Ability Mortgage Group is a Virginia Mortgage Company specializing in low cost hassle free mortgages. We offer Virginia refinance mortgages as well as Virginia purchase mortgages. If you are in the process of considering either a Virginia refinance mortgage or a Virginia purchase mortgage please give us a call to discuss our mortgage products and your mortgage options. We provide accurate Good Faith Estimates and accurate Virginia mortgage rates. Please bookmark our website to see our daily updated Virginia mortgage rates. You may also at any time fill out a short inquiry form on our website. We are committed to excellent customer service, closing on time and with the same figures you saw on your Good Faith Estimate. Please consider us for all of you Virginia refinance and purchase mortgage needs.
A Virginia Mortgage Guide
Whether you’re buying your first home in Virginia, or you're relocating to Virginia, or you’re a long-time Virginia resident looking to refinance your current mortgage or take out a home equity loan for home improvements, it's important that you educate yourself on Virginia home mortgage loans before buying a home.
Like in many other states, a Virginia home buyer will be presented with a completed Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement from a real estate agent before submitting an offer on a home. The home seller creates this Statement which names all of the property that will be included in the sale and rate certain conditions of both the home and any included property.
Virginia home buyers qualify for both state and federal FHA, USDA, and VA loans. First-time home buyers qualify for Virginia FHA loans with low interest rates, and with loans covering down payment and closing costs. The state of Virginia offers unconventional loans designed to aid home buyers with their monthly mortgage payments. These loans have varying requirements depending on a home’s location. The Virginia Housing Finance Agency offer information about specific requirements.
Virginia Mortgage Loan Rates
Once you begin shopping for the best Virginia mortgage rates, we will help you compare mortgage loan rates by type of loan, your credit profile, calculate monthly payments, and analyze amortization options. After this initial research, we'll help you find lenders that offer Virginia home financing. Current Virginia mortgage rates for the most common type, thirty year fixed rate, mortgages are at historic lows. It’s most important to understand the type of mortgage loan you need to meet your home financing requirements.
Mortgage Loan Types
It's difficult to compare mortgage rates on the different types of loans without understanding how each type of loan.
Fixed Rate Mortgages
Fixed Rate Mortgages have constant interest rates and fixed monthly payments. Second mortgages can carry a fixed or adjustable interest rate.
Adjustable Rate Mortgages
This type of mortgage offers a constant interest rate and monthly payment for the first 1 to 5 years. After that, the interest rates, and therefore the monthly payments, are adjusted at fixed yearly intervals.
Virginia Mortgage Refinancing
With today’s low fixed interest rates, refinancing your current mortgage loan can help you lower your monthly mortgage payment. You can borrow against the equity that has built up in your home at a lower cost than borrowing money through a new loan. Like most mortgage interest, mortgage refinancing lets you pay off credit cards and other high interest debt. Plus a refinance mortgage’s interest is tax deductible.
Lowering your monthly payment is very likely with today’s low Virginia interest rates. If rates are the same or higher than your existing mortgage, explore the possibility of lengthening your loan's maturity to reduce your payment.
Comparison shopping Virginia Mortgages
Comparison shopping will undoubtedly let you find the best rate on your mortgage loan. Here are the comparison shopping steps to follow:
1. Research, review and compare mortgage rates
2. Browse Virginia mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers
3. Calculate payments and amortization tables for different loan types
4. Contact Virginia brokers and lenders to request quotes
Bear in mind when researching your options:
Use advertised interest rates only as a guideline. Low advertised interest rates are reserved for buyers with very high credit ratings.
You will not receive a written statement of loan terms until after you have submitted a mortgage loan application.
One mortgage loan quote may not be directly comparable to another. Use the written statement of terms to carefully check loan structures. Review differences in upfront payments and amortization schedules with care.
Home Mortgage Loan Glossary
- Annual Percentage Rate (APR): A mortgage loan’s interest rate. The total interest rate including the stated loan interest as well as any upfront interest paid in securing the loan. The APR will always be different then the mortgage rate quoted due to the inclusion of these items.
