Every person who has ever bought a home with a mortgage knows that by the time the pay off is made on the mortgage more is paid to cover interest costs than the actual purchase price of the house.

For example, on your first mortgage loan, you borrow 125,000 at 8% with a 30-year term. After your first mortgage loan period is done, youll have paid over 205,000 in interest and the 125,000 principal amount you borrowed. A result, your house that is only for 125,000 ends up costing you 330,000 on your first mortgage loan.

This is the reason why, it makes absolute sense that before taking on your first mortgage loan, a little bit of shopping is done. Getting the best product for your first mortgage loan is nice and most probably the biggest financial decision youll ever have to make.

All right. So lets get down to the basics. Most people think that a mortgage is a loan. Well, its not. A loan is something the lender gives you. A mortgage, on the other hand, is something you give to the lender.

Now when you take on your first mortgage loan, its imperative that you know what types of mortgage products are currently being offered in the market. Below are some of these first mortgage loans.

Fixed Rate for your first mortgage loan

If youre thinking of getting your first mortgage loan, a fixed rate mortgage might be the right choice for you. In a fixed rate mortgage, interest rates are set all throughout the whole loan term. This means that when you take on your first mortgage loan, your interest rate will not increase or decrease. The interest rate of your first mortgage loan will remain the same all throughout the loan period, usually 30, 20, 15, or even 10 years.

Getting a fixed rate first mortgage loan will have you paying for a predetermined monthly payment rate. Payments for your first mortgage loan interest and principal will never change. Having this type of mortgage for your first mortgage loan is especially advantageous if over time, interest rates suddenly go up. Plus, down payment if you get this as your first mortgage loan could be as low as 5% of the original purchasing price.

Adjustable Rate First Mortgage Loan

If the projected interest rates in the market are going down, then an adjustable rate mortgage might just be the right option for getting your first mortgage loan. Adjustable rate mortgages are mortgages where the interest rates and monthly payments depend on the rise and fall of rates in the market. This type of loan is especially a good choice for a first mortgage loan also if you expect a rise in your income over the next few years.

Balloon First Mortgage Loan

If you do not plan on keeping your house for long, then getting a balloon first mortgage loan will do the trick for you. A balloon first mortgage loan offers lower interest rates compared to a conventional loan. The only downside to this type of mortgage for a first mortgage loan is that a large amount is due in five to seven years. If you do not have funds to cover that amount and you are still in the house by the end of the loan term, you might need to get another loan in order to cover the cost for that first mortgage loan.

What is an amortization mortgage? If youve bought a house before, you probably have an idea what amortization mortgage is. But as far as details are concerned, amortization mortgages just escape those who dont have a solid financial education background.

Amortization Mortgages: What the experts say
According to Philip Russel, assistant professor of finance at Philadelphia University, an amortization mortgage is the systemic payment plan such as a monthly payment so that your loan is paid off over the specified loan period.

Based on his given definition, we can therefore safely conclude that an amortization mortgage is an amount of money that is to be paid off by a certain date. Paying off an amortization mortgage is usually done in equal monthly installments. One example of an amortization mortgage is one that involves your car loan or your home loan. Your credit account however cannot be considered an amortization mortgage since it does not involve a fixed date for payoff.

In an amortization mortgage, payment is divided into two portions one for the interest cost and the other for the principal amount. The principal amount is the money originally borrowed from the amortization mortgage lender. The interest is the percent growth of the money as time goes.

Amortization mortgage interest is computed based on the current amount owed. Thus the longer youve been paying for an amortization mortgage, the lower the interest becomes.
Negative Amortization Mortgage: Pros and Cons

Payment plans for an amortization mortgage are usually based on adjustable rate payment loans. Adjustable rate amortization mortgages are loans where the amount you pay depends on the rise or fall of interest rates.

Some types of adjustable rate amortization mortgages offer payment caps than interest rate caps. This basically limits the increase amount of your monthly payment on your amortization mortgage and makes your loan negatively amortized. If interest rates rise to the point that the interest due cannot be covered by your monthly amortization mortgage payment, the unpaid amount will be added into the loan balance, increasing it over time.

For instance, the payment cap of your amortization mortgage is 7.5%. With a monthly amortization mortgage payment of 1,000 and rising interest rates, your new payment would normally be 1200/month. But with an amortization mortgage with capped payment, you would only be paying 1075 and the other 125 gets added to your loan balance.

But this setback of a negative amortization mortgage can be counteracted if you choose to pay the additional amount now and not wait for its payoff overtime. Another advantage of negative amortization mortgages is that cash flow is more easily controlled. Remember that with an adjustable rate amortization mortgage, interest rates may go lower depending on the market. Natural inflation will allow you to pay back the money you borrowed today at a depreciated value years from now.

Most adjustable rate amortization mortgages have interest rates that will adjust every six months, once a year, every three years, or every five years. Interest rates of negative amortization mortgages can adjust monthly.

Choosing the right mortgage involves knowing how mortgage rates work. Mortgage rates are affected by several factors. One of them is the type of mortgage consumers take.

There are two types of mortgages available in the market. The first one is a fixed rate mortgage, where the rates are set for the duration of the loan term. The second one is the adjustable rate mortgage.

In an adjustable rate mortgage, the interest rate periodically changes. Interest rates in adjustable rate mortgages may either increase or decrease, depending on how prime rates are changing. This ability of adjustable rate mortgages may lead customers to get cheap interest rates, allowing them to save more on their monthly repayments. On the other hand, adjustable rate mortgages may also work the other way around. Interest rates in adjustable rate mortgages may increase when prime rates of lending companies also increase.

Because of the complexities involved, adjustable rate mortgages are usually restricted to savvy investor types who wish to pay less so that they could channel their extra funds on other investments. If the low interest rates remain steady, adjustable rate mortgages could be inexpensive. This is also why some homebuyers who are more enterprising than others take to adjustable rate mortgages.

How Adjustable Rate Mortgages work

Adjustable rate mortgages have very low interest rates at the start of a specified loan period. The interest rates of adjustable rate mortgages are even lower when compared to 15- and 30-year mortgages. This is the primary reason why homebuyers prefer adjustable rate mortgages.

Adjustable rate mortgages may involve varying monthly payments over a period of time. Because interest rates of adjustable rate mortgages may either rise or fall, it is therefore advisable that only those who are financially secure should get an adjustable rate mortgage.

Cheap rates of adjustable rate mortgages may only last for a specified time period, after which, the monthly payments may increase or decrease. Interest rates of adjustable rate mortgages are changed on a regular basis based on a pre-selected index. There are several kinds of indices used for adjustable rate mortgages. The most common is the yield on the one-year Treasury bill.

Adjustable rate mortgages may have new interest rates which are calculated by adding the index to a set margin determined by the lender. Inexpensive rates are available in adjustable rate mortgage programs for one, three, give, seven, and ten years. The most common adjustable rate mortgage is the 1-year program. This type of adjustable rate mortgages has a low interest rate for a fixed period of one year but after which, it is adjusted to suit the index and set margin.

The interest rates of adjustable rate mortgages are not adjusted every month. On the contrary, interest rates of adjustable rate mortgages are changed regularly every year or every three years. A six-month adjustable rate mortgage is difficult to handle and should only be accepted if the adjustments are stated clearly in the loan agreement.

Adjustable rate mortgages may be converted into fixed rates if it is essential. Adjustable rate mortgages are also assumable mortgages. This means that an adjustable rate mortgage may be transferred to new buyer who would assume the same terms of the said mortgage. The new buyer would have to qualify for the adjustable rate mortgage before he can assume it.