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Don’t Take a Mortgage Interest Rate Rise Without a Fight

December 17th, 2009

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More than likely if you have a Standard Variable Rate Mortgage you face at least a $50 monthly repayment increase. Whenever the Reserve Bank opts for an increase in the official Cash Rate, you will need to, more than likely, look for additional similar increases in the ensuing months.

It’s the Lender’s Call

It is ultimately your lender’s call whether this gives them the green light to increase your home finance mortgage rate. The going belief most variable mortgage rates loan owners possess is that lenders will pass on rate changes to borrowers regardless. However, recent examinations show that only 41 percent of loans carrying a variable rate have had a lender response raising the rate. This same examination points that 88 percent of home mortgage lenders that are banks have adjusted rates. Thirty-six percent of Credit Unions and Building Societies have raised rates while 23 percent of non-bank lenders raised rates.

Did You Get Stuck?

You might get passed the fury from lenders to raise mortgage rates and you may not. Remember when the RBA dropped rates about a year ago? Most lenders never passed the total availability in a dropped variable rate to borrowers. Lenders lined up with a myriad of explanations explaining that their real cost for managing loans is at a premium. Therefore, even when the RBA lowers rates by 4.25 percent, the effective rate you finally realize decreased by only 3.84 percent (the national average).

No the Same Line of Thinking

Wouldn’t you think that lenders would only raise rates a portion that is lower than the announced RBA rate?  Why then are variable mortgage holders forced to hand back that same rate margin affected by last year’s decrease. What’s going on?

So What’s a Body to Do?

This information recalls one of the fundamental lessons everyone should re-learn: Do not put your loan accounts up on a high shelf in a hallway closet. In a world of fluctuating rates spurning unpredictable lender activity, you need to stay current concerning the effect upon your personal finances. You need to be shopping about for a better deal. This is a very good period producing a competitive lending atmosphere where there are more than 700 home mortgage products available. Any Australian who puts this knowledge to task should benefit nicely getting lenders to compete for the business. Plus, if you have traditionally dealt with banks, now is a good time to consider alternative lending institutions. The same requirements – and restrictions – apply to all home mortgage lenders. Although many people believe re-financing a home mortgage is costly and inconvenient, simply reducing your interest rate by a quarter percent can save $15,000 on an average home loan. Even considering any loan fees added to the mix, you may come out much better than just sitting there taking what they dish out. Or, you might want to look into the benefits of a fixed mortgage.

Consider at least approaching your current lender to demand a more favourable deal using the going market rates as ammunition for the requested change. Fight back for a better financial you!Austral Mortgage is the best place to find all your <a href=http://www.australmortgage.com.au>mortgage</a> needs. Whether you are looking for the best <a href=http://www.australmortgage.com.au>mortgage rates</a> or have any questions relating your borrowings, our mortgage consultant can help. Talk to our mortgage specialist today for obligation free advice and let us do all the hard work for you, and discover why we won so many awards.

Austral Mortgage is the best place to find all your mortgage needs. Whether you are looking for the best mortgage rates or have any questions relating your borrowings, our mortgage consultant can help. Talk to our mortgage specialist today for obligation free advice and let us do all the hard work for you, and discover why we won so many awards.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/dont-take-a-mortgage-interest-rate-rise-without-a-fight-1593521.html

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Don’t Take a Mortgage Interest Rate Rise Without a Fight

December 5th, 2009

More than likely if you have a Standard Variable Rate Mortgage you face at least a $50 monthly repayment increase. Whenever the Reserve Bank opts for an increase in the official Cash Rate, you will need to, more than likely, look for additional similar increases in the ensuing months.

It’s the Lender’s Call

It is ultimately your lender’s call whether this gives them the green light to increase your home finance mortgage rate. The going belief most variable mortgage rates loan owners possess is that lenders will pass on rate changes to borrowers regardless. However, recent examinations show that only 41 percent of loans carrying a variable rate have had a lender response raising the rate. This same examination points that 88 percent of home mortgage lenders that are banks have adjusted rates. Thirty-six percent of Credit Unions and Building Societies have raised rates while 23 percent of non-bank lenders raised rates.

Did You Get Stuck?

You might get passed the fury from lenders to raise mortgage rates and you may not. Remember when the RBA dropped rates about a year ago? Most lenders never passed the total availability in a dropped variable rate to borrowers. Lenders lined up with a myriad of explanations explaining that their real cost for managing loans is at a premium. Therefore, even when the RBA lowers rates by 4.25 percent, the effective rate you finally realize decreased by only 3.84 percent (the national average).

No the Same Line of Thinking

Wouldn’t you think that lenders would only raise rates a portion that is lower than the announced RBA rate?  Why then are variable mortgage holders forced to hand back that same rate margin affected by last year’s decrease. What’s going on?

