Real Estate City Information: Mortgages

Mortgage Amount and Term

The mortgage amount is the amount of money you borrow from a lender to pay for your house. The term is the number of years over which you can pay back the amount you borrow.

The length of your mortgage repayment period will directly affect your monthly mortgage payments.

The most popular mortgage term is 30 years. By extending payment over 30 years, you keep your monthly housing costs low. If you can afford higher monthly payments, you can select a mortgage term that is shorter. There are 20-year, 15-year, and even 10-year fixed-rate mortgages available from most mortgage lenders. The longer your repayment period is, the lower your monthly payments will be, but the total interest you pay over the life of the loan will be more.