It’s a PITI Your Home Mortgage Payment Is So Unaffordable

Affordable homeownership is becoming an increasingly distant dream.  It has never been harder to qualify for a home mortgage, and if you have one, it has never been harder to keep up with the payments.  Interest rates have remained painfully high for about the past two years.  People with fixed rate mortgages that they borrowed in 2021 are understandably hesitant to sell their properties; in today’s market, they would not be able to qualify for a mortgage for the house next door to the one they currently own.  Before you envy these people, though, consider that many of them are struggling to keep up with their ostensibly desirable mortgage payments, too.  A dollar simply does not go as far in 2024 as it went in 2021.  Of course, it’s easy to find gloom and doom if you research anything related to home mortgage loans, but this is not the entire story.  Yes, the affordability of your mortgage payment, or lack thereof, is due mostly to economic factors beyond your control, but your mortgage statement actually asks you to pay for several things.  Some of those things are priced based on factors with which you have some control.  For help playing the long game when it comes to qualifying for a home mortgage loan and keeping up with the payments, contact a Philadelphia mortgage foreclosure lawyer.

An Itemized Look at Your Monthly Mortgage Statement

Every time you make a monthly payment on your home mortgage, you are actually paying money toward four different financial obligations.  If you look closely at your mortgage statement, you will see how much money went to each component when you paid the previous installment.  The components of a home mortgage payment can be represented by the acronym PITI:

• Principal – This is the amount you borrowed to buy your house. It is the sale price minus the down payment.
• Interest – In a home mortgage, you pay compound interest each month on the outstanding principal balance. If you are lucky enough to have a fixed rate mortgage, the interest rate stays the same until you pay off your mortgage in full or refinance it.
• Taxes – If you have an outstanding mortgage, then the property taxes are bundled into your mortgage statement. Property taxes are assessed annually, so the amount you pay each month is one twelfth of the current year’s property taxes.
• Insurance – Many home mortgage loans require you to carry home mortgage insurance. This gives the lenders peace of mind that you will not walk away from your house and your mortgage if your house gets damaged.

The cost of each of these components varies according to market fluctuations and, in the case of interest rates, also on your credit score.

Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Affordable Homeownership

A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help you qualify for a home mortgage or cope with the one you have.  Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Source:

finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/piti-203535556.html