Cheap Home Loans: What is an APR?
“APR” is one of the most misunderstood terms in the world of home mortgages. While you might know that it means “Annual Percentage Rate”, you may not know that it includes more than the interest rate. APR is a figure used to determine the yearly cost of a new home loan including all other fees like points, origination fees, and lending fees. A lot see this as something hidden yet it is a clear amount being paid on mortgage.
Years ago, it was hard to determine the total cost of a home mortgage without reading all of the fine print or using a sophisticated mortgage calculator. While one lender might offer you a 7.50% interest rate and another offers you 6.00%, the better deal isn’t so obvious. Overall, the 6.00% loan could be much more expensive with all of additional fees.
The federal government requires lenders to quote APR because loans frequently are offered on different terms. To extend the inevitable fruit analogy, differing loan terms from different lenders can make it hard to figure out which offer is a sour persimmon and which is a real peach. APR helps you identify the...