What is a mortgage?
Most of us can't afford to buy a home in cash. A mortgage is a loan; money that you borrow from a bank or other financial institution to finance the purchase of a home. When you get a mortgage, you borrow enough money to purchase a home, and then slowly pay that money back, with interest, over a period of many years.
Typically, a home buyer finds a home to buy, then contacts a mortgage lender or mortgage broker to borrow money to purchase the home. The lender will review the borrower's financial health and then decide how much money to lend. The borrower uses that loan, along with whatever down payment she has saved up, to purchase the home from the seller. The new home owner will then spend years repaying the mortgage loan to the lender, with interest.
Read more about finding a lender or broker.
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If you're ready to talk to a lender or broker but you're not sure where to start, we can help. Redfin has a list of recommended mortgage brokers and lenders. Our recommendations are based on our experience only; we don't accept referral fees from third-parties. There's never any pressure to work with one our recommended lenders, or to buy a home with Redfin. Here's our list of recommendations.
That depends on how much money you have saved up, how much you can afford to borrow, and your monthly budget. Your total mortgage payment is made up of four parts, which can be remembered with the letters PITI: Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance. For more information on your monthly mortgage payments, read our section on PITI.
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Want an idea of your monthly mortgage payment? You can estimate your total monthly payment with this mortgage calculator.
There are many different kinds of mortgages, but once you understand the basic mortgage types, it's easy to tell one loan from another. We can show you what to look for.
It's possible to get mortgages as short as a couple of years, or as long as 50. The most common length is 30 years. Also common, though less popular, are 15-year loans.
For more information on the length of your mortgage, see our section on mortgage terms.