When Is My First Mortgage Payment Due?

For new homeowners, the timing of the first loan payment after closing is essential. You may want to manage cash flow carefully within the months after shelling out substantial sums for the deposit, settlement costs and moving expenses. This is also true if you’re spending money on renovations, new furniture or other large expenditures related to your new home.

When is my first loan payment due?

Naturally, homebuyers often have queries about their new mortgage, namely, when do mortgage payments start and when may be the first loan payment due? The due date for the initial mortgage payment depends upon the closing date, and it’s usually more than 30 days away. Typically, you are able to estimate it by adding per month towards the closing date, then figure your payment will be due on the first day of the following month.

For example, should you close on your mortgage on March 12, your first payment would be due on May 1. After that, you’d owe a mortgage payment on the first of every month.

You will find the deadline for the initial payment one of the documents you received at closing. Locate a letter titled “First Payment Letter” that contains the facts you’ll desire to make the payment.

Choosing your closing date based on your goals

When scheduling the closing on your house, keep in mind that the earlier in the month you close, the longer a period period you’ll have to replenish cash before making the very first payment.

On another hand, scheduling your closing for later in the month means you’d pay less prepaid interest — that’s the interest that accrues at that time between your closing date and when the first mortgage payment arrives.

When Ben Simiskey, a certified financial planner at Stegent Equity Advisors in Houston, purchased a house recently, he considered how prepaid interest would impact his cash flow when scheduling the closing.

“I wanted to be able to preserve some cash for projects once i moved in, and so i was conscious of how much cash was due at closing so when my first payment would be on my small new mortgage,” says Simiskey.

He decided on a date later in the month to minimize his prepaid interest due at closing.

“By closing on July 24, I only needed to prepay 7 days of great interest,” says Simiskey. “If I had closed earlier within the month, it would’ve been more.”

What adopts your mortgage payment

Your mortgage payment includes the borrowed funds principal, interest along with other items that the mortgage company or servicer deposits into an escrow account, like taxes and home insurance. The acronym PITI stands for these primary elements of the loan payment: principal, interest, taxes and insurance.

Principal	This may be the borrowed amount you need to pay back.
Interest	This is the amount the lender charges for lending you the money.
Taxes	These are property taxes you pay based on the assessed worth of your home. You'll find info on what you owe in your county assessor’s website. Your payment may go into an escrow account until due.
Insurance	Premiums for your newbie of homeowners insurance may be included in your settlement costs. After that, your monthly mortgage payment may include some of your home insurance premium which goes into the escrow account until it comes down due.

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Bankrate’s PITI calculator will help you estimate the impact of the loan payment in your monthly budget.

If you spend mortgage insurance, that premium is going to be as part of your mortgage payment, as well.

Calculating your PITI payment will help you know how much house you really can afford, more than just considering the principal and interest amount. By adding tax and insurance to your budget, you’ll be closer to pinpointing a loan amount a lender may approve.

How to make your mortgage payments

You can pick one of several methods to pay your mortgage:

Auto-pay. Setting up recurring ACH payments from your checking or savings account is a straightforward way to make mortgage repayments automatically. Based on your purpose, you can split the payment per month into two to reduce mortgage interest, pay more each month to pay off your mortgage early, or sync payments with your paychecks to avoid overdrafts.
Online. Paying on your lender’s portal or app is fast and reliable. What’s more, in case your mortgage loan is through exactly the same institution you bank with, scheduling payments ought to be a really smooth process. If you are planning to repay your home sooner, paying online could be a convenient method to make extra principal payments when you have spare cash to place towards an early payoff.
By mail. If you don’t get access to a pc, you are able to send your payment per month by mail using a personal check, cashier’s check or money order. Always include your mortgage account number in your check and allow enough time for delivery to prevent late charges.
By phone. Making a mortgage payment over the telephone could be convenient, particularly if you’re near to the due date and want to avoid incurring late fees. Call the amount in your mortgage statement and become ready to give the customer agent your mortgage account number and banking account information. Make sure to ask the agent if there is a service charge for phone payments. Generally, phone payments are credited to your account quickly.

If you want to split payments or prepay your mortgage extra payments, ask your lender which if they are permitted and just how payments are applied. For example, if you wish to make bi-weekly payments, ask your lender when they charge a collection up fee, transaction fee or perhaps a prepayment penalty. Also keep in mind, some lenders only apply your instalments once a month even if you’re submitting several payments every month, which could negate any benefits you’re seeking.

Late loan payment grace period

If you’ll be late making your loan payment, you normally have about 15 days out of your payment deadline like a grace period, though this differs from lender to lender. So long as you help make your payment within that time, you won’t incur a penalty.

However, creating a payment more than Thirty days past the due date will not only earn you a late fee — which could be 3 percent to six percent of your payment amount — it can also harm your credit. When your lender reports a late mortgage payment towards the credit reporting agencies, it stays in your credit file for seven years.

Missing even a single loan payment can hurt your credit rating, while a pattern of missed payments would damage it substantially. Keep in mind, payment history is the most influential credit scoring factor, comprising 35 percent of the FICO credit rating.

If you’re struggling to help make your mortgage payments, don’t delay contacting your lender about this. While there is nothing guaranteed, your lender may waive late fees or agree to not notify the credit bureaus of a overtime if one makes them conscious of your circumstances. There’s additionally a chance you may qualify for financing modification, repayment plan or a temporary decrease in payments.

Bottom line

When you take out a mortgage to buy a home or refinance your existing home, the first payment will usually be due on the to begin the month, 30 days (Thirty days) after your closing date. Although it may seem like you’re skipping a payment, you’re not. That’s because mortgage payments are paid in arrears. Quite simply, your payments are for the previous month, not the present month.

Purchasing a home is one of the most critical financial decisions you’ll make. Managing your instalments successfully by making your instalments on time every month is critical to avoid damaging your credit or, even worse, losing your home to foreclosure. Therefore, set up automatic payments together with your lender or set reminders in your mobile phone, which means you don’t forget a due date or miss a payment. It’s also wise to keep an emergency fund that can cover your mortgage repayments temporarily if you face financial hardship in the future.