4 Things to Consider Before Taking a 10-year Mortgage

Are there any additional restrictions for who can apply for a 10 year fixed mortgage?

The Fair Lending and Fair Housing and Equal Credit Opportunity Acts prohibit discrimination by lenders for just about any reason that you can imagine, therefore there are no restrictions on who can apply for a 10 year fixed mortgage.

There are however very practical reasons why someone might not be eligible for a 10 year termed mortgage. Most notably, they simply might not qualify for the house they want on such a short term.

A more likely problem would be in finding a lender that will even offer a 10 year term. You see there are significant upfront costs to lenders associated with making mortgages and although mortgages can be very profitable, they are most profitable on longer termed mortgages.

The average life span of today’s 30 year mortgage is less than 12 years which makes a ten year termed mortgage a very risky proposition for a lender. This is because due to the debt adverse nature of the borrower, shorter termed mortgages have an even higher propensity for early payoff. Once a loan pays off early, it no longer generates interest revenue for the lender.