The cash needed to purchase a home depends on a number of items. Generally, you will need:

1. Earnest Deposit: this includes a deposit made to the seller representing a buyer’s good faith to buy a home. This is typically held in an escrow account until closing and applied to the buyer’s down payment and closing costs.
2. Down Payment: Depending on the loan amount and mortgage terms, the down payment will be a percentage of the cost of the home due at closing. Farm Credit is a full service residential mortgage lender that offers a wide variety of loan products including USDA/Rural Housing Home Loans and VA Loans with no money down and Conventional Loans with as little as 3% down for first-time homebuyers.
3. Closing Costs: These costs include items like the appraisal, survey fee, title insurance fees, pre-paid interest and documentation fees.     

With a fixed-rate mortgage, the interest rate stays the same for the life of the loan. Check out our fixed rate mortgage payment calculator here. With an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), the interest changes periodically, in relation to an index. Check out our adjustable rate mortgage payment calculator here.

While the monthly payments you make with a fixed-rate mortgage are stable, with an adjustable-rate mortgage your payments may vary based on the interest rate. With a Farm Credit home loan, you can lock in your interest rate for up to 30 years. 

When you get pre-qualified, you’ve presented your financial situation including your income, debts, employment history, and available funds. Once you’re pre-qualified, you will receive a Pre-Qualification Letter, which states your lender is confident, based on the information provided, you’ll qualify for a loan at a stated amount.

To be pre-approved means your lender has done a thorough review and verification of your income, assets, employment and credit to determine you’re qualified for the loan. You’ll receive a pre-approval letter for an exact loan amount.

Both pre-qualification and pre-approval letters are good for a specific amount of time and dependent on no material or significant changes to your employment or financial situation prior to closing.

PMI is private mortgage insurance. This insurance is required on mortgage programs requiring no or little (generally, less than 20%) down payment.   The premium is typically included in your monthly mortgage payment.   Once you have paid down your loan balance to 80% or less or the home’s original appraised value you can request the PMI be cancelled.