No, we don't charge an application fee online. You can apply anytime at your convenience free of charge. Apply now.

The Federal Truth in Lending law requires that all financial institutions disclose the APR when they advertise a rate. The APR is designed to present the actual cost of obtaining financing, by requiring that some, but not all, closing fees are included in the APR calculation. These fees in addition to the interest rate determine the estimated cost of financing over the full term of the loan. If you do not plan on keeping the loan for the entire term, you may want to carefully consider your up front costs.

Also the APR doesn't include all the closing fees for things like appraisals, title work, and document preparation are not included even though you'll probably have to pay them.

For adjustable rate mortgages no one knows exactly what market conditions will be in the future. The APR is based on assumptions of future rate adjustments.

You can use the APR as a guideline to shop for loans but you should not depend solely on the APR in choosing the loan program that's best for you. Look at total fees, possible rate adjustments in the future if you're comparing adjustable rate mortgages, and consider the length of time that you plan on having the mortgage.

Don't forget that the APR is an effective interest rate--not the actual interest rate. Your monthly payments will be based on the actual interest rate, the amount you borrow, and the term of your loan. You can also get an advice from our live Loan Officer by contacting us.

The simple rule of thumb for determining if it makes sense to refinance is to analyze the amount that it will cost you to refinance compared to the monthly savings you'll have by reducing your payment. By dividing the cost of refinancing by the monthly savings you can determine how many monthly payments you'll have to make before you've recaptured the initial refinance cost. If you plan on staying in your home longer than the recapture time it may make sense for you to refinance. You can also use our Mortgage Tools to get the specific answer for this question.

To fully analyze whether it's the time to refinance you'll have to look deeper. The remaining term of your current loan must also be considered, as well as your tax bracket. Our refinance calculator can help you determine if it's the right time to refinance.

A 15-year fixed rate mortgage gives you the ability to own your home free and clear in 15 years. And, while the monthly payments are somewhat higher than a 30-year loan, the interest rate on the 15-year mortgage is usually a little lower, and more important - you'll pay less than half the total interest cost of the traditional 30-year mortgage. You must also note that your payment will be higher in getting 15 years than 30 year mortgage. There are ways to shorten the term of paying off your loan. Please see Ways to Save Money or Managing a Mortgage. Better yet, contact us and talk to our live Loan Officer.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage offers two big advantages for most borrowers:

1. You own your home in half the time it would take with a traditional 30-year mortgage.
2. You save more than half the amount of interest of a 30-year mortgage. Lenders usually offer this mortgage at a slightly lower interest rate than with 30-year loans - typically up to .5% lower. It is this lower interest rate added to the shorter loan life that creates real savings for 15-year fixed rate borrowers.

The possible disadvantages associated with a 15-year fixed rate mortgage are:

1. The monthly payments for this type of loan are roughly 10 percent to 15 percent higher per month than the payment for a 30-year.
2. Because you'll pay less total interest on the 15-year fixed rate mortgage, you won't have the maximum mortgage interest tax deduction possible.

Getting either 15 year or 30 year fixed do not always mean that you have a security. There are several factors you might want to consider before getting a fixed rate. This factor is determined by your own financial goals. Market trend is also other thing that we have to consider before deciding the program. For more details, please register see Market News or use our Mortgage Tools to see your choices. You can also get more information on how to get the right program and find out ways to Manage your Mortgage or Ways to Save Money by exploring through this website. However, if you prefer to get a direct answer, call us today.

Use our 15-year to 30-year Mortgage Calculator to help decide which loan term is best for you.

Interest rates fluctuate based on a variety of factors, including inflation, the pace of economic growth, and Federal Reserve policy. Over time, inflation has the largest influence on the level of interest rates. A modest rate of inflation will almost always lead to low interest rates, while concerns about rising inflation normally cause interest rates to increase. Our nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve, implements policies designed to keep inflation and interest rates relatively low and stable. To see rates, please check current rates or register on our Rate Lock Advisory for current market trend.

