What Is A Qualified Mortgage?

As this video explains,  Federal laws put into effect in 2014 and  supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau define lending practices and loan terms for a new category called “Qualified Mortgages.” They provide stable loan features for consumers and...

What Is The Debt-To-Income Ratio (DTI)?

Measuring your existing debts against your existing income is one part of a lender’s required assessment of your ability to repay a loan. Like the video says:  debts are existing financial commitments; a car payment is a debt a grocery bill is not. To calculate your...

What Does Ability To Repay Mean?

What are the “Ability to repay” rules about? In a nutshell, as this video shows, new laws require lenders to make a good-faith assessment of a borrower’s capacity to pay back their loan over time. It’s a longer-term view that goes beyond immediate income, debt and...

What Is Equity?

Equity is the value YOU own in property such as a house. It’s the difference between what’s OWED and what the property is WORTH in the current market. The example this video shows – you have a house worth $300,000 today and you owe the bank $200,000.  Your...

What Is “Prime”?

The Prime Lending Rate – sometimes just called “Prime”  – is the interest rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans. Some consumer rates – like ARMs – are set in relation to Prime. In the US, Prime is affected by the Federal Reserve...

What Are Discount Points?

Discount points allow you to lower your interest rate. While this video simplifies things to help you remember, “points” are essentially prepaid interest with each point equaling 1% of the total loan amount. Generally, for each point paid on a 30-year mortgage the...