Is a 15 or 30 year better?

A 15-year loan has a lower rate and dramatically less total interest paid, but a higher monthly payment. A 30-year keeps monthly payments lower and gives you flexibility.

Can I pay extra to pay it off early?

Yes. Conventional fixed-rate loans carry no prepayment penalty. One extra payment a year shortens the schedule, and by how much depends on the rate: the higher the rate, the more interest each extra dollar of principal removes.

What credit score do I need?

Conventional fixed-rate loans typically require a 620 minimum. Better rates open up at 680, 720, and 760.

How is the rate determined?

Rates are driven by 10-year Treasury yields, your credit profile, loan-to-value ratio, and loan size.

Loan option

Fixed Rate Mortgage

A fixed-rate mortgage locks in your interest rate so your principal and interest payment never changes, making budgeting simple from year one to year thirty.

Get a quote Pre-qualify

What Fixed Rate Mortgage actually is.

A fixed-rate mortgage is the most popular home loan in America for a reason: certainty. Your interest rate is set the day you close and never changes - for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years.

Each month you pay the same principal and interest. Property taxes and insurance may fluctuate, but the loan portion of your payment is rock-solid. That makes budgeting easy for retirees on fixed incomes, growing families, and anyone who values predictability.

Datum Home Lending prices conforming and jumbo fixed-rate mortgages, and shows the 15, 20 and 30 year terms side by side with rate, APR, monthly payment and total interest so the trade between them is visible before you choose.

Illustrative sample figures for a template demonstration. Not a rate quote, not an offer to lend, and not live market data.

Who this fits

Buyers who plan to stay in the home for 5+ years
Borrowers who want payment certainty for tax and budget planning
Refinancers replacing an adjustable-rate loan
First-time homebuyers in a rising-rate environment

Check whether you qualify

What this program buys you.

Rate Stability: Your interest rate is locked at closing and stays the same for the entire loan term.
Predictable Payments: Principal and interest never change - easier budgeting for retirement and family planning.
Protection From Rates: When market rates rise, your low locked rate becomes one of your most valuable assets.
Long-Term Equity: Every payment chips away at principal on a predictable schedule.

The process

Four moves from first call to keys.

Each step has one job and one owner. You always know which of the four the file is sitting in.

01Pre-QualifySend a short pre-qualification request and get an illustrative payment on each term you are considering.
02Apply & LockComplete the secure application and lock your rate when the timing feels right.
03UnderwritingDocumentation, appraisal and title run in parallel. The pace is set by how fast conditions are answered.
04Close & Move InSign at the closing table and receive the keys to your home.

Questions this program raises.

If yours is not here, ask it. You will get an answer in writing from the officer who would work the file.

Other programs

Get this priced against your own file.

Tell us the scenario and we will come back with real figures for Fixed Rate Mortgage, and for the programs you did not ask about, so you can see all of them at once.