How Long Should My Mortgage Be

What Mortgage Payment Can You Afford

After youve done some basic bookkeeping, you can begin to determine a potential monthly mortgage payment that makes sense for you and your family. In addition to what your budget can afford, an important rule to keep in mind is the debt-to-income ratio, or the back-end ratio. To make sure your total debt isnt more than your income can support, lenders consider all your debt payments for things like your home, car, credit cards and any other loans. If a paying a mortgage would mean your total monthly spending on paying down debt is higher than 36 percent of your income, you may have trouble getting approved for the loan. Some lenders may allow a higher debt-to-income ratio based on compensating factors like additional cash reserves.

Should I Fix My Mortgage For 2 Years

If youâre not planning on living in the same property for years and years, a 2-year fixed-rate term might be the safest option. This way, you can sell up and leave after 2 years without having to pay that hefty early repayment charge. Or, you can just remortgage to get yourself on another fixed-rate deal if you want to stay. You may even be able to get a cheaper deal if interest rates have gone down, which is always a plus!

On top of all that, the shorter the term you go for, the less your monthly repayments will usually be. So, if youâre on a budget, this might be the best plan for you. Yes, you wonât have the peace of mind of knowing that your repayments are going to be fixed for years on end. But youâll have certainty for a couple of years and can cross the next bridge when it comes!

Refinancing Again In A Short Period Of Time

Another way a refi loan can impact your credit score is if you refinance multiple times in a short period of time.

When youre shopping around, multiple inquiries about the same type of loan are usually lumped together, Heck explains. However, a second refinance close to the first is a different proposition, and a lot of new activity in a short period of time is often seen as a red flag.

Its not just refinancing your home, either, according to Heck. If youre looking into several different types of loans at one time, you could drag your score down.

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Should You Refinance Your Home Now

• To reduce your monthly mortgage payments at the cost of a lower interest rate
• For a shorter term, for example if you take out a 15-year loan instead of a 30-year mortgage, you can pay off faster and pay much less accrued interest.
• Moving from a variable rate mortgage to a fixed rate loan is a good idea if you think interest rates will rise in the future.

The Longer The Mortgage Term The Smaller The Monthly Repayments

Clearly, many of those people taking their first step onto the property ladder are being tempted by the big selling point of a longer mortgage term – smaller monthly repayments. Because you are spreading the total repayment of the mortgage over a longer period, the monthly cost of your mortgage falls.

Letâs say that you are buying a house with a £150,000 mortgage, with a current interest rate of 2.5%. If you go for a 25-year term then that will mean monthly repayments of around £678 a month.

But if you go for a longer mortgage term, that will mean much lower monthly repayments. For example, with a 30-year term, those monthly payments fall to £597, while a 35-year term would see those repayments drop down to £540.

If you are looking to buy a house at the moment, this can be a big selling point. House prices continue to rise the latest data from the Office for National Statistics suggests that annual price growth is at 4.4%, taking the average house price to around £225,000.

With wages certainly not rising at anything like that rate, you arenât alone if youâre worried about how to make the sums add up.

So if you think you might struggle to afford the monthly repayments that would come with a 25-year term, a longer term on your mortgage may make the bill much easier to meet.

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What Is The Average Home Loan Length

Mortgages typically come with a certain amount of time to pay off the loan. This is known as a mortgage term. The most common mortgage term in the U.S. is 30 years. A 30-year mortgage gives the borrower 30 years to pay back their loan.

Most people with this type of mortgage wont keep the original loan for 30 years. In fact, the typical mortgage length, or average lifespan of a mortgage, is under 10 years. Thats not because these borrowers pay the loan off in record time. Its more likely that homeowners refinance into a new mortgage or purchase a new home before the term is up. According to the National Association of REALTORS® , buyers only expect to stay in the home they purchase for a median of 15 years.

So why, then, is the 30-year option the average mortgage term in America? Its popularity has to do with several different factors, including current mortgage rates, the monthly payment, the type of home being purchased or the borrowers financial goals.

How Does A Mortgage Rate Lock Work

You can lock the mortgage rate at any time during the mortgage process usually between the time you choose the lender and the mortgage or before closing. This is why deciding when to lock a rate can be tricky. You want to lock it when the rate available to you is low.

