Mortgage principal is the amount you borrow from your lender to purchase your home. If your lender gives you $250,000, for example, your mortgage principal is $250,000. You’ll pay this amount off in monthly installments for a predetermined amount of time, maybe 15 or 30 years. You also might have heard the term outstanding mortgage principal before. This refers to
Mortgage interest rates are dynamic and unpredictable and can fluctuate many times between when you file a loan application and your closing. So, if you want to avoid uncertainty and preserve the rate in your mortgage loan offer, you might want to consider getting a mortgage interest rate lock. Interest rate locks can offer peace of mind to borrowers, but
You know exactly what you want in your first home—a four-bedroom property in a prime neighborhood with a top-notch school district. But before you can get a mortgage to buy that ideal house, you likely will need to improve your credit score. If you’re borrowing money to purchase a home, your lender wants to know that you’ll be able to
While there are many types of mortgages, many borrowers choose a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage that provides fixed monthly payments for the life of the loan. But another option is an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), which typically begins with an interest rate that is fixed for a period of time—usually three to 10 years—and then adjusts based on an index (a benchmark
