All Forum Posts by: Astrid Ortiz

I'm not sure if you are aware or have looked into buying discount points to lower your rates.

Discount points are like coupons that you can use to lower the interest rate on your mortgage. Each point is equal to 1% of the total loan amount. So, if you have a $200,000 mortgage, one point would be worth $2,000.

If you pay for discount points, it will lower your monthly mortgage payments. But, you will have to pay more money upfront. It's like trading money now for money later.

The other thing to keep in mind is that, depending on your market, seller concessions are starting to become something much more attainable - which you can put towards buying discount points. 

Also, you may have heard or seen listings with the term 2/1 buydown.

A 2/1 buydown is a special kind of mortgage that can lower your monthly payments for the first two years.

When you take out a 2/1 buydown mortgage, the lender will charge you a lower interest rate for the first 2 years, but after that, the interest rate will go back to its original amount. At which point the strategy is that hopefully interest rates have decreased and you can refinance into those lower rates. 

here is a helpful infographic I found:

Source: https://mortgageequitypartners....

I hope this helps, best of luck 🤝🍀