for the first few years. This scheme is designed to attract more borrowers, especially in the sub-prime market. Many people take advantage of this structure by enjoying the introductory rate, and then selling or refinancing the home when the rates shift back to normal.

If you are in an adjustable rate mortgage that you cannot afford you may qualify for a loan modification. Mortgage Loan Modification allows you to work out better terms with your lender, and pause the foreclosure process while negotiations are under way. This is especially ideal for people in adjustable-rate sub-prime loans, which have reverted to higher rates in recent years. To know more about mortgage loan modification consult your mortgage loan modification attorney.