What Is A No Fee Mortgage?

Posted by Joe268

April 3, 2008

Everyone is aware that mortgages come with a lot of different fees attached. To most everyone, this also meant that the lender, or the mortgage broker was getting rich by adding these fees to the deal. Before long, someone thought they would provide a more attractive offer by making available a no fee mortgage. The name of it is impressive enough, but is there really no fees attached to it? Here is some information that will help you decide if you should look further into getting a no fee mortgage.

A no fee mortgage pretty much is what it says no fee. At least, you won’t see them listed when you look at the paperwork on it. More good news is that you will not be paying fees at the closing table, either.

When you do finally come to the table for closing on this mortgage, it does not mean, however, that you will not need to bring any money with you. There will be some things that are not included in the no fee mortgage, and this includes things like interest between the closing date and the first payment, escrow for homeowner’s insurance and various taxes on the property.

The truth is, though, that on a no fee mortgage, there will be some fees that are added on. You, though, do not pay these fees, at closing time. Actually, the lender is providing for the cost of closing at the time - but you will be paying for the privilege eventually.

Looking at the terms of the mortgage, you will see that the fees are not listed there. This is what makes it a no fee mortgage - there must be some truth in advertising. So, the equivalent amount of the fees is placed under another category. Simply raising the interest rate a little higher in order to compensate for it easily does this.

A no fee mortgage adds the fees to the mortgage and then becomes part of it. While you get the privilege of not having to pay for these fees up front you will still pay them and pay interest on it, too.

When you compare a no fees mortgage with another type, separate the principal from everything else and compare totals. You will see that the overall amount of costs added is usually about the same. In the case of no fee mortgages, things have simply been shuffled around a bit.

In order to get a no fee mortgage, you may need to “qualify” for it. This may mean that you must provide a certain size down payment in order to get it. If that is true, then make sure you compare it to another lender who may only require half that amount - at the same interest rate. Some lenders will not provide more than an 80% loan to value (LTV amount, meaning that you will need to come up with the other 20%.

No fee mortgages are especially good for the short term. New no fee mortgages offer even greater savings by removing some of the costs that other companies add in. This obviously results in savings if you shop around.

Joe Kenny writes for the UK personal finance sites http://www.ukpersonalloanstore.co.uk/financial/mortgage_what_is.html and also http://www.nationsfinance.co.uk/mortgages/, also for US residents visit http://www.rebuild.org/mortgages.html

Mortgage