What is Home Loan
Home loans, as a category of loans, provide funding for purchase of home property. A home loan is a long term loan provided by any financial institution, credit union or a bank for the purpose of financing or funding home or property investments. A home loan like any loan is made up of a principal and interest. You can choose the term of the loan ranging from thirty, twenty five or twenty years depending on your ability to pay your interest payments. Longer the duration, lesser are the monthly payments but you end up paying a considerable amount as interest payments for the additional years.
There are various schemes provided by lenders to tap every type of home loan seeker due to the monetary benefits accrued to them such as: interest on loans, loan establishment fees and other charges to activate and maintain the loan account. The schemes vary with the purpose of the loan and are therefore broadly classified as home loans for:
- Primary residence/ first time buyers
- Second home/ vacation home buyers
- Refinancing
- Property investments
- Home construction
There are different types of loan for each of such specialized home loan categories but every loan repayment schedule largely follows the same pattern. Initially, the monthly loan repayment consists of interest payments with a small amount used to deduct the principal. As the principal amount reduces your interest payments also reduce over time until the loan is paid off in full.
Depending on the purpose of the loan you can choose from a wide variety of home loan schemes available for lenders at competitive rates and convenient terms and conditions. A broad distinction of the different types of home loans includes:
- Fixed Rate Loans
- Adjustable Rate Mortgage
- Home Equity Line of credit (HELOC)
- Non-Conforming or Jumbo Loans
- Interest only home loans
- Low documentation home loans
- Standard variable rate home loans
- Split rate home loans
- No deposit home loans