Most lenders provide a letter indicating a rate lock agreement. The letter states what the interest rate is and how long the rate lock will last. Lenders may extend the rate lock or provide a long run at the start, but these options can cost money, so be sure to run through all the considerations of your personal situation before making a decision and completing the loan application process.

Heres an example of why a rate lock is important: Lets say you receive a 3.25% initial rate quote for a $ 400,000 home loan with a 30-year repayment period, but you dont lock the rate. Thirty days later, you are ready to buy a house, but the interest rate has risen to 3.45%. At higher rates, you will pay $ 44 more per month and approximately $ 16,000 more in interest over the life of the loan.

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What Happens At The End Of The Fixed Term

The term is for the first part of your mortgage deal, rather than the entire loan period. For example, your mortgage may be repayable after 25 years but the fixed term may be only for five years.

After your fixed term ends, youll be placed on a standard variable rate set by the provider. This rate isnt guaranteed and often changes. Thats why many people choose to remortgage at the end of their fixed term deal to avoid the higher standard interest rate charges.

Should You Overpay Instead

Some mortgages let you make overpayments, which means paying more than the amount due each month or paying off a lump sum.

Making overpayments has the same effect as shortening the mortgage’s term – the balance is paid off quicker, and you pay less interest.

However, the benefit is it gives you more flexibility because you can choose when you overpay. In comparison, having a shorter term means you have to pay a higher amount every month.

Check if your lender allows overpayments, if you can make them without paying a fee and if there is a limit to how much you can pay. Many lenders will allow you to pay 10% of the total mortgage balance as an overpayment each year, penalty free.

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Should You Break Your Mortgage

By on December 17, 2021

While mortgage rates are still ridiculously low, you could save thousands of dollars by breaking your mortgage for a new one. Heres what you need to know.

Image by Jörg Hertle from Pixabay

Joakim Tjernell was pretty proud of himselfhed done a damn good job of shopping for a mortgage. It was back in June of 2009 and Tjernell, a translator in his 30s, had been eyeing units in a slick modern condo building on Torontos Bathurst Street for a while. There was a lot of paperworkTjernells wife is a freelance graphic designer, so they had to prove that she had regular income. This was the first time we had a mortgage, so we were nervous about getting approved, he recalls.

But not only were they approved, their mortgage broker came through with a great offer on a variable-rate mortgage from Scotiabank. The $280,000 loan had a 25-year amortization and a floating rate of just 2.90% to start. Tjernell was sure hed bagged a deal.

But in May 2018, he got an email newsletter from his broker suggesting that he could do even better. Tjernell thought all variable-rate mortgages were the same, but that wasnt the case. His original mortgage offered a rate of prime, plus 40 basis points . But the newsletter was offering variable-rate mortgages at prime, minus 40 basis points. Was a difference of just 0.8 of a percentage point worth switching for?

Ready To Fix Your Mortgage

Deciding whether to fix your mortgage, and how long for, can be a little mind-boggling, but itâs not rocket science. Just remember: it depends on what you value and how much certainty or flexibility you want.

To get some advice about what would be best for you, just have a chat with an independent mortgage broker. Theyâll be able to lay out all your options and guide you through the whole thing! You can find the right mortgage advisor for you with our free advisor matching service.

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Mortgage And Promissory Note

Much like your deed, youll want to keep these documents for at least as long as you own the property. In the old days, homeowners had note burning parties at which they torched their mortgages to celebrate paying them off. While that may have been fun, these documents are still incredibly important, and youre much better off filing them in a storage cabinet.

What Mortgage Term Is Best

This will depend on your circumstances, but its worth keeping the following in mind when making your decision:

• Longer-term mortgages cost less per month because the repayments are spread over a longer-term. However, this means that your mortgage will cost you more overall because you will be charged more interest over a longer period.

• Shorter-term mortgages have higher monthly repayments, but this means youll pay off the balance quicker. As a result, youll own your home outright much sooner and pay less in total because you wont be charged as much interest.

Lets look at an example. Paying off a £160,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 4% would cost:

Everyone has different financial circumstances. What may be best for one person may not be ideal for another. So the best mortgage term is one that results in affordable monthly repayments but does not have you paying more in interest than necessary.

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Mortgage Insurance Plays A Role

Conventional mortgages require a minimum down payment of 5%, but if you are able to put down at least 20%, youll have more freedom in terms of how long your amortization can be. Mortgage loans with less than a 20% down payment are considered to be high-ratio home loans and must, therefore, be insured by mortgage default insurance, most commonly referred to as CMHC insurance. The insurance premium that you are responsible for paying protects your lender in the event that you default on the mortgage payments.