Discount Points are considered a form of interest. Each point is equal to one percent of the loan amount. You pay them, up front, at your loan closing in exchange for a lower interest rate over the life of your loan. This means more money will be required at closing, however, you will have lower monthly payments over the term of your loan.

To determine whether it makes sense for you to pay discount points, you should compare the cost of the discount points to the monthly payments savings created by the lower interest rate. Divide the total cost of the discount points by the savings in each monthly payment. This calculation provides the number of payments you'll make before you actually begin to save money by paying discount points. If the number of months it will take to recoup the discount points is longer than you plan on having this mortgage, you should consider the loan program option that doesn't require discount points to be paid. Please check the Right Loan for guides to right program. You can also post your questions and we will be giving you an answer within 24 hours.

You can lock in your interest rate and discount points as soon as your loan is approved. You can also pre-lock your rate for 60 days but this will cost you .50 point more than your actual discount points and closing cost. Please register on our Lock Advisory for information about locking rates.

If we need to review your information before providing your loan approval, a Loan Officer contact you and you'll have the opportunity to lock your rate.

General Statement

The interest rate market is subject to movements without advance notice. Locking in a rate protects you from the time that your lock is confirmed to the day that your lock period expires.

Rate Commitment Option Lock-In Agreement

A lock is an agreement by the borrower and the lender and specifies the number of days for which a loan’s interest rate and discount points are guaranteed. Should interest rates rise during that period, we are obligated to honor the committed rate. Should interest rates fall during that period, the borrower must honor the lock.

When Can I Lock?

In some cases, your online application will provide all the information needed and you will have the option to lock immediately after loan approval. Otherwise, you will be invited back to lock after we have reviewed your documentation and credit package.

Fees

We do not charge a fee for locking in your interest rate.

Lock Period

We currently offer 30 and 45 day lock-in periods for approved loans and 90 day lock for pre-lock. This means your loan must close and disburse within this number of days from the day your lock is confirmed by us.

Lock Confirmation

Immediately after you accept a lock online, a printable confirmation page is displayed for your records.

Lock Changes

Once we accept your lock, you cannot change the lock period. Therefore, we are not able to renegotiate lock commitments.

An adjustable rate mortgage, or an "ARM" as they are commonly called, is a loan type that offers a lower initial interest rate than most fixed rate loans. The trade off is that the interest rate can change periodically, usually in relation to an index, and the monthly payment will go up or down accordingly.

Against the advantage of the lower payment at the beginning of the loan, you should weigh the risk that an increase in interest rates would lead to higher monthly payments in the future. It's a trade-off. You get a lower rate with an ARM in exchange for assuming more risk.

For many people in a variety of situations, an ARM is the right mortgage choice, particularly if your income is likely to increase in the future or if you only plan on being in the home for three to five years.

Here's some detailed information explaining how ARM's work.

Adjustment Period

With most ARMs, the interest rate and monthly payment are fixed for an initial time period such as one year, three years, five years, or seven years. After the initial fixed period, the interest rate can change every year. For example, one of our most popular adjustable rate mortgages is a five-year ARM. The interest rate will not change for the first five years (the initial adjustment period) but can change every year after the first five years.

Index

Our ARM interest rate changes are tied to changes in an index rate. Using an index to determine future rate adjustments provides you with assurance that rate adjustments will be based on actual market conditions at the time of the adjustment. Premier Funding will provide information on where to find the current index value.

Margin

To determine the interest rate on an ARM, we'll add a pre-disclosed amount to the index called the "margin." If you're still shopping, comparing one lender's margin to another's can be more important than comparing the initial interest rate, since it will be used to calculate the interest rate you will pay in the future.

Interest-Rate Caps

An interest-rate cap places a limit on the amount your interest rate can increase or decrease. There are two types of caps:

1. Periodic or adjustment caps, which limit the interest rate increase or decrease from one adjustment period to the next.
2. Overall or lifetime caps, which limit the interest rate increase over the life of the loan.

