Jim Johnson asked:


For most people the mortgage industry seems to speak a foreign language, with terms and acronyms that are vague and unfamiliar. And of course, when dealing with large sums of money such as those found in a home mortgage, you want to try to understand the language as much as possible in order to avoid making mistakes. So here is a little primer on some of the most important terms used when getting a mortgage or home loan.

There are four types of mortgages that are generally available and those are fixed rate, adjustable rate, convertible and special loans.

Fixed Rate Loans - usually these are found in either the 30 year loan or 15 year loan category, and this simply means that you pay a fixed payment each month over the course of either the 30 years or 15 years.

Adjustable Rate Loans - this is where your payment can fluctuate depending on the prevailing interest rate at the time. If interest rates rise, then your payment goes up and if interest rates fall, your payment goes down instead.

Convertible Loans - these are loans that may start out as either a fixed rate or an adjustable rate mortgage, and then can be converted over to the opposite kind of loan instead. Many people will use this type of loan to start out as an adjustable rate mortgage and then convert over to a fixed rate mortgage when interest rates are at their lowest.

Special Loans - these include FHA loans for first-time homebuyers and folks with credit problems, and also VA mortgage loans for veterans of the Armed Forces and their families.

There are other terms that you need to know when it comes to getting a home mortgage as well and they are:

Appraisal - this is where you pay an independent person to correctly assess the value of your home using excepted market calculations.

Closing costs - these are fees that are usually payable when the mortgage papers are signed that pays for the transfer of the ownership of the home.

Points - this is a value that typically relates to 1% of the total cost of the home being mortgaged.

Escrow - this is where money is often held by a neutral third party in a transaction of two or more people.

Pre-qualify - this is where a lending institution will state that you do qualify for receiving a home mortgage for a certain price range of home.

Pre-approval - this is where a lending institution has already run the necessary paperwork and approved a home mortgage loan for a certain amount.

There are other special terms and acronyms used by the mortgage industry, but the ones listed above are perhaps the ones that are most commonly used. Hopefully this will help you be more informed when you try to get your next home mortgage loan.



FORREST

Lara Sawyer asked:


Mobile home loans are becoming increasingly popular as the mobile homes technology advances thus increasing the comfort of these homes on wheels. The mobile homes need to be sitting in land that can be provided by the different governments or can be purchased by the mobile home owner. However, it is not the same to get a mobile home loan covering only the vehicle than to obtain a mobile home loan to finance the purchase of the vehicle plus the land where it will be placed.

These two different loan types have particularities that define very different loan terms. It is therefore important to outline in advance what kind of loan product you are looking for. The main topics that you have to address are: the differences between mobile home loans that exclude or include the land where the mobile home sits in, the different regulations of mobile home loans depending on this fact and the ways of obtaining better terms on mobile home loans.

Differences Between Mobile Home Loans With or Without The Land

As explained above, there are two kinds of mobile home loans: Those that include the land where the mobile home will be deposited and those that do not. The first type can sometimes be considered home mortgage loans and other times they are simply mobile home loans. Those loans that do not include the money needed to purchase the property where the mobile home sits in are called chattel loans.

Since mobile homes can be stationed on parks or communities, the land is not a necessary factor and thus, when the applicant can not afford to purchase the land too, simple mobile home loans or chattel loans can provide you with all the finance needed to purchase your mobile home and have your own place to live. Eventually, when your mobile home is paid off, you can try and get approved for a mortgage home loan in order to obtain the land too.

Different Regulations May Alter Your Decision

In some states, just like with manufactured homes, when the loan amount is used not only to purchase the mobile home or manufactured home but also the land where it will stand, these loans can be considered mortgages and thus, you can seize all the benefits in terms of taxes and subsidizes that such category implies. Therefore, you need to check local regulations in order to see whether you can benefit more of a particular loan type or the other.

That is the reason why we say that the different regulations may alter your decision. Because you may have thought that you would rather avoid purchasing land and that you would stick to a regular mobile home loan instead but it is possible that if you chose to get the land too, in some states it may end up being cheaper.

How To Get a Good Deal?

If you want to get a good deal on your mobile home loan whether it includes the land or not, my suggestion is that you search online for mobile home loan lenders and request loan quotes from them to see what they are offering. Try to contact them informally to know their requirements for approval and once you are confident with a particular offer and lender apply for your mobile home loan. That way you will make sure to get if not the best offer, at least a great one.



MYLES

jolifrijoles asked:


I am so irritated with the catch-22 of home improvement. You can’t get a loan without having equity (i just bought 4 months ago), and in this market you sure aren’t going to get equity without boosting the value of your home by making improvements, which of course requires money.I was prequalified for 3 times the mortgage I got, but this place needs a LOT of work. I was naive in thinking that since i prequalified for so much more that I could easily find home improvement funds. To an extent, that’s true– I can get personal loans with decent interest, but they’re on a 5-7 year payoff. I’d prefer to roll it all into a 30 yr mortgage so I’m not too burdened with the payment. I also don’t like the 203 loans because they require you to use licensed contractors for everything. A lot of it I could do myself. I’m guessing I could do it all with about $20-30K if I do what i can myself. If I go the contractor route it’s probably about 50K. I don’t want to put this all on credit cards. Are there any options other than 5 yr loans and credit cards, or 203 loans to get the money to do this stuff and pay it off in 15 years or more??? I’m about to give up. Thanks

BARNEY