Tips and Topics

Tips & Topics - Mortgages

Mortgage Overview

Did You Know?

If you make one extra payment on a 30-year, $250,000 mortgage each year, you can eliminate seven years of mortgage payments and save more than $30,000 over the life of the loan!

Purchasing a home is one of the single biggest purchases most people will ever make. That’s why it’s so important to get the mortgage product that is right for you at the lowest possible cost.

When you’re negotiating a mortgage rate, minor differences in interest rates may seem insignificant, but these apparently small differences could translate into thousands of dollars over a 30-year mortgage.

For example, with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage on a $250,000 home at 5.1 percent, you will pay $238,654.80 in interest alone over the life of your mortgage. At 5.2 percent you will pay $244,199.79 in interest. So a difference of just one-tenth of a percent in rates translates into a difference of $5,544.99 in your overall interest payments.

In April 2010, Comptroller DiNapoli committed an additional $500 million from the New York State Common Retirement Fund to invest in New York mortgages currently provided by Fannie Mae. This initiative provides a solid fixed-income investment for the Fund, while at the same time supports the New York housing market. This will bring the Fund’s total investments in New York mortgages to about $10.2 billion. Investing in mortgages originated in New York State encourages banks to lend to State homebuyers.

In this section of Your Money New York, we’ve assembled resources to help you understand the mortgage process and to help you make decisions that keep more of your money in your pocket:

The following topics are covered:

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