So What’s a Body to Do?

This information recalls one of the fundamental lessons everyone should re-learn: Do not put your loan accounts up on a high shelf in a hallway closet. In a world of fluctuating rates spurning unpredictable lender activity, you need to stay current concerning the effect upon your personal finances. You need to be shopping about for a better deal. This is a very good period producing a competitive lending atmosphere where there are more than 700 home mortgage products available. Any Australian who puts this knowledge to task should benefit nicely getting lenders to compete for the business. Plus, if you have traditionally dealt with banks, now is a good time to consider alternative lending institutions. The same requirements – and restrictions – apply to all home mortgage lenders. Although many people believe re-financing a home mortgage is costly and inconvenient, simply reducing your interest rate by a quarter percent can save $15,000 on an average home loan. Even considering any loan fees added to the mix, you may come out much better than just sitting there taking what they dish out. Or, you might want to look into the benefits of a fixed mortgage.

Consider at least approaching your current lender to demand a more favourable deal using the going market rates as ammunition for the requested change. Fight back for a better financial you!

Austral Mortgage is the best place to find all your mortgage needs. Whether
you are looking for the best mortgage rates or have
any questions relating your borrowings, our mortgage consultant can
help. Talk to our mortgage specialist today for obligation free advice
and let us do all the hard work for you, and discover why we won so
many awards.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/dont-take-a-mortgage-interest-rate-rise-without-a-fight-1544198.html

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Adjustable Mortgage Rates: Pros and Cons

November 4th, 2009

Though adjustable mortgage rates have taken a beating in public opinions due to the recession, they are not necessarily the villains that they have been made out to be.  Like any other financial decision adjustable rate mortgages should not be entered into lightly.  Before deciding to go with an adjustable rate mortgage you should weigh all of your options.  If you are considering an adjustable mortgage rate here are a few things that you should consider.

  • Pro – Using adjustable mortgage rates, lenders are often able to qualify a larger number of borrowers.  More individuals can provide wage information to prove that they can afford the initial lowered monthly payments that are characteristic of mortgages with adjustable rates.
  • Con – Adjustable rate mortgages are often lengthy and difficult to understand. So, most individuals do not truly understand the terms of their mortgage.  This causes homeowners to feels as though the information they were told was different than the terms that the signed. Borrowers come away feeling tricked when the rate changes.
  • Pro – Individuals with adjustable mortgage rates are able to take advantage of lowered interest rates without having to refinance.  In order to take advantage of lower interest rates, homeowners with fixed mortgages rates must refinance, which can become quite costly.  So, usually homeowners use the “refinancing rule of thumb,” which is you wait to refinance until rates are at least 2% lower than your current rate.  Adjustable mortgages rates allow your monthly payments to reflect the lowered interest rates without the homeowner having to do anything.  This saves money on the closing costs and other fees associated with refinancing.
  • Con – When interest rates rise, monthly payments can rise sharply with little or no notice, under an adjustable mortgage rate.  Homeowners that hit the hardest during the downturn, where those whose monthly payments doubled, and in some cases tripled, seemingly overnight.  Even the adjustable rate mortgages that come with an interest cap can have an initial increase that is not covered under the terms of the interest cap.
  • Pro – Adjustable rate mortgages are often good for people who do not plan to stay in that particular home long.  Fixed rates are great long term plans.  However, if you are not ready to settle down in one area.  Adjustable mortgages rates are typically shorter and allow you to save.
  • Con – There are a few of adjustable mortgage rate plans that can do more damage than they are worth.  For example Interest Only adjustable mortgage rates allow borrowers to only pay the interest on a loan for a number of years.  After this period, monthly payments will increase significantly regardless of the interest rates.  Then there are negative amortization loans.  The initial monthly payments on this type of adjustable mortgage rate are so low that they may not cover all of the interest.  So the unpaid interest is rolled over into the principal balance due.
  • Pro – Just like there are riskier adjustable mortgage rates, there has been a boom in hybrid adjustable mortgage plans.  Hybrid plans combine both adjustable rate and fixed rate periods.  In theory allowing a borrower to get the best of both words.
  • Con – Unfortunately, some adjustable mortgage rate loans come with prepayment clauses.  The lenders behind this type of mortgage plans basically counts on the interest to make a profit.  Therefore paying the loan off in short period than the loan tern decreases the profit made by the lender.  So, there are often significant fees attached to early loan pay offs due to selling, refinancing, or any other means.
  • Pro – Adjustable mortgage rates are specifically designed to afford homeowners the ability to save up money.  When these mortgages work the way that they are designed, homeowners invest or tuck away the money saved from the initial lowered payments.  So that when the interest rate or monthly payments increase, homeowners are prepared to take on the added financial hit.
  • Con – Although these plans work well for some, for most it only works in theory.  The hard truth is that most people are unable to actually invest or tuck away the money saved from the low monthly payments.  Or, they are able to invest, but loose money in the stock market.  Either way, most homeowners are unprepared to the swift monthly payment changes that are possible with adjustable mortgage rates.

