The most popular loans in the industry. 30 Year, 20 Year, 15 Year and 10 Year amortization available. These fixed rate loans have monthly payments that never change, ever! The larger the loan term, the more time you have to pay the loan off and therefore your payment will be lower.
- Loan Amounts $75,000 to $726,200 (1-unit)
- Up to $929,850 (2-unit)
- Up to $1,123,900 (3-unit)
- Up to $1,396,800 (4-unit)
Minimum credit score 620. If there is more than one borrower, we will use the lowest middle score among all borrowers.
- Single Family Home
- Condominium
- 2-4 Unit Properties
- Easiest to qualify for – lowest monthly payments. 30 Year Fixed being the absolute easiest in this category.
- Monthly principle & interest payment never changes. Although proportions of principle vs interest will change as you pay the balance down. Go to the Calculator Page to see this in action.
- If you have mortgage insurance, you can remove this insurance without refinancing the loan. Simply call up the servicing department and request it to be removed once you believe you the property has 20% equity.
- Impounds not required unless your loan to value is above 90%. Texas loans will differ.
Tips
- The 15 Year fixed is highly recommended by us at Empire, if you don’t mind the higher monthly payments which lead to the loan being paid off in a shorter amount of time. With lower interest rates than almost all other loans, this loan will be paying much less interest over the life of the loan. You will also see your equity quickly increasing with substantial principle payments.
- If you are thinking of refinancing an existing 30 year fixed mortgage, consider the 20 Year Fixed. Shaving off 10 years, this loan will continue or even improve your goal of paying off the loan in 30 years from that original loan date.
- Additional principle payments are a great idea. They lower the principle loan balance to which the interest rate is applied, and therefore give you less interest expense and more principle payment monthly. Some clients prefer to do this rather than get into a 15 Year Fixed loan, deciding when and how much additional to contribute, while always having the lower, original principle & interest payment option monthly.
Home Purchase
Down Payments
Minimum Down Payments vary depending on several parameters including occupancy type (primary, second home or investment), property type, & credit score. Generally, these rules follow for minimum down payment and a 620 credit score:
- First Time Home Buyer: 3%
- Investment Property: 15%, 25% if two to four units
- Second Home: 10%
- Two Unit Property, primary residence purchase: 15%
Mortgage Insurance (MI)
If you are putting down less than 20%, you will have mortgage insurance added to the loan. There are two options available to you on how to add it:
*Note, the better your credit score and the more down payment, the less expensive MI is.*
- PMI: Private Mortgage Insurance, a monthly amount charged to you in addition to your principle & interest mortgage payment.
- LPMI: Lender Paid Mortgage Insurance, you have zero additional monthly payment, but your interest rate pricing will be a bit worse than doing PMI. This pricing is not available on our website, so please call or email us for a quote.
While PMI may give you a higher monthly liability than LPMI. For PMI, once you reach 80% loan to value, you can cancel the PMI and keep your lower interest rate.
Qualifications
Debt-to-Income ratio maximum 50%, although other scenarios may require a lower ratio, this is the absolute limit for most transactions.
Gift Funds May be used for primary or second home transactions only. Gifts can be from a relative, fiancé or domestic partner only. Minimum borrower contributions may apply on certain scenarios.
Non-Occupant Co-Borrower is allowed to help qualify.
Refinance Your Home
Loan to Value (LTV)
The loan to value is the loan divided by the value of the home, represented as a percentage. Loan pricing for interest rates depends on what that percentage is. With more equity, pricing improves as the risk for the loan decreases.
Maximum LTVs change depending on the occupancy type and type of property:
- Primary Residence:
- Rate/term refinance (No cash-out): 95% max, 85% two unit, 75% three-four units.
- Cash-out refinance: 80% max, 75% two to four units.
- Second Home:
- Rate/term refinance (No cash-out): 90% max
- Cash-out refinance: 75% max
- Investment Property:
- Rate/term refinance (No cash-out): 85% max
- Cash-out refinance: 75% max, 70% for two to four units.
Cash-Out
Cash-out interest rates will be more expensive than rate/term interest rates. The trick is to keep the LTV under 60% if possible, and then under 75%. You will see big improvements to pricing if you keep these markers in mind.
Qualifications
Debt-to-Income ratio maximum 50%, although other scenarios may require a lower ratio, this is the absolute limit for most transactions.
Non-Occupant Co-Borrower is allowed to help qualify.