Maine at a Glance
Population
1,385,340
1,385,340
Average Household Income
$83,914
$83,914
1 Teacher for every 11 students
Main Industries:
Aquaculture & Life Science
The first step in having a successful home loan experience is finding the right mortgage lender.
With NewFed Mortgage Corp., you’ll get a dedicated team of professional mortgage lenders who care about your home buying or refinancing experience. Our promise is to provide a smooth and worry-process where all of your questions are answered and there are no surprises. Nothing is more important than knowing that your new mortgage works according to your terms and makes your life better in every way possible. As we like to say it, we offer mortgages for every stage of your life. That means we have options for first-time home buyers – perhaps a young Maine native or someone who discovered the state during their college years – as well as retirees looking for a getaway by the water.
NewFed Mortgage Corp. is an award-winning mortgage lender with everything you need to get the home loan or refi that fits not just your needs at the moment, but for the foreseeable future as well. On this page, we’ll run through the various mortgage property types, discuss what refinancing can do for you, and shed some light on the often-confusing topic of reverse mortgages.
Mortgage Property Types
Purchasing a home in Maine just might be the best decision of your life. Your dream place might be a spacious loft in downtown Portland or a Victorian cottage in York Beach. Or maybe you’d prefer to be farther north, on Casco Bay, Penobscot Bay, or all the way up in Downeast Maine. Some people prefer the peaceful beauty of western Maine and the mountains. Are you a skier or snowboarder who’ll find bliss close to one of the state’s world-class resorts, Sugarloaf or Sunday River? Or, there are a few smaller ski areas that offer excellent snow access without the crowds. Of course, there are countless serene lakes and ponds where you can enjoy boating in the spring and summer, foliage in the fall, and ice skating – or even ice fishing – in the winter. If you need a lesson on the various properties that are available to you across Vacationland, this page will help.
The most common types of residences you can finance with a mortgage are as follows:
Townhouses
This is a form of condominium with multiple floors and a shared wall. Also called townhomes, they tend to be designed with similar layouts within the complex and almost always require participation in a homeowners association.
Single-family residences
These are freestanding homes on a piece of property, or independent residential structures that serve as dwellings for one household unit.
Condominiums
These are individual units within the same building or multi-building complex. They are individually owned and can either be attached or detached (a detached condominium may be called a condex).
Manufactured homes
Homes in this category are assembled off-site in sections and transported to the build site. They are generally smaller single-family homes built in a modular fashion.
Multi-unit properties
This style of home, also known as a multi-family, accommodates more than one household unit in separate quarters. The residents are usually renters, although many multi-unit properties have the owner/landlord living in one of the units. Some examples in this residential category are duplexes – multi-unit homes with two attached units – and apartment buildings with up to four units.
Cooperatives (co-ops)
This home type is a multi-family property owned by a legal entity that holds the title. Residents buy shares to build equity in the co-op building and thereby own a portion of the property (but with no ownership of the deed itself).
Refinancing
Homeowners are often motivated to refinance their existing mortgage to revise the terms or start fresh with an entirely new lending agreement. The most common reasons are to achieve a lower interest rate or to cash out some equity. Refinancing will predictably boom when interest rates fall, but individual mortgage holders who have been working to improve their credit standing may refinance when their FICA score reaches a more desirable bracket that allows eligibility to better terms (particularly a lower interest rate). Other popular reasons to refinance include consolidation of other debts and cashing in on equity for home improvement, college tuition, or other major expenditures. If you’re interested in having an in-depth discussion about your options for refinancing, reach out to us at any time and our skilled loan officers will be happy to speak with you. You can start the process of refinancing your Maine property at any time!
Reverse Mortgages
This is a relatively new loan product that makes a lot of sense for a specific category of homeowner: eligibility starts at age 55, and candidates must have a minimum degree of value accrued in their property. The reverse mortgage is more like a home equity loan than a traditional mortgage, since the home’s value is converted to a cash payout for the homeowner, either as a lump sum or monthly amount. The amount that’s withdrawn will be paid back at the time the property is sold. This arrangement can give people who are at or near retirement age an option to access part of their home’s equity without paying a monthly mortgage installment. The generated funds are not taxable. We’d be delighted to tell you more about reverse mortgages at your convenience. In the meantime, you can look at our detailed overview.
