The current housing market is sluggish. For quite some time, the industry has been attempting to improve its performance. Mortgages are very common because they are the convenient and effective in providing home buyers cash and resources to purchase real estate assets. For homeowners, mortgages are used for using homes as collaterals to get higher amounts of loans to be used for different endeavors and investments.

With the depleting property valuations and higher defaults, banks and mortgage providers are basically charging clients high mortgage rates. There are added fees, penalties and other charges that the mortgage borrower might not be fully aware of. Thus, mortgage payments and bills are usually surprising and stressful. If you want to lessen your mortgage amount or at least get a fairer value, you should know more about the five common mortgage fees you should avoid. Yes, you can prevent yourself from incurring and shouldering the following charges:

Application Fees

Ask mortgage providers to hand you good-faith projections of mortgage expenses. The lenders are not obliged to provide, but upon request by clients, they readily will give out data and estimates. Be reminded that even if the mortgage product says there is no application fee, there probably will be. The fee will just be renamed, though its nature and function remains. In such cases, it is best always to identify such fees and determine combined costs.

Yield Spread Premiums

Among the most kept secrets of mortgage providers are the yield spread premiums. These charges are actually fattened payments in exchange for brokers' arrangement of loans. Usually, they are openly disclosed and are about 6% to 7% of total mortgage amounts. That is not a small price to pay especially when your mortgage loan is quite hefty. To prevent incurring yield spread premiums, ask the broker if the mortgage provider pays him or her flat percentage or rate commission. Ask for a copy of credit score so you could estimate for yourself your own projection for a 30-year mortgage fixed rate.

Risk-adjusted rates

Risk rates are imposed because lenders put value to possible threats and dangers to their investments. Unfortunately, you are sometimes made to shoulder risk factors. To avoid these fees, do a comparison shop before obtaining a mortgage loan. Some mortgage providers are more lenient not to impose risk-adjusted rates, especially if your credit history is good and outstanding.

Down payment penalties

Gone are the days when mortgage lenders offer zero down payment. The credit and housing crunch has forced such businesses to ask for at least a 20% down payment especially from big-amount mortgage loans. If the borrower in any means fail to give a 20% initial payment, a mortgage insurance will have to be required. The insurance usually costs about 0.5% of the total mortgage borrowed.

Closing Costs

It is at times surprising that when you are about to end your mortgage, another fee will arise-closing charges. The costs usually amount to about 2% to 5% the price of the home or collateral. Before signing a mortgage deal, ask the lender about the closing costs and how much exactly can they be.

Julia Vakulenko is a licensed broker associate with Tampa4U.com Realty. She has one of the hardest working Tampa Real Estate team in Florida and also in2Va Team for Northern Virginia Real Estate.

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