Tuesday, December 23, 2008

What First Time Buyer Mortgages are All About

By Ruth Coats

First time buyer mortgage deals are designed to get people who probably couldn't afford a down payment on a house or traditionally wouldn't be able to get a mortgage loan to buy their dream house. There are several different types of first time buyer mortgage deals out there, and if you are looking into buying your first house, knowing about these bonuses is going to help you to get the best deal possible for your needs.

The first thing that a lot of banks are going to offer first time buyers is the opportunity to reduce the amount of down payment that they have to pay to get into their house. Traditionally, you need a down payment of twenty percent of the cost of the house to get a mortgage, and a lot of first time buyers don't have that much money. Banks will let you get a mortgage with just five or ten percent of the price of the house, allowing you to stop saving and move in.

It may or may not be beneficial to take the bank up on this offer. Instead of pinching your pennies for years, you are going to get to live in your house a lot sooner. If you take the bank up on this offer, they will often require that you carry a private mortgage insurance to offset the risk. The more insurance that you have to pay, the less money that is going to pay off your loan. If you don't have to pay a large down payment, you might foolishly believe that you can afford a more expensive house than your budget allows. If your finances change, you could up losing your house.

Another popular first time buyer incentive is a lower mortgage rate for a certain period of time. This is going to help the first time buyer afford a house because the interest rates are going to be lower for the first year of the mortgage period, and then change to the current rate later down the road. This can cause a lot of troubles for first time buyers, and is something that you should definitely consider when taking out a mortgage.

First time buyers forget to plan for the rest of the mortgage when they are going to have to pay a higher interest rate because they got used to the lower payment. They find that they can't afford their current lifestyle when they have to pay the higher interest. You probably even gave yourself the goal to save that extra money and put it towards your mortgage. The goal is never reached because you spend so much money on redoing your home and buying furniture that matches.

When you take out your first mortgage, some banks are going to offer these customers a no-closing fee mortgage or another gift. They offer you all of this because they want you to come back again and again.

First time buyers have a lot of power when getting their first mortgage, but it's also a very stressful time. A lot of times banks will want their first time buyers to get a more expensive mortgage than they can afford, because a bigger mortgage means more money for them. When you are getting your first mortgage make sure you are going to be able to afford it. - 16928

About the Author:

No comments: