When purchasing your home, you need to review home finance options and consider your own financial situation before closing a deal. Finding a mortgage that makes your home affordable is imperative to the home buying process.

First, become familiar with the various types of loans out there. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is more than happy to assist you with an in depth explanation and description of each loan, as well as a personal assessment of your individual mortgage needs and goals.

Fixed-rate mortgages are mortgages that have the same interest rate for the entire loan. Each year you will pay the same interest rate, and this will not vary regardless of change in the market. This makes your loan payments predictable and stable, protecting you from rising rates.

Adjustable-rate mortgages have interest rates that will change on occasion from year to year. The interest rate may stay the same at the beginning, depending on the loan, but then it will fluctuate according to the state of the capital market. This means that if interest rates rise, your payments will increase, as well.

Fixed-rate mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages both offer beneficial features that the other does not. They key to choosing the right mortgage is weighing the pros and cons of each in relation to your financial situation and financial goals.

You will want to consider factors such as how long you plan to own your home, how your income will look in the future and what your income schedule will be, how much risk you are willing to take in market-dependent interest rates, and how much you can put into a down payment and discount points.

Remember that government loans are available through Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Although they are offered by WFHM, they are insured by the government. These types of loans come in two versions. The FHA loan is created by the Federal Housing Administration and made to assist low-to-moderate income homebuyers with low down payments and more lenient qualifying requirements in order for loan approval. The VA loan is offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and is available to veterans and military-duty personnel and their families.

There are also options for those with poor or less-than-perfect credit. Just because your credit is not 100 percent clean does not mean you will not be able to obtain a mortgage. Ask Wells Fargo Home Mortgage about your situation and the options that are open to you.

Keep in mind mortgage terms. The term is the length or duration (“life”) of the loan. Most are thirty years, but you can also purchase fifteen, twenty or ten year loans. The longer the term, the lower the monthly payments will be. The shorter term mortgages will cost you higher monthly payments but will let you pay off the loan faster.