As you can imagine, interest rate caps are very important since no one knows what can happen in the future. All of the ARMs we offer have both adjustment and lifetime caps. Please see each product description for full details.

Negative Amortization

"Negative Amortization" occurs when your monthly payment changes to an amount less than the amount required to pay interest due. If a loan has negative amortization, you might end up owing more than you originally borrowed. None of the ARMs we offer allow for negative amortization.

Prepayment Penalties

Some lenders may require you to pay special fees or penalties if you pay off the ARM early. None of the online loan programs we offer have penalties for prepayment. You can pay off your mortgage any time with no additional charges. Products offered online are limited and additional options may be available. You may contact a Loan Officer to discuss other products at: Please see Contact Us information.

Contact a Loan Officer

Selecting a mortgage may be the most important financial decision you will make and you are entitled to all the information you need to make the right decision. Don't hesitate to contact a Loan Officer if you have questions about the features of our adjustable rate mortgages. You can also post your question on this site and a Loan Officer will be emailing you or will call you.

We have variety of products that offers with and without prepayment penalties. Products with prepayment penalty sometimes have better pricing than products with no prepayment. For better understanding about these products, please contact us or post your question onsite.

Yes, applying for a mortgage loan before you find a home may be the best thing you could do! If you apply for your mortgage now, we'll issue an approval subject to you finding the perfect home. We'll issue a Pre-Approval online instantly. You can use the Pre-Approval letter to assure real estate brokers and sellers that you are a qualified buyer. Having a Pre-Approval for a mortgage may give more weight to any offer to purchase that you make.

When you find the perfect home, you'll simply call your Loan Officer to complete your application. Final commitment subject to verification of information, receipt of a satisfactory sales contract, appraisal, title report and meeting our customary closing conditions. You'll have an opportunity to lock in our great rates and fees then and we'll complete the processing of your request.

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We use a nationwide network of closing agents and escrow companies to conduct our loan closings. We'll schedule your closing to take place in a location that is located near your home for your convenience. Apply now.

A home loan often involves many fees, such as the appraisal fee, title charges, closing fees, and state or local taxes. These fees vary from state to state and also from lender to lender. Any lender or broker should be able to give you an estimate of their fees, but it is more difficult to tell which lenders have done their homework and are providing a complete and accurate estimate.

To assist you in evaluating our fees, we've grouped them as follows:

Third Party Fees

Fees that we consider third party fees include the settlement or closing fee, the survey fee, and title insurance fees.

Third party fees are fees that we'll collect and pass on to the person who actually performed the service. For example, an appraiser is paid the appraisal fee, a credit bureau is paid the credit report fee, and a title company or an attorney is paid the title insurance fees.

Typically, you'll see some minor variances in third party fees from lender to lender since a lender may have negotiated a special charge from a provider they use often or chooses a provider that offers nationwide coverage at a flat rate. You may also see that some brokers, including Premier Funding, absorb minor third party fees such as the flood certification fee, the tax service fee, or courier/mailing fees.

Taxes and other unavoidables

Fees that we consider to be taxes and other unavoidables include: State/Local Taxes and recording fees. These fees will most likely have to be paid regardless of the lender you choose. If some lenders don't quote you fees that include taxes and other unavoidable fees, don't assume that you won't have to pay for them, ask.

Lender Fees

Fees such as discount points, commitment fees, and loan processing fees are retained by the lender and are used to provide you with the lowest rates possible.

This is the category of fees that you should compare very closely from lender to lender before making a decision.

Required Advances

You may be asked to prepay some items at closing that will actually be due in the future. These fees are sometimes referred to as prepaid items.

