cost of buying mortgage points
A mortgage point equals 1 percent of your total loan amount - for example, on a $100,000 loan, one point would be $1,000. Mortgage points are essentially a form of prepaid interest you can choose to pay up front in exchange for a lower interest rate and monthly payments (a practice known as buying down your interest rate). In some cases, a lender will offer you the option to pay points along with your closing costs. In exchange for each point you pay at closing, your mortgage APR will be reduced and your monthly payments will shrink accordingly. Typically, you would buy points to lower your rate on a fixed-rate mortgage.