Why Every Home Loan Website should Feature a Free Mortgage Calculator

A free mortgage calculator should be a basic and permanent feature of every home loan Website. That is because it is logically a very useful tool that online users and potential borrowers could use. It could also be functional 24-7. Thus, whatever time of the day, anyone who makes important financial decisions could use it. Most mortgage companies with online presence now recognize this fact.

The mortgage calculator is designed to facilitate actual and instant calculations of home loans. It could compute monthly or annual interest payments on top of principal and other fees incurred. Through it, any borrower could determine how much he would spend overall for repaying and serving the loan account within the specified loan duration. This usefulness could never be underestimated.

It is not surprising that the tool is an important one for financial analysis. A potential borrower could now make wise decisions on whether to take a particular mortgage product or not. He could easily determine how much amortization would be required given the loan duration options. For instance, he could compare just how much he would shoulder monthly on repaying a mortgage that would last for five, 10, 20, or 30 years. He could determine how much he would spend overall for repaying the loan in various periods.

The free mortgage calculator would spare any borrower the effort and tediousness of having to personally consult a mortgage officer or representative. He could now perform the basic financial calculations on his own, any time of the day, and wherever he could be. This way, any borrower could obtain answers to his possible queries about the financial aspect of getting and maintaining a home loan.

Interestingly, such calculators are designed to be simple, yet functional. The borrower needs to fill up required blank fields, which usually consist of total loan amount, interest rate (stated in the product information), and desired loan term. After pressing ‘calculate’ or ‘compute’ button, the tool would provide numerical data corresponding to monthly and/or annual principal and interest, overall principal, total interest, and overall payment amount.

The free mortgage calculator could easily be reset if a user wants to enter different figures. Amazingly, the complicated mathematical calculations could be facilitated and provided in just a few seconds. There is no need to doubt the accuracy of the results generated. For quite some time now, such a tool has been considered as among the many perks offered by online mortgage sites. We’ll help you figure out your monthly mortgage payment and how to apply for a mortgage loan.

Knowledge Will Save Your Thousands
The Free Mortgage Calcualtor

Get Approved for a Mortgage Loan: Tips to Keep in Mind

There are a lot of reasons why people fail to qualify for the mortgage program that they have applied for. What most people do not understand is that there are certain things that one can do to minimize the chances of this happening. Here are some of the most effective tips that you have to keep in mind in order to ensure that you will get approved for a mortgage loan. Go through the following points and see to it that you use these bits of knowledge when you put your loan application forward.

One of the most important things that you have to keep in mind in order to boost your chances to get approved for a mortgage loan is to clean up whatever credit debt you may have. As you would know, the amount of debt that you have has a great role in your chances of getting your mortgage loan application approved. The bigger debt that you have, the smaller chance you get of getting the amount that you need from your mortgage loan. So is you have the time, you better see to it that you pay off these debts first before you put your mortgage loan application forward.

Another thing that you can do to boost the possibility of you getting a yes is to improve your debt to income ratio. Obviously, the amount of money that you make should be loads bigger than the amount of money that you owe to anybody. There are two main things that you can do to improve this ratio: to increase your income or to minimize your debt. Choose which option will be more attainable for you and make sure that you implement an appropriate plan before you apply for a mortgage loan.

If you cannot pay off all your dues in one go, then the very least that you can do is to ensure that you meet your payment deadlines. It will be much easier for you to get approved for a mortgage loan if you have consistently met your deadlines and if you show good payment history. However, this tip will not be too easy to carry out for you would have to show a certain level of consistency. Worry not, for as long as you show even the slightest inkling of sticking to the terms of your other debts, you will surely be able to increase the possibility that you will get your mortgage application approved.

Keep Your Eyes on Your Mortgage Payment, It’s Your Biggest Bill

Times are tough. The recession hit us hard. Precious hope in better job numbers and increased spending comes in a trickle or not at all. Everyone is hurting, from big companies down to people like you and me. You may owe a lot of creditors a lot of money, even if they’re calling, keep your eyes on your mortgage payment, it’s your biggest bill.

Your mortgage isn’t only your biggest, it’s your most important bill. You may not need to be told about the consequences of not paying your mortgage. Thoughts of foreclosure, maybe even the possibility of moving in with relatives could already be weighing heavily on your mind. Mortgage debt is secured. That means if you don’t pay, the lender has security in that they take the property to make up for money lost. Credit card debt, however, is not secured. It means that if you don’t pay, while there are consequences, no one will come take your home. Not paying your credit card bills will result in hefty fees, bad credit ratings and will make you subject to sky-high interest rates. As bad as that sounds, your mortgage payment won’t be affected. The terms were locked when you signed the paper work. 