For better or worse adjustable mortgage rates can teach you a lot about your spending habits.  Some learn that they need to live within their means. A lesson the recession has taught homeowners that were able to qualify for a bigger loan than they could afford.  Yet, we all learned that saving for one rainy day does little to stop the flood caused by a rainy year.

Allan Young is a freelance writer who writes about <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://mortgage” target=”_blank”>www.quickenloans.com/mortgage-rates”>mortgage rates.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/adjustable-mortgage-rates-pros-and-cons-1417626.html

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Refinance Home Mortgage – Uncover Substantial Savings

August 28th, 2009

It really is rather difficult to know when the time is right to refinance home mortgage. It really seems to be a matter of timing as much as anything else. For instance, if mortgage rates are at the lowest point that they have been in quite a few years it would seem that it would be a good time to refinance and lock in the favorable interest rates.

On the other hand, if you do that and the rates go lower still you’ll be kicking yourself for not being more patient. But now there is yet another question to deal with and it is born of the housing bubble that recently burst and got all over everyone. Many lenders including giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got burned bad on the housing crisis and as a result credit is so tight that you may find it difficult to even find a lender to refinance with.

Now when you got to a lender to refinance your mortgage you require that you establish how long you will be staying in your home. As before, lenders charge fees that can make the benefits of refinancing completely vanish. The various fees and costs will have an impact on your decision as to what type of mortgage to obtain as well.

When considering the refinance home mortgage option, you will want to take a look at the different types of interest rate structures offered by lending institutions. The basic interest rate charged by lenders is set by the Federal Reserve Board and it is based on the Fed Funds Rate. This rate is what determined the rate of a fixed-rate mortgage, where the rate set is the rate you will have for the length of the mortgage. The ARM option, or adjustable rate mortgage, carries an interest rate that fluctuates as the Fed’s rate changes. There are outside limits, but nonetheless, it will have an impact on your monthly payment.

A fixed rate mortgage, on the other hand, has an interest rate that is locked in for the life of the loan. It does not fluctuate no matter what the Fed Funds Rate is. Traditionally fixed mortgages are issued for a period of either 30 years or 15 years. The advantage of the 30 year loan being lower payments. The 15 year mortgage has higher monthly payments but when it is paid off you will have paid far less in interest than you would on a 30 year mortgage.

When considering an adjustable rate mortgage it is extremely important to be aware of the changes that may and probably will occur in your monthly payment over the life of the loan. Every time the interest rate goes up, so too will your monthly mortgage payment. Many homeowners recently ran into problems when interest rates rose sharply and suddenly. They found them in a situation when it became difficult if not impossible to pay their mortgage because the size of the payment was beyond their budgetary limits.

If you plan to stay in your current home for a minimum of 10 years, then refinancing your mortgage is an option to consider. It has been calculated that in order to benefit from a lower interest rate, it will take this amount of time to recover all the attorney fees, appraisal fees and bank charges to break even.

The refinance home mortgage option is worth considering if you intend to stay in your home. There are some situations where it still can be beneficial even if you do not plan to stay put for 10 years. The best way to determine whether or not it is the option for you is to go on the internet and find a mortgage calculator. This tool can help you find the answer that is best for your particular situation.

See how you can greatly reduce your monthly payments when you refinance home mortgage by visiting www.yourfinanceoptions.com.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/refinance-home-mortgage-uncover-substantial-savings-1168162.html

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What You Should Know About Adjustable Rate Mortgages

April 12th, 2009

Adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, differ from fixed-rate mortgages in that the interest rate and monthly payment move up and down as market interest rates fluctuate.  Most have an initial fixed-rate period during which the borrower’s rate doesn’t change, followed by a much longer period during which the rate changes at preset intervals.

 Adjustable rates start low

Rates charged during the initial periods are generally lower than those on comparable fixed-rate mortgages. After all, lenders have to offer something to make it worth their while to assume the risk of higher rates in the future.

The initial fixed-rate period can be as short as a month or as long as 10 years. One-year ARMs, which had their first adjustment after one year, used to be the most popular adjustable, and were the benchmark. Recently the standard has become the 5/1 ARM, which has an initial fixed-rate period that lasts five years; the rate is adjusted annually thereafter. That type of mortgage, which mixes a lengthy fixed period with an even lengthier adjustable period, is known as a hybrid. Other popular hybrid ARMs are the 3/1, the 7/1 and the 10/1.

These hybrid ARMs — sometimes referred to as 3/1, 5/1, 7/1 or 10/1 loans — have fixed rates for the first three, five, seven or 10 years, followed by rates that adjust annually thereafter.

After the fixed-rate honeymoon, an ARM’s rate fluctuates at the same rate as an index spelled out in closing documents. The lender finds out what the index value is, adds a margin to that figure and recalculates the borrower’s new rate and payment. The process repeats each time an adjustment date rolls around.

Most ARM rates are tied to the performance of one of three major indexes:

·       The weekly constant maturity yield on the one-year Treasury Bill:
The yield debt securities issued by the U.S. Treasury are paying, as tracked by the Federal Reserve Board.

·       The 11th District Cost of Funds Index (COFI):
The interest financial institutions in the western U.S. are paying on deposits they hold.

·       The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR)
The rate most international banks are charging each other on large loans.

Sky’s not the limit

Borrowers have some protection from extreme changes because ARMs come with caps. These caps limit the amount by which ARM rates and payments can adjust. Caps come in a couple of different forms. The most common are:

·       Periodic rate cap:
Limits how much the rate can change at any one time. These are usually annual caps, or caps that prevent the rate from rising more than a certain number of percentage points in any given year.

·       Lifetime cap:
Limits how much the interest rate can rise over the life of the loan.

·       Payment cap:
Offered on some ARMs. It limits the amount the monthly payment can rise over the life of the loan in dollars, rather than how much the rate can change in percentage points.

 Interest-only ARMs

Around the turn of the 21st century, lenders began to market interest-only mortgages to middle-class borrowers. Formerly the preserve of what lenders called “affluent clients,” interest only mortgages are usually adjustables. The borrower is required to pay only the interest for a specified period, often 10 years. After that, it adjusts to the going interest rate, as tracked by a specified index. After that, the loan amortizes at an accelerated rate. During the interest-only period, the borrower can choose to pay some principal, too. By providing flexibility in the size of monthly payments, interest-only mortgages often are a good match for people with fluctuating monthly incomes: salespeople who are paid by commission, for example.

Variety of flavors

Some ARMs come with a conversion feature that allows borrowers to convert their loans to fixed-rate mortgages for a fee. Others allow borrowers to make interest-only payments for a portion of their loan terms to keep their payments low. But no matter the exact terms, most ARMs are more difficult to understand than fixed-rate loans.

To keep your financial options open, make sure to ask the mortgage lender if the ARM is convertible to a fixed-rate mortgage. Also, ask if the ARM is assumable, which means when you sell your home the buyer may qualify to assume your existing mortgage. That could be desirable if mortgage interest rates are high.

Deciding between an ARM and a fixed-rate mortgage

Which is the better mortgage option for you: fixed or adjustable?

The low initial cost of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) can be very tempting to home buyers, yet they carry a degree of uncertainty. Fixed-rate mortgages offer rate and payment security, but they can be more expensive.

ARM advantages

·       Feature lower rates and payments early on in the loan term. Because lenders can use the lower payment when qualifying borrowers, people can buy larger homes than they otherwise could buy.

·       Allow borrowers to take advantage of falling rates without refinancing. Instead of having to pay a whole new set of closing costs and fees, ARM borrowers just sit back and watch the rates — and their monthly payments — fall.

·       Help borrowers save and invest more money. Someone who has a payment that’s $100 less with an ARM can save that money and earn more off it in a higher-yielding investment.

·       Offer a cheap way for borrowers who don’t plan on living in one place for very long to buy a house.

 ARM disadvantages

·      Rates and payments can rise significantly over the life of the loan. A 6 percent ARM can end up at 11 percent in just three years if rates rise sharply.

·       A borrower’s initial low rate will adjust to a level higher than the going fixed-rate level in almost every case even if rates in the economy as a whole don’t change. That’s because ARMs have initial fixed rates that are set artificially low.

·       The first adjustment can be a doozy because some annual caps don’t apply to the initial change. Someone with an annual cap of 2 percent and a lifetime cap of 6 percent could theoretically see the rate shoot from 6 percent to 12 percent 12 months after closing if rates in the overall economy skyrocket.

·       ARMs are difficult to understand. Lenders have much more flexibility when determining margins, caps, adjustment indexes and other things, so unsophisticated borrowers can easily get confused or trapped by shady mortgage companies.

·       On certain ARMs, called negative amortization loans, borrowers can end up owing more money than they did at closing. That’s because the payments on these loans are set so low (to make the loans even more affordable) they only cover part of the interest due. Any additional amount due gets rolled into the principal balance.

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Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/what-you-should-know-about-adjustable-rate-mortgages-855389.html

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