First Home Buyers

Financial decisions made easy with mortgage calculator

When you purchase a real estate property, you must estimate the size of mortgage you can afford so that you can take the right financial decision. Mortgage calculator can calculate your monthly payments and figure out your amortization schedule.

Different types of mortgage calculator:

The calculators determine your monthly payment on loans and help you decide on other charges like refinancing cost and mortgage insurance premiums. There are various types of calculators used to calculate various repayments related to mortgage. Some of the types are:

• Affordability calculator: This calculator determines whether you can afford the mortgage loan. It helps you assess how much you can afford to spend as monthly payments.

• Monthly payment calculators: You can calculate your monthly payments on a fixed rate mortgage for various loan amounts at different interest rates. With this calculator, you can also find out how the monthly payment and interest rates may vary with time in case of an adjustable rate mortgage.

• Interest cost calculator: With this type of mortgage calculator, you can compare the interest costs of various fixed rate mortgages over different periods of time and find out which loan will help you save in more.

• Mortgage refinance calculator: This type of calculator assists you to decide whether or not you should refinance your existing loan. You can determine how much you will reduce your costs by refinancing.

• Amortization calculator: With this calculator, you can determine your loan amount and monthly payment over a pre-set length of time. It helps you find out how much of your total payment will go towards interest and how much will be allocated to the principal amount.

• Comparison calculators: By using this calculator, you can compare 2 or more loans and decide which mortgage will be more convenient for you.

Mortgage calculator not only helps to assess how much you can afford but also determines how much you should pay for private mortgage insurance, closing costs, annual percentage rate, etc.

By Mortgagefit Community

Introduced on July 1, 2000, the First Home Owner Grant is a national plan that is administered by Australian states and territories and funded through the Australian Capital Territory Revenue Office. The grant was established to cancel the effect that the Goods and Service Tax imposes on home ownership.

Under this grant, first home owners who have satisfied the criteria for eligibility are entitled to a payable one-off sum of $7000. In October 14, 2008, the First Home Owner Boost (FHOB) was implemented to bolster the grant amount for qualified first-time home owners.

Under the FHOB, first-time established home buyers who have finalized their contracts from October 14, 2008 until September 30, 2009 will receive an additional $7,000 to raise the grant money to $14,000.

On the other hand, those who built or purchased a home that was built within the specified time period will receive an additional grant of $14,000 to bring their grant total to $21,000.

After that period, the FHOB rates were once again adjusted. Under the new grant scheme, qualified first time buyers who bought established houses from October 1 to December 31, 2009 are entitled to an additional grant of only $10,500 or a $3,500 reduction from the original rate.

Meanwhile, those who built or bought a newly-built house were given a total grant of $14,000 which is 33% lower than the original FHOB rate. The grant reduction was due to the increase in interest rates that were brought about by the global financial crunch.

For information on the first home buyers grant or to apply for a first home loan then click here.