Lower Your Mortgage Payments

By Joseph Wolf

The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with how to calculate mortgage payments.

Reverse mortgages may be right for you if you need the money for retirement or anything really. However it is important to remember that it is a debt that must be paid back when the house sells (or, as I understand it, the owner moves out into a retirement community). Reverse mortgages must be the primary liens on a property, which means that all other debts must be paid off when the loan is taken out.

For example, the interest rate payable may be set at a small percentage above the rate being tracked for an incentive period. Tracker mortgages track the base rate (in most cases, the interest rate they charge will remain a fixed amount above it). When the base rate goes up or down, so will your mortgage rate and your monthly mortgage payments.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and mortgage rate experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading mortgage payment formulas, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to calculating mortgage payments.

Trackers won't suit everyone because the rate you pay is linked to the base rate, so your payments will go up or down with interest rate changes. Those with existing tracker mortgages obviously benefited when interest rates were slashed between October last year and March. Tracker mortgages offer rates that rise and fall in line with a specific benchmark, usually the Base Rate (i.e. Tracker rates are expressed as a certain percentage above the benchmark rate.

Check when your fixed rate mortgage term will end and find out how the new interest rate will be calculated so you can start saving early. If you're worried about financing the increase in repayments, talk to your lender, as they may be able to offer a better deal. Check the FSA register to see if the adviser you are dealing with is regulated.

Interest only ARMS often homebuyers will be able to obtain a bigger house or something closer to what they want with an ARM. Interest rates tend to be lower on the shorter loan life as well. These are just a couple of things to keep in mind while deciding what option to use. Interest rates are rising. While I don't know where they will be in five years, it's likely they will be higher than they are now.

It never hurts to be well-informed with the latest on how to calculate mortgage payments. Compare what you've learned here to future articles so that you can stay alert to changes in the area of mortgage formulas. - 29866

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