Fixed
Rate Mortgages
The
most common type of mortgage program where your monthly payments
for interest and principal never change. Property taxes and homeowners
insurance may increase, but generally your monthly payments will
be very stable.
Fixed-rate
mortgages are available for 30 years, 20 years, 15 years and even
10 years. There are also "bi-weekly" mortgages, which shorten
the loan by calling for half the monthly payment every two weeks.
(Since there are 52 weeks in a year, you make 26 payments, or
13 "months" worth, every year.)
Fixed
rate fully amortizing loans have two distinct features. First,
the interest rate remains fixed for the life of the loan. Secondly,
the payments remain level for the life of the loan and are structured
to repay the loan at the end of the loan term. The most common
fixed rate loans are 15 year and 30 year mortgages.
During
the early amortization period, a large percentage of the monthly
payment is used for paying the interest . As the loan is paid
down, more of the monthly payment is applied to principal . A
typical 30 year fixed rate mortgage takes 22.5 years of level
payments to pay half of the original loan amount.