Bear in mind that if you have an adjustable rate mortgage and want to apply for a fixed rate mortgage, your entire credit history will be examined. That includes credit card payments. If you’re in dire financial straights, then seek credit counseling and talk to your bank.

They don’t want another foreclosure on their books. So they may be willing to work with you on options to get help get your payments under control and allow you to keep your house.

Knowledge Will Save You Thousands
The Free Mortgage Calculator

Current Real Estate News and Trends

The real estate market isn’t as hot as it once was, but there is still some money to be saved and made. If you’re thinking of buying home, a residence or as an investment, keep these ideas in mind.

Everyone’s talking about foreclosures, for better or worse, they’re abundant and cheap. Interest rates are low, making foreclosures really attractive. Be careful. There’s more to a foreclosure than just a great deal on a house that’ll need a little work. There are some institutions out there that are very quick on the draw when it came to foreclosing, in some cases unnecessarily forcing some families out of their homes.  Make sure you research the title carefully to make sure no one can claim ownership of the property you’re about to buy. This may take the help of a professional. But a seasoned pro can help you navigate the process and make sure the property OK to buy.

The commercial real estate market is seeing a trend of buying moving away from trophy assets toward well-located and tenanted properties. In other words, investors don’t want the biggest, most shiny rental on the block, if no one can afford the lease. Those less-expensive properties, while not the best looking can generate dependable cash flow for strapped investors. So instead of the shiny office building, check out the laundry mat, for example. You may be surprised at how an unglamorous business like washing clothes can make you some serious cash.

It’s still a buyers market and rates are still low. There are great deals to be had. Just like with any investment or large purchase, seek professional help, even if you’re not buying a foreclosure. Know what you’re getting into, it could save you time and money in the long run.

3 Steps to Fixing Your Debt – The Free Mortgage Calculator

Debt can be stressful and if you’re not careful a nearly endless cycle. If you’re reading these words, then you’ve already made the decision to do something about it. Well, there’s plenty of help out there, most of which you can do on your own. Here are 3 steps to fixing your debt that can make this stressful situation a little more easy to bear.

First, get a free copy of your credit report. You can get one free credit report per year from all three credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experion and Transunion. You can see on the report just what is damaging your credit and if you have any outstanding debts that you may have let slip by you.   Any bill that has gone unpaid, even for a short period of time can accrue interest and penalties. These not only add up to more debt that’s in turn hit with more interest and fees, the institution can raise your current interest rate when your credit rating drops.

When the credit card or other bills start rolling in, be aware there are two possible methods for paying them off. One is called laddering, where you pay the most on the bill with the highest interest rate, because carrying high interest debt will cost more. The other method is the debt snowball. Put the most money toward the smallest bill and pay the minimum on all others. When the smallest is paid, those payments are added to the next bill and so on.

Debt consolidation is also an option. But be careful, the debt doesn’t go away. You get a loan that covers your debt at a lower interest rate than you were paying. It can help reduce overall interest and you only pay one creditor instead of many.

These 3 are just a few of many methods you can try to fix your debt. Talking to professional is also a good idea. They can help you on your way to managing your debt. They can help you fix your debt and look into ways of buying a home based on your situation.

What caused the Double Dip in Real Estate?

There’s no question that the collapse of the real estate bubble is to blame for the collapse of the economy. Now, there is talk of a real estate double dip. What happened? Was the market getting better? How much more low can it go? It’s confusing stuff, but there are some fairly easy to understand contributing factors.

Remember the tax credit? The federal government was offering an $8000 tax credit to first time homebuyers and $6500 to repeat homebuyers. It was enacted, extended, and then, allowed to expire in May 2010. The tax credit helped to boost home sales while it was in effect. So when the offer expired, so went the boost.

Though mortgage interest rates are at historic lows, they may not stay that way for too much longer. To reverse the old adage: what goes down must go up. Reducing the mortgage rate may have helped lift the real estate market a little. However, as those rates rise, more and more people will find home ownership unaffordable, especially considering that unemployment is still very high. Also, irrespective of interest rates, lenders have tightened their lending policies, making it hard for even employed, responsible borrowers to get a loan.

Unemployment may actually be the crux of the matter. Without jobs, Americans can’t buy homes. With unemployment at multi-decade lows, the possibility of being able to afford a home grows slimmer each day.

Though the tax credit and low rates can help, houses can’t sell if people can’t afford to buy them. The principles of supply and demand will ultimately rule the market despite our best efforts. If there aren’t any buyers, home prices will drop to a point where people can afford to buy them and with the current rate of unemployment, that could be a long way.

Knowledge Will Save You Thousands
The Free Mortgage Calculator

The bank says you don’t have the borrowing power; Why?

