What Is Fixed Mortgage Rate?

03 May 2008

Mortgage Rate

For many individuals, whether first time buyers or not, the prime consideration when looking at a fixed rate mortgage is the monthly repayment cost. A large number of individuals these days have decided to wait and are purchasing homes later but they also need to settle their mortgage early. However, there are many factors to consider before signing any papers.

One serious point is to ensure that the interest rate doesn’t alter during the life of the mortgage. Of course, many lenders seem to offer deals that are too good to be true. Although, loans based on a long term fixed rate mortgage maintain the same sum of money of interest throughout their life. If you are someone that wants a mortgage with a regular fixed monthly mortgage payment with no hidden extra charges then this is the main benefit with this type of arrangement. Both my wife and I decided to research fixed rate mortgages when we began looking at homes for sale. Our aim was to pay of the mortgage as soon as we could without getting into financial trouble because of high monthly payments.

Looking at an even extended term mortgage was one option if we could not afford the monthly repayments on a 15 year plan. No-one likes the idea of having a mortgage when they are close to retirement, and we were no other, so it was still our hope that a fifteen year fixed mortgage rate would still be an alternative. We felt there was a lot of insistence to have the house paid off as soon as practicable and for the most part we agreed with this.

There were many things that factored into this; first of all, I discovered that my wife was having a baby. Because my wife preferred to be at home for our child, her fiscal income would be unsure and irregular. Also, loans for a 15 year fixed mortgage rate required a higher monthly payment. It was a case that we plainly didn’t want to get in over our heads and cause problems in the future.

After looking at the much lower sum of money we would be making on our monthly installments with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, there wasn’t any option but to go with it. Fortunately, we are also able make additional repayments throughout the year to make the principal shrink faster. We also found that we could lower the number of years left on the mortgage by making these odd payments. Although this takes some discipline, it is well worth it in the long term. Under different conditions, we would have preferred to have taken out a loan with a fifteen year fixed mortgage rate but we had to consider our other commitments as well. Altogether though, things worked out very well for us and we’re pleased we made the decision we did.