Whenever you refinance, renew a mortgage or buy a home, a mortgage broker is there to help you get the best deal on your mortgage. These individuals are experts in mortgages and they shop for the best rates as well as answer all your mortgage questions. Here are some questions that you can ask your mortgage broker.
Am I Able to Get Pre-Approved?
It is possible to get pre-approved for a mortgage. The mortgage broker looks at your credit, income history, and down payment. They will then supply you with a letter that states the amount of mortgage that you’re approved for.
You’ll get a mortgage rate that is locked in at 90-120 days, so you have time to view properties. If the rates go down during the mortgage application process, you will get the better deal. If the rates happen to go up, you still get the pre-approval rate.
When you have a pre-approved mortgage, this can help you when house hunting as you’ll know how much that you can afford. You can use this as a bargaining chip when trying to get a good price for the home. You may also be pre-approved for more than you might want to spend so you need to look at your budget to decide how much you want to spend on a home.
What is the Best Mortgage Rate You Can Give Me?
There are several factors that go into mortgage rates. The key points are the length of the mortgage terms and whether the mortgage has insurance.
If you have a mortgage and the down payment is less than 20%, then you need to buy CMHC insurance as this will protect the lender in case there is a default. This security allows the lender to offer a lower interest rate on mortgages which don’t have insurance.
Can I Make Additional Payments?
You may have no interest in making any additional payments on a mortgage that you don’t own yet, but you might want to have the option open as this can save you potentially thousands over the life of the mortgage.
These prepayment privileges allow you to make extra payments on the mortgage. Many mortgages allow you to increase the monthly payment or make one large payment each year or they may offer both options.
Mortgages can be vastly different. Some lenders allow you to increase monthly payments by a large percentage while others only allow you to increase it by a smaller amount or they might not offer any increases. A mortgage broker can help you understand the prepayment privileges that are available to you.
What Penalties Occur When I Break My Mortgage?
You may have reasons to break your mortgage early. You may decide to refinance or sell your home, but this incurs penalties if you do this before the renewal date. The penalty will vary depending on the mortgage that you have. If it’s a variable rate mortgage, the penalty will usually be 3 months of interest.
Interest rate differential applies with fixed-rate mortgages. This IRD makes you responsible for the interest difference that you pay when the mortgage term is over and the interest that would be earnt by lending money out at the current rates.
What Else Do I Need to Know?
Buying a home will be the biggest investment that you’re going to make in your life. A mortgage broker is going to help you borrow the thousands of dollars that you need over many years to pay the mortgage off. You must understand everything about your mortgage and the mortgage broker is an expert that can help you and answer all of your questions. Make sure you ask any question you have as the mortgage broker is there to help you. It’s important to do a lot of research about mortgages and how they apply to you so talk to your mortgage broker.
Summary
Your mortgage broker is an expert about mortgages and the various mortgage lenders. Talk to a mortgage broker today so understand everything you need to make a sound decision about your mortgage.
