FHA home loans: they can make wannabe homeowners’ dreams come true by allowing them to buy a house even if they don’t have an 800 credit score, or they can’t afford a full 20% down payment. But here’s a fun fact we’d like to share with everyone: FHA loans aren’t actually offered by the FHA. Nope. The FHA just insures the loan, protecting the actual lender against our potential default. But the FHA wants a little protection too, which is why we (the FHA-loan-having homeowner) are asked to pay something called “up-front mortgage insurance,” or “UFMI.”
UFMI is a premium that’s usually assessed as soon as we secure the loan for our new house, and for the most part, it’s equal to 1.5% of our loan amount. So if we took out a home loan for $250,000, we’d have to pay $3,750. Sounds like a lot, but it’s a lot less than a standard down payment would’ve been. Even if we end up paying the $3,750 plus a 3% down payment on the house (as some FHA loans require), that’s still a whole lot less than a 20% down payment.
The bad news is that we have to pay our UFMI in full before we close on the house (though occasionally we can just get it added to the mortgage itself). The better news is that, in some cases, we can get some of it back if we end up selling the house within a certain amount of time.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is Interest Only Mortgage?17 Views
Finance allah shmoop what is an interest only mortgage Well
simply put it's when you only pay the rent on
the dough you borrowed you don't pay down the principal
you owe like if you have a three hundred thousand
dollars mortgage at six percent interest you're paying eighteen grand
a year to rent that money in six percent times
three hundred rands eighteen grand a year But the principal
you borrowed is likely due in thirty years So in
theory anyway if it were a normal mortgage you'd want
to pay down the principal little bit a month as
you go along like averaging ten grand a year in
principle pay down over thirty years That's times ten grand
right three hundred grand their total owning your home at
the end yeah yeah priceless that's what holmes work So
why would you want an interest only mortgage Well for
one thing the monthly payments or less so maybe you
could afford morehouse If on a thirty year three hundred
thousand dollar loan at six percent you're paying interest only
while you're writing a check each month for eighteen thousand
divided by twelve or fifteen hundred bucks maybe that's all
You can afford well the extra five hundred bucks arm
or you'd right toe pay down your principles Just not
something you can really do right now Maybe after three
years of scrimping and saving well you'll be able to
start paying down that principal reducing risk and making life
easier all the way around But right now you can't
afford it so the only thing you can do is
do the interest only dance Well the other reason you
might want an interest only mortgages that interest costs are
tax deductible Principal pay down costs are not so if
in a given mortgage payment of say eighteen hundred bucks
a month where three hundred of it is principal pay
down and fifteen hundred of it is interest well on
ly the fifteen hundred is tax deductible That three hundred
of pay down is not And if you're a forty
percent taxpayer the government is essentially picking up the tax
savings on the fifteen hundred times a forty percent at
six hundred dollars in interest You're paying such that they
quote feel unquote like the fifteen hundred is really only
about nine hundred a month in cost to you the
three hundred bucks and principal paydown feels like a full
three hundred dollars So some people seeking tio optimize their
tax deductions live in the world of interest only mortgages
and let the government for a change You know work 00:02:26.24 --> [endTime] for them How's that feel same all Take it
Up Next
What is a mortgage? A mortgage is a loan on property. Obviously not many individuals, or companies for that matter, can or want to pay cash for the...
What are the components of a mortgage payment? Mortgage payments generally consist of (4) components acronymed as PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes,...
What is an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM)? An adjustable-rate mortgage is a mortgage that has a changing interest rate. Whatever it changes to is b...