| Your dream house may not be everyone else's idea | | | | A prepayment mortgage calculator can show you |
| of "Home, Sweet Home," but it's going to be all yours. | | | | what it means over the life of your note. The beauty |
| Now if you can just figure out how to finance that bit | | | | of the prepayment is that it is optional, not contractual. |
| of real estate. Not wanting to leave any stone | | | | Unlike an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM), you are |
| unturned, you're on this site to get some background | | | | not locked in to an increase every one to five years. |
| for your decision. | | | | You're only responsible to make the original mortgage |
| One kind of mortgage calculator ("how much house | | | | payment. If you are not so financially constrained with |
| can I afford" type) takes a look at your budget and, | | | | a monthly budget, and prefer to have a lower rate of |
| with your input, works out how much you can afford | | | | interest to start, then use an ARM mortgage calculator. |
| to pay, either monthly or annually. Some are not | | | | This will give you a rough idea of monthly payment |
| comprehensive enough to take into account taxes, | | | | over a period of time. ARMs do have the distinct |
| insurance and the increased costs of homeownership. | | | | disadvantage of putting your home in danger financially |
| It's worth your extra time to pull up several of these | | | | should the interest rates rise dramatically. |
| mortgage calculators and run your numbers through | | | | You need to use the mortgage calculator to find out |
| them for comparison. Then you're ready for the next | | | | what your optimum interest rate would be before you |
| step. | | | | reached that financial crisis. Make sure that the price |
| The fixed rate mortgage gives you the same monthly | | | | of the house you buy gives you quite a large safety |
| payment for the life of your mortgage. That's what | | | | net so that the interest rate can rise without danger. |
| you just worked through. This means you can set up | | | | The beauty of mortgage calculators is that you get |
| your household budget more precisely and have | | | | experiment before committing anything to paper or |
| greater control over how your money is spent. | | | | even speaking realtors or lenders. |
| A "how much can I borrow" mortgage calculator helps | | | | You find the information you need to complete the |
| you work out how much you can afford to pay for | | | | mortgage calculator's questions by using your own |
| the house altogether. Can you afford that dream | | | | financial information, an approximate house price and |
| home? Maybe yes; maybe no. | | | | the rates advertised on any piece of junk mail that's |
| It also depends upon the interest rates you negotiate | | | | arrived in your mailbox. You work in the privacy of |
| with the lender, an increase in the size of your down | | | | your own home without the fear of being hounded by |
| payment, the number of years you want the note for | | | | a salesman doing follow-ups! |
| and the actual price you negotiate for the house. | | | | Take the preferred options you worked out on the |
| Using the mortgage calculator, you can input these | | | | mortgage calculator with you when you begin |
| factors individually and see what happens to your | | | | discussions with the broker. |
| bottom line. A small additional prepayment to your | | | | It's proof of your intentions and serves warning of your |
| regular mortgage payment may be what pushes you | | | | willingness to follow up on those you're negotiating with. |
| over the top. | | | | |