US Mortgage Companies

There are a large number of US mortgage companies or mortgage companies in the US and there is a presence of severe competition among them. Mortgage lending is a vital business segment in the United States.

The US mortgage companies offer a comprehensive variety of mortgage loans and the mortgage borrowers in the US have to obtain mortgage loans by informing their financial condition or credit scores and submitting the requisite paperwork. Mortgage loans are available for buying houses or refinancing real estate properties. A large number of banks in the US provide a variety of mortgage loans for example, easy financing loans, jumbo loans, conventional loans, government loans to suit the needs of a large number of customers.

In the United States, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) supervises a number of programs, which include Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, as well as Freddie Mac. These are also termed as government sponsored entities or GSEs. The purpose of these programs is to nurture the business of mortgage lending and also to motivate home ownership and construction. The operation of these programs is carried out through purchasing a number of mortgages from the banks and then offering mortgage backed bonds to the investors, which are termed as mortgage backed securities or MBS.

In the United States, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) supervises a number of programs, which include Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, as well as Freddie Mac. These are also termed as government sponsored entities or GSEs. The purpose of these programs is to nurture the business of mortgage lending and also to motivate home ownership and construction. The operation of these programs is carried out through purchasing a number of mortgages from the banks and then offering mortgage backed bonds to the investors, which are termed as mortgage backed securities or MBS.

In the United States, the method in which the mortgages are obtained by the mortgage borrowers is known as origination. In this process, the mortgage borrower has to submit an application and paperworks associated with his financial condition to the mortgage underwriter.

Nevertheless, at present a large number of banks are providing "low doc" or "no doc" loans in which the mortgage borrower has to provide minimum financial details. This kind of loans charges a relatively higher rate of interest and the borrowers who have excellent credit scores can only avail them. In some instances, a third party is required and that is known as mortgage broker.

Sometimes, the mortgage loans are marketed in the open markets to big investors through origination of the mortgage company. Some companies function as correspondent lenders who sell all or the maximum number of their closed loans to big investors by acknowledging the risks associated with the issue of such mortgage loans. In some cases, they provide niche loans at higher prices and the investors do not want to originate them.

The different types of mortgage loan available in the US include the following:

Assumed mortgage
Blanket loan
Balloon mortgage
Budget loan
Bridge loan
Buydown mortgage
Commercial loan
Foreign national mortgage
Graduated payment mortgage loan
Hard money loan
Jumbo mortgages
Package loan
Participation mortgage
Reverse mortgage
Repayment mortgage
Seasoned mortgage
Term loan or interest-only loan
Wraparound mortgage
Negative amortization loan
Non-conforming mortgage
Equity loan

The following data provides a brief idea about the mortgage rates prevalent in the US mortgage market:

Mortgage Type	Tenure	Interest Rates(%)	Loan to Value Ratio	Max Tenure of Loans
Fixed Rate Mortgage	15 Years	5.36	80%	30
	30 years	6.05
Floating Rate Mortgage	1 Year	3.79