Qualifying for a home loan is not as easy as it used it be. Before, almost everyone got approved. Now, banks are a little more careful about whom they lend money to. They want to make sure the borrower can actually payback the money according to the terms of the loan. They do that by determining your borrowing power. When the bank says you don’t have the borrowing power – wait, you don’t have to go to the bank to know this, just check out a mortgage calculator.

This easy to find online tool can help you determine whether you have enough borrowing power to afford to buy a home before you go to the bank. Borrowing power figures heavily in your credit-worthiness. It’s based on your income and financial commitments. Your income, debts, monthly bills, dependants and credit limit are compared to give you an estimate as to how much you can borrow. Your credit limit, income and past defaults are all factors. A bank may also consider a person with the option to go into more debt a higher risk. It’s important to understand that lending criteria can vary by institution and may also consider living expenses and your saving habits.   

Once you’ve used our borrowing power calculator, be honest with yourself. Bring all your financial skeletons out of the closet, even the scary ones. It’s better to take care of any potential hindrances before you go to the bank. Some fixes are easy, others may require years. You can start with pairing down your credit cards, especially high interest department store cards. Less debt in general equals more money available to pay on the loan you’re applying for.

Considering the wide availability of these tools online, there’s no reason for an applicant to endure this rejection. Know your borrowing power before you go to the bank.

Finding the Right Mortgage Broker or Lender

Finding a good Mortgage Broker to work with your specific needs can be a task, but you must take every part of buying a home seriously. Getting the wrong mortgage broker, real estate agent or home inspector could cost you thousands and thousands of dollars.

Picking out your bank, lender or mortgage broker will be the first of many items to check off your list of buying a home. A mortgage broker finds the best interest rates and packages from a pool of banks and lenders in your state. There’s NO cost to you for using a broker rather than going direct to a bank. The bank or lender gives the broker a commission style payment for finding and processing the loan. They can find you very good deals but you need to trust who you’re working with.

At The Free Mortgage Calculator we’re in the process of finding them for our visitors. Along with all the free information we’re going to start qualifying mortgage brokers for each state so that you can click on your state and find a great broker that will help you individually. This is currently set to launch on November 1st of this year.

You may not get that personal feeling when dealing with a bank or private lender directly because banks have many other programs they’re involved in such as retirment funds, savings and checking accounts, CD’s and much more. A mortgage broker is soley in business to help you get the loan that you want and their staff is trained accordingly.

When you first start looking for a mortgage broker to see what you can afford for a home you should talk to at least 5 so that you can feel out who you trust the most. Even if you don’t know ANYTHING about baseball but you talk 10 sports writers in a row you’ll be able to tell the smart ones apart from the “full of bull” ones.

Sometimes I hear people going through the buying process and they say that everything’s going smooth except we hate our real estate agent, or we hate our mortgage broker. So why didn’t you drop them and find someone else? You don’t pay them anything until they follow through with whatever YOU want them to. Tell them what you want, be assertive but you don’t have to be rude. Just drop them when you feel they aren’t doing enough for you.

If you continue to ask for homes under $200,000 and your agent continues to bring you to homes over your budget let them know the problem or just go find another agent. Taking your time in this economy is the best option because the longer you wait the better chances you have of catching a cheap foreclosure or short sale.

Use a mortgage calculator to see what the mortgage payment will be on the amount that you get approved for by the different brokers. If you get approved for $180,000 then use the calculator to see what the payment is and make sure to add in the monthly taxes. This way you can see if you can really afford the price range they gave you. If you can’t then back off a little bit.

If a car sales man told you that you could afford $65,000 for a car is that what you’d start looking for? Or would you start looking at a more reasonably priced car around $30,000. You don’t want to spend every last monthly dollar you make on your mortgage or you’ll never be able to save money or have extra spending money at the end of each month.

Remember that a good mortgage broker will work for you to find you the best interest rate, loan program and lowest closing costs from the many different banks and lenders out there. Talk to 4-5 brokers before choosing one and make sure you have a good rapport before working together.

Knowledge Will Save You Thousands
The Free Mortgage Calculator

How Much of a Home Equity Loan Can I Get?

In 2011 most banks and mortgage lenders are giving 80% loan to value worth of a home equity loan pending your credit approval. If your home is paid off completely then you’ll have to get an appraisal to see how much it’s worth and you can get a home equity loan for 80% of that number.

Why 80% instead if 100%?

In a declining real estate market mortgage lenders need to protect themselves and the people from losing money. The way things are going right now if your home is worth $200,000 then in a year it might be worth $180,000. If you ended up getting a home equity loan for $200,000 it would be very hard for you to sell the home because you’re up side down on the mortgage.

