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.

Why do bank rate mortgages vary? What makes the interest rates of these bank rate mortgages rise? What makes those of bank rate mortgages fall? These questions race through our minds whenever we are faced with a financial situation that requires us to understand a little bit more about bank rate mortgages.

The answer is simple enough. Bank rate mortgages are moved by several factors that are different from but are somehow connected with each other. Not surprisingly, one of these factors that affect the movement of bank rate mortgages is you the consumer.

Bank mortgage rate money come from any number of sources. Bank mortgage rate money may come from deposits at banks and brokerages. Most bank mortgage rate money comes from investors who comprise the collective term, capital markets. These capital markets are where the purchase of debt instruments like bonds and bank rate mortgages are done.

To attract investors, sellers of bank rate mortgages and bonds in these capital markets compete with one another. This is done by providing their consumers with a variety of products, such as bonds and bank rate mortgage. These bank rate mortgage products have varying levels of risks and gains over given periods of time. In turn, these offerings compete with other investments which possess certain similarities in terms of performance. These include US Treasuries, corporate bonds, foreign bonds, bank rate mortgages, and others.

The bank rate mortgage investors act like typical consumers. That is, like you, they want two opposing things: low payments on their bank rate mortgages and high returns on investments. The demands of these investors play a significant role in moving the yields of the bank rate mortgage markets. The marketplace for bank rate mortgages is crowded because investors literally have hundreds of places to put their money into.

Sellers of various products like bank rate mortgages compete with others for those investor dollars. Demands for specific products, e.g. bank rate mortgages, rise and fall according to the changes made in the investment strategies. For instance, if demand for bank rate mortgages falls, a change needs to be done to attract investors again. And this is usually done by raising interest rates on bank rate mortgages.

Then again, bank rate mortgages are never that simple. The market makers of bank rate mortgages do not have the investors alone as their client. The other half of the coin is the home buyers. These two clients of bank rate mortgage markets take opposing sides when it comes to investments. The investors want the highest possible return on their investments. On the other hand, the home buyers want the lowest possible interest rates on their bank rate mortgages. The result is a virtual tug-of-war.

As interest rates of bank rate mortgages decline, the interest of investors and home consumers alike are tweaked just a little bit. But this all depends on the direction of the economic growth, inflation, appetite for the given product, and several other factors. A typical outcome of lowering rates for bank rate mortgages though is lesser interest on the part of the investors. No investor would put down in his book a bank rate mortgage with a low interest rate.

The other term for a balloon payment mortgage is a partially amortized loan. Balloon payment mortgage is when your liability or obligation is only partially amortized, leaving the rest to be paid upon the completion of the term. Because the initial interest rates and monthly payments are lower, a balloon payment mortgage is paid off with one large payment at the end of the loan term.

Balloon payment mortgages are called such because borrowers who are on this type of loan are usually set up for a balloon payment at the end of their loan term. In most other loans, monthly payments do not only pay off the interest but also chip away at the principal amount the original amount owed. Thus at the end of each loan term where balloon payment mortgage is applied, no money is owed.

With balloon payment mortgages however, the monthly payment only comprises of interest or a combination of interest plus a small amount for the principal. No matter the case, when the balloon payment mortgage term expires, the balance is due in full.

Most second mortgages are commonly balloon payment mortgages. For instance, your balloon payment mortgage is 20,000 with a monthly interest-only payment set up for ten years. When your balloon payment mortgage term ends, you still have to pay for the 20,000 principal amount.

There are a couple of accepted institutional loan products that have balloon payment mortgages. One of these balloon payment mortgage products is the 30-year loan that has to be paid off in five or seven years.

Usually, the interest rate of the 30-year balloon payment mortgage is lower than a normal 30-year fixed rate mortgage with due date of 30 years. Monthly payments of balloon payment mortgage are still amortized based on the 30-year term. But at the end of five or seven years, a large amount of the balloon payment mortgage is due.

To explain further on this, lets say you have a balloon payment mortgage with an interest rate of 7.5%. After seven years, an approximate 92% of the original balloon payment mortgage amount is due. For example, the amount of the balloon payment mortgage is 200,000. The interest rate for this balloon payment mortgage is 7.5%. After seven years, the total amount of money you owe to the balloon payment mortgage lender is 184,000, provided that you havent sold the property yet or refinanced.

A tip for home borrowers is that when you do take on a balloon payment mortgage makes sure that the due date is not too soon. With balloon payment mortgages, if you cant pay the lender the amount on the due date, you might have to foreclose and lose the property.

Some lenders offer extensions for their 30-years-due-in-7 balloon payment mortgages. Lenders of this type of loan may extend your balloon payment mortgage for another 23 years but with a new interest rate. These balloon payment lenders base their new interest rates on a conversion formula. In this case, you might have to re-qualify for the balloon payment mortgage should the new interest rate on the mortgage being converted is significantly higher than the old rate.