Glossary of A

Occupancy Date

This provision is a good way to help ensure that your home will be ready for occupancy after the closing takes place. As part of your formal purchase offer, consider including a provision that holds the seller responsible for paying you rent should they not move out on or prior to the agreed-upon date. This allows you, for example, to use the money you receive to pay your own rent if you are leasing your current residence.

Occupancy Date

Offer

When you make an offer on a house, it means you are making a formal bid to buy a home. You can work with your real estate sales professional to put together a written bid that abides by the laws in your state. Your offer should include such aspects as the address of the home, the sales price, the type of mortgage financing you will use to purchase the home, any personal property that might be included as part of the sale, and a target date for closing and occupancy. An earnest money deposit typically accompanies the offer. Your real estate sales professional can provide guidance on other elements of the offer.

Once you have made an offer, the seller has the opportunity to accept, decline, or make a counter-offer. If your offer is accepted, you have a ratified sales contract. This contract is the starting point for working with an approved lender to get the mortgage that's right for you.

Ongoing Costs

Home buyers should not forget that there are on-going costs associated with owning a home. They include, but are not limited to:

-- Monthly mortgage payment;
-- Mortgage insurance;
-- Homeowner's insurance;
-- Property taxes; and,
-- Utilities, such as gas, oil, water and electricity.

Another cost home buyers should consider is how much it will cost to maintain their home. These costs include everything from cleaning and minor repairs to yard work and painting.

Condominium owners and people living in planned unit developments should factor in any homeowners' association fees or similar costs.

One-Year Adjustable-Rate Mortgage

This adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) offers a low initial interest rate with an interest rate that adjusts annually after the first year. The rate cap per annual adjustment is usually 2 percent; the lifetime adjustment caps can be 5 percent or 6 percent. This type of mortgage may be right for you if you anticipate a rapid increase in income over the first few years of your mortgage. That's because it lets you maximize your purchasing power immediately. It may also be the right mortgage for you if you plan to live in your home for only a few years.

Advantages:

-- Maximizes your buying power immediately, especially if you expect your income to rise quickly in the next few years.
-- A low first-year interest rate and a 2 percent annual rate cap.
-- Some one-year ARMs let you convert to a fixed-rate loan at certain adjustment intervals.

Ask your approved lender which of their one-year ARMs include this option. Generally, conversions to fixed-rate mortgages are allowed at the third, fourth, or fifth interest rate adjustment dates.

Details:

-- You can get a one-year ARM with a term from 10 to 30 years. The most typical ones are 10, 15, or 30 years.
-- The one-year ARM is most often indexed to the weekly average yield of U.S. Treasury securities adjusted to a constant maturity of one year.
-- Can be used to buy one-family, principal residences, including condos, and planned unit developments.
-- Manufactured homes are also eligible. (Manufactured housing units must be built on a permanent chassis at a factory and then transported to a permanent site and attached to a foundation.)

Original Principal Balance

The total amount of principal owed on a mortgage before any payments are made.