How To Read Your Mortgage Update
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See also: More Local Mortgage Rates | |
Below is a sample of the report which is e-mailed as part of the Homebuyer's Mortgage Kit. The sample shows part of a report formatted for Excel. (Note: our reports are saved in Excel version 5.0 (Office 97) for our clients' convenience.) The same information appears in our text-formatted (RPT) reports and the PDF version of our reports. Below it are short definitions of the column headings.
You'll have to scroll this page side-to-side to see all of the column headings -- just as you would when viewing the e-mailed report. (Our reports provide a lot of information about each loan.) See below for brief explanations of these headings.
For instructions on converting an HSH "RPT" (text) report to Word, see our tutorial "How to convert an (HSH) 'RPT' file to MS Word".
| TYPE | ADJ | TERM | LENDER NAME | CITY | L.ST | TELEPHONE | % DWN | INT RATE | PTS | APR | MAX AMT | APP FEE | ORIG FEE | ADJ CAP | LIFE CAP | INDEX | MARGIN | RATE @ | LOCKIN | REPORT COMMENT | REGION COMMENT 1 (R1) |
| CON | 0.00 | 30 | FRIENDLY LENDER | METROPOLIS | AR | 317-555-1212 | 5.0% | 7.250% | 0.375 | 7.375 | 275,000 | 300 | 0.000 | 0.000% | 0.000% | 0.000% | APL | 45 | <$150K MINIMUM MORTGAGE AMT | ||
| ARM | 1.00 | 30 | FRIENDLY LENDER | METROPOLIS | AR | 317-555-1212 | 10.0% | 6.500% | 0.000 | 6.500% | 275,000 | 300 | 0.000 | 2.000% | 6.000% | 1YT | 2.750% | APL | 45 | (Comments in this field refer to the loan program.) | |
| ARM | 5/1 | 30 | FRIENDLY LENDER | METROPOLIS | AR | 317-555-1212 | 10.0% | 6.750% | 0.000 | 6.750% | 275,000 | 300 | 0.000 | 2.000% | 5.000% | 1YT | 2.750% | APL | 45 | (Comments in this field refer to the loan program.) |
A brief explanation of the column headings
TYPE refers to the type of loan. CON is our abbreviation for Fixed Rate Mortgage; ARM stands for Adjustable Rate Mortgage.
[Other loans types which appear rarely, if ever, include GPA (Graduated Payment ARM), VA (fixed rate VA loan), BAL (balloon mortgage), ARB (adjustable rate balloon), AFH (Adjustable Rate FHA), and FHA (fixed rate FHA loan).]
ADJ refers to an ARM's adjustment period -- typically 1M (one month), 3M (three month), 6M (six months), or in years (1,2,3,5). Numbers with slashes, e.g. "5/1" refer to "hybrid" ARMs.
TERM refers to the overall loan term, typically 15 to 30 (rarely 40) years.
LENDER NAME is self-explanatory.
CITY is the location of the local office.
L.ST refers to the state in which the lender's office is located.
TELEPHONE is the office telephone number.
% DWN refers to the "percent down" for the loan, also known as down payment.
INT RATE is the loan's (initial) interest rate.
PTS refers to the discount points. Origination "points" are listed in the "Orig Fee" column.
APR refers to the loan's Annual Percentage Rate, if it was reported to us by the lender. Please note that lenders are not required to quote APRs for our survey, because the survey is not advertising. Lenders are only required to quote APRs in advertising materials, such as newspapers or the HSH Lender Showcase.
MAX AMT is the loan's maximum loan amount, in dollars.
APP FEE is the application fee, in dollars.
ORIG FEE are origination points.
ADJ CAP refers to an ARM's per-adjustment interest rate cap.
LIFE CAP refers to an ARM's lifetime interest rate cap.
INDEX refers to the Index used to change an ARM's interest rate. (You can find current ARM indexes here.)
MARGIN lists the Margin added to the Index value to arrive at the ARM's new interest rate.
RATE @ refers to when the interest rate is locked in.
LOCKIN shows the time period for which the rate lock is honored.
REPORT COMMENT would be any pertinent comments.
REGION COMMENT 1 (R1) another comment field.