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How Much Does Your Personal Loan Cost?
A personal loan is a big commitment for your financial future, one that you’ll be living with for years. If you choose the wrong loan package, then the effects will be felt for the full length of the loan term, so it’s obvious that you need to take care when deciding which loan to apply for, and from which lender.
It’s also obvious that getting the cheapest loan possible should be a priority, but how can you properly compare the costs of loans? The first factor that most people look at when determining how expensive a loan or other form of credit is is the APR, or Annual Percentage Rate. This is the interest rate that will be charged on a loan, and the higher the figure, the more expensive the loan.
Although the APR figure is intended to give an accurate picture of the overall costs involved, there are several different ways of calculating it, and so when you compare the APRs of two loans side by side, you might not actually be comparing like with like. Because of this, you should also take a look at the other factors involved in how cheap or expensive your loan will be.
One major thing to look out for is whether the lender or broker will charge an arrangement or setup fee. This is a one off charge which is made when your loan application is approved and completed, and the fee is usually added on to the loan balance and repaid over the term of the loan. This means that not only do you have to pay the fee itself, but also interest, which will make it even more expensive than it initially looks. Arrangement fees are common on secured loans and mortgages, far less so on unsecured personal loans.
The length of a loan term will also have a major bearing on the cost of any loan. While a lower interest rate might be attractive, a low APR over a long term may actually lead to more interest being paid overall than a higher interest rate over a shorter term. It’s usually a trade off between a lower monthly repayment and a lower overall amount of interest paid – the choice is yours.
Many loans and mortgages feature something called an early repayment penalty or fee which is charged if you clear your loan before the originally agreed term. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the outstanding balance, and is most commonly found in loan products that feature an initially discounted rate, or a long term fixed rate, and is put there by the lender to discourage borrowers from taking advantage of an introductory deal and then immediately switching to a new loan, so costing the lender money in terms of lost interest charges. The period in which an early repayment fee may be charged is usually limited to the first few years of your loan, and will be made clear on the loan agreement before you sign.
Even if there is no early repayment charge, many loan companies will charge an ‘exit fee’ of a few hundred dollars if you repay your loan early, perhaps as part of a debt consolidation program. This fee is intended to reflect the administration costs involved in closing your account, but recently there are suspicions that it has come to be seen as another way for lenders to squeeze a little extra profit from the loan.
Finally, one thing to beware of when taking advantage of the payment holiday option available on some loans is that although you don’t have to make a repayment that month, interest will still be charged on the balance – so in effect you’re paying double interest for that one repayment. If you use this option a lot then, over the term of the loan, the effects could add up to produce a substantially higher APR than that quoted when you took out the loan.
Advice for First Time Home Buyers Seeking Loans
First time home buyers are faced with a lot of confusion when seeking loans. Their inexperience could lead to them taking several wrong decisions which could become disastrous in the long run. Thus it is necessary to be well-informed on how the home mortgage market operates before entering into it.
Things to consider at the onset are the interest rates. That must be one of the prime deciding factors of the person seeking a home mortgage loan for the first time. After all, it is the rate of interest that will decide the amount of payment to make every month for a long period of time. The homebuyer must take time out and compare the rates of interest of different lenders.
However a low rate of interest is not just the only thing to be considered. Every mortgage has several other fees to be paid, such as appraisal costs, application fees, lawyers fees, closing costs, etc. All these must be found out in advance so that they do not hit hard later.
One more thing to consider is how much mortgage can really be afforded. This would determine how much payment the homebuyer would be making per month. The payments should not go beyond the budget of the borrower. When all these decisions are made, only then should a meeting be scheduled with the lender. The lender would make a careful study of the borrowers credit history and then only decide how much mortgage they would give, and at what terms. This is where the borrower must decide whether the payments could be afforded or not.
Rents must not be taken as a parameter to decide how much loan payments can be afforded per month. Rents are for a short term, while mortgages tend to go on for as much as thirty years. Hence, the borrower must think on a broader perspective. Also, the person will have to pay taxes such as property taxes, which were not involved when living as a renter. Renters get several utilities for free, but the homebuyer would need to pay for them. Examples could be water, gas and electricity bills. With homes bought on mortgages, the resident would also need to conduct repairs and maintenance, which were not the responsibility while renting out a house.
An often neglected part of the mortgage is mortgage insurance. All lenders make it mandatory for borrowers to purchase mortgage insurance in case of any eventuality. If the mortgage is a high-ratio mortgage, then this amount could be very high.
So, the first time homebuyer should not just take the rent to compare with how much payments he/she could afford, but consider all other expenses as well. Only then would he/she not feel the pinch of the mortgage payments month after month.
The lender should also be sympathetic with first time homebuyers. You could find this out in the way they carry the preliminary discussions itself. If they are too highbrow to condescend to first-timers, then you are well off with another lender. Talk to them in detail about the packages they offer, and the features of the loan, so that there are no misunderstandings later. It is wisest to take copies of everything that is related to the loan.