Using an 80 20 Mortgage to Avoid Mortgage Insurance

An 80 20 mortgage is also called a zero down loan or no money down loan. It is actually two loans, a regular home mortgage which constitutes 80% of the price of the home and a second mortgage or home equity loan that consists of 20% of the cost of the house. The idea behind this type of loan is avoiding mortgage insurance (PMI) by using the home equity loan as the down payment.

Just about all mortgages require some form of mortgage insurance if you are unable to make a down payment of at least 20 percent. By obtaining a second mortgage or home equity loan for 20 percent of the homes cost you can circumnavigate this requirement by using that second loan as the down payment.

There are variations of this type of mortgage such as an 80-15-5 loan. This means that the borrower got a main mortgage of 80 percent of a home's purchase price, a piggyback loan for 15 percent, and made a 5-percent down payment. This can be a good option if you have some money for a down payment but not enough to cover the entire 20%.

The second mortgage can either be a fixed second mortgage or it can be a line of credit. If it is a fixed second mortgage then the interest rate is normally fixed for the entire length of the mortgage. Most fixed second mortgages are a 30 due in 15 which means that the second mortgage is amortized over 30 years, but is due in 15 years. The benefit of going with the line of credit as the second mortgage is that the interest rate is normally much lower than the fixed second mortgages rate. They can also be an interest only loan which could save you hundreds of dollars in mortgage payments every month.

The 80 percent first mortgage can be a fixed-rate (15-year or 30-year), adjustable-rate (usually 5/1, 7/1 or 10/1fixed period ARM) or interest-only loan. Typically, the interest rate on the second mortgage loan is higher than the interest rate of the first loan. But because the borrower doesn't have to pay mortgage insurance, the overall cost is less than a traditional mortgage even with the higher mortgage interest rate on the second loan.

Plenty of mortgage programs allow borrowers to buy houses with little or no money down, but they usually require private mortgage insurance, or PMI. Getting an 80 20 mortgage can be a good way to avoid the extra cost that PMI will add to your monthly payments.

Getting The Best Mortgage Rates

Buying your new home is always a big commitment. Buying your new home requires long term thinking, as this is going to be a loan which lasts a couple of decades. Getting the lowest home mortgage rates makes a big difference in what you have to pay back to the mortgage lender.

Foreclosures is a risk which gets many potential home owners to get cold feet in getting a home mortgage loan to buying new property. Banks are writing of many mortgage debts as lost forever. This is a cause for concern, however, realize that times change, and as last year had good growth, we will see good growth in future. Mortgage lenders will still give out home mortgage loans to people, though the mortgage lending companies may be a bit more vigilant when deciding who to give a home mortgage loan to.

While people from other countries may look into the US standard of living and think that every American is rich. For those living in the US, they know that it just isn't the case. Many families have to really save and work on a budget. For people who want the American dream of owning a home, saving and scrimping is the goal to make it all take effect. Something that comes into play when trying to buying new property is the price of housing and the interest rate cost of the mortgage. Getting the lowest home mortgage rates is critical for families wanting to own instead of rent.

Getting the lowest home mortgage rates can be the difference between getting a mortgage and being able to pay for it or not being able to pay for the mortgage. Most people who end up with a foreclosure, with the exception of certain circumstances, take effect due to people not taking a look on the long term, and looking how getting a mortgage will effect them not just today or in a few months, but in a decade or two.

Something to bear in mind with regard to the lowest home mortgage rates is that the lowest home mortgage rates is always fluctuating but it currently hovers at close to six percent. This is for owners that have good credit score and very little debt to income ratio.

It's easy to see how the mortgage rates have been when looking back over the last forty years. Looking back on the payments for housing, it shows that new homeowners will also find that the cost of interest rates will seem low to future generations. There was a time in the late seventies and the early eighties when the lowest home mortgage rates was in the double digits. The lowest home mortgage rates was at ten percent and higher. Thankfully, today's rates are much lower and more people should buy now before interest rates climb once again. Talk to a real estate professional that can help people know when the best time to buy a home is.

Your credit rating is an necessary factor in whether you will get the lowest home mortgage rates or not. However, the credit rating is only part of the choice process. The mortgage lender will take into account your current circumstances, income level, and your ability to keep that payment throughout the mortgage period.