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Alice Said:

First time mortgage questionnaire online?

We Answered:

As a rule of thumb, banks will lend you about 2.5 to 3 times your annual salary. From a payment perpective, they want to see the housing costs (principal, interest, property taxes and insurance) to be 28% or less of your gross monthly income, and housing costs plus all other debt payments (student loan, car loan, credit cards) to be less than 36% of your gross monthly income.

There is a homebuying for dummies book you can probably look up online or at a library that does a decent job of walking you through how to get a mortgage.

Also, if you go to www.hud.gov, the federal housing and urban development website, you can research if there are first time homebuyer programs in your community. If you sign up for one of these programs, you can often get assistance with downpayments and/or lower interest rates.

Grace Said:

whats an average interest rate on a mortgage?

We Answered:

range 6-6.45% Also, check with a good loan officer - sometimes you can get the rate down a bit more with 10-20% down. I got a rate locked in at 6.125% last week for a client and under 6% in March (rates are bouncing around so have a good loan officer keep an eye on it for you and lock in when it's good)

Cathy Said:

How accurate are those mortgage calculators when it comes to how much your monthly payment will be?

We Answered:

Those are accurate numbers for financing 95,000 for 30 years at 5%. The calculators are only as accurate as the numbers you feed them. A lot of them don't include things like PMI, homeowners insurance and other items that you will have to put in escrow.

Don't forget you will likely have to pay for appraisals, inspections and closing costs.

Juanita Said:

why will my monthly payment be higher quoted from mortgage company than from mortgage calculators on internet.

We Answered:

several things could be happening here

your lender could be including private mortage insurance if you don't have 20% down and the lender requires it

also, the lender may be including fees and closing costs into the loan, which could run into thousands of dollars

be very wary of any loan where all costs are not disclosed to you in a truth-in lending statement, and if a lender or broker makes promises to you or tells you to disregard any truth-in -lending statement you do get

Teresa Said:

Where is a mortgage calculator whcih shows whether I should refinance?

We Answered:

For calculators on mortgages, try bankrate.com


They have all kinds of calculators and information, including info on how to figure out when it is worth refinancing.


(does "2 yrs left to go" refers to when you don't have to pay a penalty? If you have many years to go on your mortgage, consider getting a fixed rate if you think interest rates may go up in the future...)


You can even comparison shop for mortgages on bankrate.com.

Edgar Said:

When calculating payments on a mortgage calculator- I see 6% rate, does this mean taxes? And if so?

We Answered:

No, that would be the interest rate you're paying on the loan.