Save money and learn how to avoid CMHC insurance fees.

As a result of the added risk high-ratio mortgages, lenders and mortgage default insurance companies want to make sure that you are able to afford to pay back the entire loan amount within a specific time period.

As of 2012, the maximum amortization period on all homes with CMHC-insured mortgages has been reduced from 30 to 25 years. However, if you are able to come up with at least 20% down on your home purchase, your lender may be willing to accept a longer amortization period.

Looking to borrow money for your down payment? Heres how you can do it.

How To Lower Your Monthly Mortgage Payment

• Choose a longer loan. With a longer term, your payment will be lower .
• Spend less on the home. Borrowing less translates to a smaller monthly mortgage payment.
• Avoid PMI. A down payment of 20 percent or more gets you off the hook for private mortgage insurance .
• Shop for a lower interest rate. Be aware, though, that some super-low rates require you to pay points, an upfront cost.
• Make a bigger down payment. This is another way to reduce the size of the loan.

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When And Why To Refinance Mortgage

The best time to consider refinancing your mortgage is when the interest rate falls below the level at which you obtained the original loan. In general, refinancing is worth considering if you can lower your interest rate by at least half a percentage point and plan to stay in your home for at least a few years.

What Happens To The Mortgage After Divorce

If you get divorced, you must continue to pay your mortgage, even if you leave the parental home. If two people get a mortgage, they both agree that they are equally liable for the debt until the mortgage is paid off, not just as long as you live in the property.

How to refinance a carWhat credit score do you need to refinance a car? In general, you should make sure your credit score is at least 555 before refinancing a car. While this score is not considered good, it is generally considered a good starting point for getting credit from bad lenders.How does it work when you refinance your car?When transferring a car, replace the current car loan with a new one with a different term. In practic

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How Much Can You Afford To Pay

Normally, the shorter your fixed-rate period, the less youâll pay each month. This is because on a longer fixed term, youâre paying extra for the luxury of having your rates fixed for a longer period of time.

In a nutshell, if youâre on a 10-year fixed-rate mortgage, youâll usually be paying a little more than someone on a 2-year one. And even though it might only be a bit extra each month, it could add up to thousands over the course of 10 years.

So, think about how tight your mortgage repayments are. Can you afford to fix your payments for longer? Or are you better off paying less and then hoping you can get an even lower rate when you remortgage in a couple of years?

If youâre choosing whether to fix your mortgage for 2 or 5 years , youâre in luck. Right now, thereâs not a lot of difference between the rates youâll be paying on either of these, thanks to COVID and how unpredictable interest rates are at the moment. Which brings us onto…

Should You Purchase Points When Refinancing Your Mortgage

• To make mortgages more affordable, you need to lower your monthly interest payments.
• Your credit rating does not qualify you for the lowest rates available
• You have extra money to deposit and want to take advantage of the initial tax deduction
• You plan to keep your home for a long time so you can write off the costs

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How Much Does It Cost To Lock In The Mortgage Rate

More often than not, short-term rate locks cost borrowers nothing. If the lender charges a rate lock fee, it is usually between .25% and .5% of the total loan amount. But youll likely Only See this if you have a rate lock for more than 60 days. Be sure to ask if the fee is refundable or non-refundable.

You can Compare mortgage rates And close online when you work with Credible.

The Short Answer: Interest Rates And Remortgaging

On the 11th March 2020 the Bank of England made an emergency rate cut in a bid to reduce the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Interest rates were cut from 0.75% to 0.25%, meaning they were back to the previous record low, last experienced between August 2016 and November 2017. In a surprise move, the Bank made a further emergency rate cut on the 19th March 2020, reducing rates to an all-time low of 0.10%.

Fast-forward to winter 2021 and inflation is rising, consistently hitting levels above the 2% target the Bank of England has for it. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee decided on 16 December to increase the base rate to 0.25% to try to control the situation. Its hope is that by making small rate rises over a period of time, it will be equivalent to “easing off the accelerator rather than applying the brakes” for the economy.

This has serious implications for the mortgage market, which will inevitably start to price in these predicted rises, as well as this initial rise. The message is, if you are in a position to remortgage, it will pay to act sooner rather than later to secure the best deal.

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