One of the more common required advances is called "per diem interest" or "interest due at closing." All of our mortgages have payment due dates of the 1st of the month. If your loan is closed on any day other than the first of the month, you'll pay interest, from the date funds are disbursed through the end of the month, at closing. For example, if the loan is closed on June 15, we'll collect interest from June 15 through June 30 at closing. This also means that you won't make your first mortgage payment until August 1. This type of charge should not vary from lender to lender, and does not need to be considered when comparing lenders. All lenders will charge you interest beginning on the day the loan funds are disbursed. It is simply a matter of when it will be collected.

If an escrow or impound account will be established, you will make an initial deposit into the escrow account at closing so that sufficient funds are available to pay the bills when they become due.

Whether or not you must purchase mortgage insurance depends on the size of the down payment you make or your loan to value ratio.

If your loan is a purchase, you'll also need to pay for your first year's homeowner's insurance premium prior to closing. We consider this to be a required advance.

First of all, let's make sure that we mean the same thing when we discuss "mortgage insurance." Mortgage insurance should not be confused with mortgage life insurance, which is designed to pay off a mortgage in the event of a borrower's death. Mortgage insurance makes it possible for you to buy a home with less than a 20% down payment by protecting the lender against the additional risk associated with low down payment lending. Low down payment mortgages are becoming more and more popular, and by purchasing mortgage insurance, lenders are comfortable with down payments as low as 3 - 5% of the home's value. It also provides you with the ability to buy a more expensive home than might be possible if a 20% down payment were required.

The mortgage insurance premium is based on loan to value ratio, type of loan, the risk presented by the borrower, and amount of coverage required by the lender. Usually, the premium is included in your monthly payment.

It may be possible to cancel private mortgage insurance at some point, such as when your loan balance is reduced to a certain amount - below 75% to 80% of the property value. Federal law requires automatic termination of mortgage insurance for many borrowers when their loan balance has been amortized down to 78% of the original property value. If you have any questions about when your mortgage insurance could be cancelled, please contact your Loan Consultant.

For questions for mortgage terms, you can check the site’s glossary or contact us for any questions. Apply now if you have decided to get a loan through us.

TYPES OF CLOSING COST



Recurring Closing Costs
As the name implies, Recurring Closing Costs are those costs of homeownership that will recur over time. While there will be an initial, upfront charge when the transaction closes, these items can be expected to continue in the future.
Typical recurring closing costs include Prepaid Interest on the mortgage, Homeowners Insurance Policy, Real Estate Tax & Homeowners Fee Proration, and Mortgage Insurance Premiums.
Recurring Closing Costs vary widely depending on the size and timing of the transaction. Typical costs on a $200,000 purchase with a $180,000 loan would run between $500 and $2,500.

Homeowner's & Hazard Insurance
Homeowner's and hazard insurance offer protection against physical damage to your new home by fire, wind, vandalism and other causes. Most states require that the annual premium on your homeowner's insurance be paid in advance and put into effect at closing. Prices for homeowner's insurance vary depending upon the value of the home, the location and the insurance agency. For example, homeowner's insurance for a $200,000 property could cost between $600 to $700 annually.
Interim Interest or Daily Rate of Interest
This cost is based upon your closing date and covers loan interest from the day you close through the end of the month. Therefore, it can range from 0-30 days' interest, payable to the lender.
Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
Buyers who make down payments that equal less than 20 percent of the value of the house may be required by lenders and, in some states, by law to take out mortgage insurance. The policy covers the lender's risk in the event the buyer fails to make loan payments. Premiums are usually paid annually from an escrow or reserve account, or in a lump sum at closing. A buyer whose mortgage is insured by FHA or guaranteed by VA will have to pay FHA mortgage insurance premiums or VA guarantee fees.
Non-Recurring Closing Closts
Non-recurring closing costs are those one time costs associated with the home buying and mortgage qualifying process. These closing costs only occur once at the close of the transaction. Typical non-recurring closing costs include Mortgage Points, Title, Escrow, Appraisal, Credit Report, Document Preparation, Property Inspection, Termite Inspection, Underwriting and other miscellaneous charges.
Except for title and escrow, these charges are fixed and will not vary with the size of the transaction. For a typical $200,000 purchase price, you should expect to spend between $1,700 and $2,000 for non-recurring closing costs PLUS any mortgage points you choose to pay.

