Compare The Best Mortgage Rates in Ellijay, GA

Compare Ellijay, GA Mortgage Loan Rates

When you are in the market for a new home, it is important that you look for the best mortgage rates you can find. This is also true when you are looking to refinance your current home as well. MyRatePlan makes it easy to find the very best home loan rates in the Ellijay, GA area by offering their customers the tools and information they need. If you put in the time needed to compare home loan rates, you will be able to secure yourself a good interest rate and save money in the long run.

Different Types of Mortgages Available in Ellijay, GA

There are a variety of loan products on the market to appeal to all kinds of different buyers. Mortgages can be separated into the fixed-rate and variable categories.

With a fixed-rate mortgage loan in Ellijay, GA, the loan's interest rate will stay the same for the whole repayment term. This also means that the buyer's monthly payment stays the same until the loan is paid off, and it remains true even if the loan is going to last decades, as is the case with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. For the buyer, this means that they always know how much they'll be paying and they don't need to worry about interest rate fluctuations.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) in Ellijay, GA work much differently, because they have interest rates that can adjust with the market. There is usually an initial period of time where the interest rate is locked in, and after that time period ends, the interest rate on the loan adjusts every year. Since this effectively blends the fixed-rate mortgage and the ARM, these loans are sometimes called hybrid ARMs. One example would be a 5/1 ARM, with the numbers indicating how long the interest rate is fixed. In a 5/1 ARM, the first five years of the loan have a fixed interest rate, and from then on out, the interest rate adjusts annually.

FHA Mortgages in Ellijay, GA

Deciding between fixed-rate mortgages and ARMs isn't the only choice a prospective borrower must make. They also need to consider whether they want to stick with conventional mortgages or get a government-insured mortgage. With conventional mortgages, the contract is between the lender and the borrower. If the borrower defaults, the lender could lose money. With government-insured mortgages, the government is backing the mortgage and helping to cover the lender if a default occurs. This type of mortgage includes USDA loans, VA loans and FHA loans.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages have mortgage insurance provided by the FHA, which is itself managed by the government's Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). With FHA loans in Ellijay, GA, it's not just first-time buyers that can qualify but any type of buyer. Borrowers benefit from FHA loans because down payments can be just 3.5 percent of the home's price, but on the other hand, they also need to pay the mortgage insurance every month, which makes their home payment a bit more expensive.

Mortgage Refinancing in Ellijay, GA

Even though mortgage refinancing in Ellijay, GA is a common term, what is actually happening is the borrower is applying for a new home loan to pay off the old one. If the new mortgage has better terms, the borrower can save money, but they need to remember that the new mortgage could have closing costs, along with some other fees, that they must cover. To decide if refinancing a mortgage is the right move, the borrower must do the math and see if they'll save enough from the lower interest rate to outweigh any costs of the new mortgage.

There is one situation where the borrower doesn't need to double check the math, though, and that's if they're paying off an ARM with a fixed-rate mortgage. This is almost always a wise choice, because interest rates usually increase, which means fixed-rate mortgages are often cheaper in the long run. When a borrower wants to refinance a mortgage, they need to demonstrate that they're low risk. They can do so by getting to and maintaining a plus-700 credit score and having a low ratio of debt to income. Fortunately, even borrowers who can't quite reach the highest standards can still end up approved on a new mortgage in Ellijay, GA with low interest.