Monday, December 22, 2008

The Truth about First Time Buyer Mortgages

By Ruth Coats

Often, first time home buyers don't have the resources to get a regular mortgage, which is why there are first time buyer mortgages. If you are a first time buyer, you may be confused because there is more than one type of first time buyer offers out there, and it is important to choose the one that is going to help you out the most.

The first thing that a lot of banks are going to offer first time buyers is the opportunity to reduce the amount of down payment that they have to pay to get into their house. Traditionally, you need a down payment of twenty percent of the cost of the house to get a mortgage, and a lot of first time buyers don't have that much money. Banks will let you get a mortgage with just five or ten percent of the price of the house, allowing you to stop saving and move in.

It may or may not be beneficial to take the bank up on this offer. Instead of pinching your pennies for years, you are going to get to live in your house a lot sooner. If you take the bank up on this offer, they will often require that you carry a private mortgage insurance to offset the risk. The more insurance that you have to pay, the less money that is going to pay off your loan. If you don't have to pay a large down payment, you might foolishly believe that you can afford a more expensive house than your budget allows. If your finances change, you could up losing your house.

Another popular first time buyer incentive is a lower mortgage rate for a certain period of time. This is going to help the first time buyer afford a house because the interest rates are going to be lower for the first year of the mortgage period, and then change to the current rate later down the road. This can cause a lot of troubles for first time buyers, and is something that you should definitely consider when taking out a mortgage.

The problem is that a lot of homeowners get so used to the reduced interest rates that they forget that the interest is going to go up in a fixed time period and they don't plan for this. When the mortgage rates go up, they find that their budget is seriously pinched. Sure, they may have had every intention of saving that money that they were saving on the interest for the future. You never save money, especially when you are buying your first home and have to buy furniture and redecorate it to your tastes.

Sometimes banks just offer first time buyers offers like no closing fees or gifts when you take out your first mortgage with their bank. They want your business and are going to offer first time buyers special services in order to gain their loyalty.

First time buyers have a lot of power when getting their first mortgage, but it's also a very stressful time. A lot of times banks will want their first time buyers to get a more expensive mortgage than they can afford, because a bigger mortgage means more money for them. When you are getting your first mortgage make sure you are going to be able to afford it.

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