If you owe $200,000 and you need to sell your home worth $180,000 then you’ll owe the bank a check for $20,000 at closing. That doesn’t even include the closing costs it will cost you to sell it. You’re much better off keeping it as long as you can afford the montly payment.

That’s the reason for only giving out 80% of the homes value. I swear if a bank allowed everyone to take out a $250,000 home equity loan on a $150,000 home they would. I hear people complain about only being able to get 80% all the time.

About 5 years ago when real estate was rising banks were loaning out 110% of the homes equity. They figured since real estate was going up so fast they wouldn’t lose. Then it hit them like a ton of bricks.

Try to forget about “what you’re allowed to get” and start thinking about what you can afford. Do you really want to take on your entire mortgage again? How long will it take you to pay it off? Did you use a mortgage calculator to check the monthly mortgage payment? Usually a home equity loan is only over 15-20 years instead of 30 years as well. Make sure you change that if you’re using the interest calculators on my website because they all default to 30 years.

Only need a small home equity loan?

The same rules apply but if you don’t have your mortgage paid off you need to subtract it first. If you appraise your home at $200,000 then you can get $160,000 minus the amount you still owe on the mortgage. If you owe $140,000 then you can get an equity loan for $20,000 assuming you have the monthly borrowing power and credit approval to get the loan.

Banks typically get this process done very fast because all they have to do is make sure you have the income to support it and good enough credit. Then they get the appraisal done to check the current worth of your home, subtract 20% and send you the money. It can usually get done within a week or two.

Remember that the bank doesn’t know how you spend your money so use a mortgage calculator and make sure you can afford it instead of just assuming you can handle whatever the bank wants to give you.

Knowledge Will Save You Thousands
The Free Mortgage Calculator

Refinance Your Mortgage With a 4% Current Interest Rate

In 2011 banks and mortgage companies are offering a 30 year fixed rate mortgage for about 4% and a refinance interest rate of 3.5% which means everyone could probably benefit from these low interest rates. Most people hear rumors from friends and family that “if you lower your interest rate by 0.50% you’ll save a lot of money on your mortgage”.

That’s true, but how do you know exactly how much you’d save? There’s a mortgage calculator on this website that’s very easy to use and will show you, in seconds, exactly how much money you’ll save in many different scenarios.

First plug in all of your current information such as, $150,000 over 30 years at 6% interest. If that’s what you started with then you should see your monthly mortgage payment amount. Your current mortgage payment probably includes your monthly taxes so the number might seem lower that you see in the calculator.

Then simply change the interest rate to 4% and watch the bottom “Interest Paid” box lower. The amount that it lowers is the amount that you’d save on your particular mortgage. Going from 6% to 4% in this situation you’ll save $70,000 over the life of the mortgage.

Then I want you to add money to the “extra monthly principal” box to see how much interest you’d save by adding $50 per month to your mortgage payment. Adding $50 per month at 6% interest will save you $30,000 over the life of the mortgage.

Learning how to use a mortgage calculator is so easy and you’ll end up saving thousands and thousands of dollars on your current mortgage and possibly more in the future. Paying interest on the same money for 30 years will cost you more than double the price of the home in the first place.

If You’re Refinancing

If you plan to refinance your home after using the interest calculator then you should remember to only get the loan over the amount of years you have left rather than a new 30 year mortgage. You already spent 5 years paying down your mortgage so make sure you don’t start over at 30 years again. I’ve even lowered it to 20 years because I’m saving so much on the monthly amount that I can technically afford more…

150,000, 30 years at 6% – $900/mo
          Paid down – $10,500

Refinance 139,500 20 years at 4% – $845/mo

So instead of refinancing to save about $150/mo and keep paying it down in 25 years you’ll pay the same monthly amount to pay off your mortgage in 20 years. If you can continue to pay the same amount each month this is the best option for you when refinancing your mortgage.

If you really want that extra $150 per month then please write down what you’re going to use it for. I do understand that people are in tough situations in this 2011 economy so if you really need the money just write down what you’re using it for. Otherwise you’ll probably just waste it and forget you’re even getting it after a few months.

You’re better off keeping the mortgage payment close to the same and paying it off 5 years faster. This will save you the most money on your mortgage, pay it down faster and make it very easy to sell down the road because you’ll have more equity in it to make a profit. A lot of people are up side down on their mortgage right now making it very hard to sell because they’ll owe the bank money if they sell it. Being “up side down” is owing $150,000 while your home is worth $130,000.

Learn and use a mortgage calculator if you have a mortgage or are thinking about getting one. It will save you money.

Knowledge Will Save You Thousands
The Free Mortgage Calculator