Application Fee & Credit Report
Imposed by your lender, the application fee covers the initial costs of processing your loan request, and usually includes a credit report check. The application fee with a credit report can range from $400 to $525. If it is handled separately, the cost for your credit report will be about $75 to $150. If you are self employed, you will also need a business report that costs between $50 and $100.
Appraisal Fee
This fee covers an independent appraisal of the home you want to purchase. The lender requires this estimate of the market value of the house in order to make the loan. The appraisal fee varies depending on the purchase price and size of the home. For a $100,000 home, the minimum fee would be approximately $275.
Documentation Fees
Some lenders charge miscellaneous fees for various services, such as underwriting, processing and documentation preparation, which usually total under 1 percent of the loan amount.
Home & Pest Inspections
A home inspection by a qualified engineer and pest inspection by a pest control specialist offer assurance that the home you are purchasing is structurally sound and free of termites and any related damage. The costs for these services vary depending upon the location and size of the property, and the professionals you choose.
Loan Origination Fees & Discount Points
The origination fee is charged for the lender's work in evaluating and preparing your mortgage loan. Discount points are prepaid finance charges imposed by the lender at closing. Essentially, paying points is a means for the borrower to pay down the interest rate. Paying points can save thousands over the long term, so if you plan to be in your new home five years or longer and you have the cash up front, it's certainly an option to consider. One point equals one percent of the loan amount. For example, one point on a $75,000 loan would be $750. In some cases - especially with refinances - the points can be financed by adding them to the loan amount.
Survey
At a minimum, the lender will require an independent verification from a surveying firm that no additional structures have been added to the lot since the last survey was conducted on the property. The lender may request a complete survey to ensure that the house and other structures on the property meet legal codes and regulations. Depending on the size of the property and the state you live in, surveys can cost between $250 to $450.
Title Fees
In order to purchase a property, you must establish the seller's ownership and transfer ownership from seller to buyer. The following fees are required by a title search company to complete this process:
Document Preparation Fee
This is usually a flat fee paid to the title company which can range from $50 to $200.
Title Search & Title Insurance
It is necessary to prove to the lender that the seller owns the property you wish to purchase in order to get a loan. The title search provides this proof. The title search involves reviewing public records in local government offices, including recorders of deeds, county courts, tax assessors and surveyors. Records of deaths, divorces, court judgments, liens and contests over wills (all of which can affect ownership rights) must also be examined. The title search assures you and your lender that there are no claims against the property. The cost for a title search is based upon the purchase price, and may cost approximately $300 to $600. In addition to the title search, title insurance protects you and the lender from an error in the title search. Such an error could mean that the lending institution loaned you money to buy a house from someone who didn't own it in the first place. Lenders' title insurance is approximately .2 percent to .5 percent of the loan amount, paid by the purchaser. Owner's title insurance protects you from title search errors, and usually ranges between .3 percent and .6 percent of the purchase price of the home.
Government Fees
Government-imposed fees are usually the most costly fees you will incur at closing. These include city, county and state transfer taxes, recording fees and prepaid property taxes.
Recording Fee
This fee, which is paid to the title company, involves recording the transfer of title with the county clerk's office. Recording fees vary from state to state and county to county, however, each county sets a fixed price per page which is usually about $50.
Taxes
Most states require that four to eight months' taxes be collected at closing and held in an escrow account. An escrow account is a reserve account set up by your lender in which you deposit enough money to cover the first few months of mortgage insurance, hazard insurance and property taxes. The purpose of the escrow account is to ensure that sufficient funds are available to cover these expenses once you've purchased your home.