- Balloon Mortgage: This type of mortgage loan starts with a short term fixed rate mortgage, with a significantly lower interest rate than the current rate, but then changes into an adjustable rate mortgage. The first payments are applied towards interest, and a lump sum "balloon" payment is due at the end of the term, ranging 3 to 7 years. Balloon mortgages have relatively easy eligibility, much easier than for conventional 15 or 30-year mortgages. Interest rates and monthly payments tend to be lower.
- Collateral: The security pledged by a home buyer in exchange for a loan or other form of credit. Real property, and cash are the most common types of collateral. If the borrower defaults with non-repayment of the loan, the lender may seize and sell the collateral.
- Conforming Loan: A home mortgage loan with a maximum loan amount of $322,700 and meets the underwriting guidelines, loan amount limits, and regulatory parameters set by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
- Credit Report: A detailed overview of a prospective home buyer’s credit rating, credit record including bankruptcies, late payments, and current and past debts, and public records compiled by a credit reporting agency.
- Credit Reporting Agency: Also known as a “credit bureau”, a company that gathers critical information about consumers’ credit history (loan repayments, debts) and sells this data to lenders.
- Fannie Mae (FNMA): A corporation that buys and backs mortgages that comply with its funding guidelines, packages them into securities, and sells them to financial investors. Through FNMA’s operation, low and middle income buyers have a greater choice of affordable home ownership.
- FHA Loans: Home mortgage loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. They offer the buyer easy qualifications with low closing costs and down payments. Buyers with poor credit or financial problems may qualify FHA loans since income levels are not checked.
- FICO Score: A number representing a buyer’s credit rating. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, with higher scores resulting in lower loan interest rates. The key factors used to calculate a Fico Score include; forms of credit, length of credit history, credit balance, and payment history.
- Foreclosure: A legal proceeding where a lender may repossess and sell mortgaged property upon a borrower’s default.
- Freddie Mac: A Federal Government sponsored company that sets guidelines on eligible properties, down payments, buyer income and credit requirements, along with maximum mortgage loan amounts.
- Indexes: Lenders use Indexes to track changes in mortgage loan rates. Commonly used indexes include:
- Treasury Bills
- Prime Rates
- Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
- Constant Maturity Treasury (CMT)
- Cost of Funds Index (COFI)
- 12 Month Treasury Average (MTA)
- Jumbo Mortgage Loan: A mortgage that exceeds Freddie Mac and Fannie Mac maximum loan limits is referred to as a jumbo mortgage loan.
- Margins: A lender’s profit margin on a mortgage loan. It is added to the index rate to establish the final loan interest rate.
- Mortgage Banker: A creditor that originates and funds loans for resale to secondary market investors including Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and insurance providers. Mortgage bankers also service secondary mortgage market loans.
- Mortgage Broker: A company or individual acting as an intermediary between home buyers and mortgage lenders. They select mortgage creditors based on a borrower's personal and financial situation. Mortgage brokers originate home loans, but do not fund them.
- Mortgage Calculator: Enables buyers to calculate monthly mortgage payments for different loan types, terms, interest rates, and amounts to assist consumers in determining how much home financing they can afford.
- Mortgage Escrow Account: An account set up by a lender in which cash or other assets are held to pay for expenses pending satisfaction of contractual obligations.
- Non-conforming Loan: A non-conforming loan, also referred to as a jumbo loan, exceeds the limits and guidelines set by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Loans to buyers with bad credit or for amounts exceeding conforming limits are classified as non-conforming loans.
- Points: One point is one percent of a loan amount, usually paid to the lender at the closing.
- Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI): Insures lenders from loss if a buyer defaults on their mortgage loan. PMI is required for buyers with less than 20% down payment, and when the amount financed is greater than 80% of appraised value when refinancing.
- Subprime Mortgage Loans: Mortgage loans requiring lower income, and lower credit rating then from government loans (FHA, VA loans) and traditional loans. Subprime loans usually have higher interest rates and down payments due to increased risk in lending to buyers with such low incomes and low credit ratings.
- VA Loans: A home mortgage loan from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to buyers that are, or have been active in the military, or are the spouse of active military personnel. Military service members and veterans who can demonstrate their ability to make regular monthly payments qualify for small or no down payments as well as low mortgage loan rates.
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