What Is a Mortgage Constant?
A mortgage constant is the percentage of money paid each year to pay or service a debt compared to the total value of the loan. The mortgage constant helps to determine how muc🧔h cash is needed annually to service a mortgage loan.
It is calculated by di📖viding the annual debt service for the loan by the total loan value.
Key Takeaways
- A mortgage constant is the percentage of money paid each year to pay or service a debt, given the total value of the loan.
- The mortgage constant helps to determine how much cash is needed annually to service a mortgage loan.
- Lenders and real estate investors use the mortgage constant to determine if there is enough income to cover the loan's annual debt servicing costs.
- It is also known as the mortgage capitalization rate.
Understanding a Mortgage Constant
A mortgage constant is the percentage of money paid to service debt on an annual basis divided by the total loan amount. The result is expressed as a percentage, meaning it provides the percentage of the total loan paid each year. The mortgage constant can help borrowers determine how much they'll pay each year for the mortgage. The borrower would want a lower mortgage constant since it would mean a lower annual debt servicing cost.
Real estate investors use a mortgage constant when taking out a mortgage to buy a property. The investor will want to be sure they charge enough rent to cover the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:annual debt servicing cost for the mortgage loan. Banks and commercial lenders use the mortgage constant aౠs a debt-coverage rat🍨io, meaning they use it to determine whether the borrower has enough income to cover the mortgage constant.
Calculating the Mortgage Constant
To calcula⛄te the mortgage constant, we would total the monthly payments for the mortgage for one year and divide the result by the total loan a🔜mount.
For example, a $300,000 mortgage has a monthly payment of $1,432 per month at a 4% annual fixed interest rate. A 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mortgage calculator can show you the impact of different rates on your monthly🍷 payme💫nt.
- The total annual debt servicing cost is $17,184 or (12 months * $1,432).
- The mortgage constant is 5.7% = ($17,184 / $300,000).
Important
The mortgage constant only applies to fixed-rate mortgages since there's no way to predict the lifetime debt service of a variable-rate loan—although a constant could be calculated for any period with a locked-in interest rate.
Applications of the Mortgage Constant
A mortgage constant is a useful tool for real estate investors because it can show whether the property will be a profitable investment. Meanwhile, debt yield is the opposite of the mortgage constant. Debt yield shows the percentage of annual income based on the mortgage loan amount. If the debt yield is higher than th🌊e mortgage constant, the cash flow is positive, making the investment profitable.
Using the earlier example, let's say an investor wanted to buy the house to rent it out. The monthly net operating income (NOI) from the rental property is exp🌳ected to be $1,600 monthly. The net income is the monthly rent minus any monthly expenses. The loan amount to 🐭purchase the property was $300,000, as shown in our earlier example.
- The annual net income is $19,200 or $1,600 x 12 months.
- The debt yield is calculated by taking the annual net operating income of $19,200 and dividing it by the loan amount of $300,000 to arrive at 6.4%.
- If you recall, the mortgage constant was 5.7%, and since the debt yield is higher than the constant, it would be a profitable investment.
In other words, the property's annual net income is more than enough to cover the annual debt servicing costs or the mortgage constant. As stated earlier, banks or lenders can also use the mortgage constant to determine whether a borrower has the annual income to cover the debt servicing costs for the loan.
The calculation would be done the same as above, but instead of using monthly rental income, the lender would substitute the borrower's monthly earnings. The bank would need to calculate the borrower's monthly net income or the cash left over after expenses and other monthly debt payments were paid. From there, the lender could calculate the annual net income and the debt yield to determine if it's enough to cover the mortgage constant.
Is the Mortgage Constant the Same As the Mortgage Capitalization Rate?
Yes. The mortgage capitalization rate is another term for the m💯ortgage constant.
Why Is the Mortgage Constant Rate Higher than the Loan's Interest Rate?
The mortgage constant includes both principal and interest payments, while the loan's interest rate ignores the monthly principal. Therefore, the former will be higher on an amortizing loan.
How Can the Mortgage Constant Be Used By Investors?
Investors in real estate will look at the mortgage constant of various potent൩ial investments to choose the more attractive (i.e., those with the highest rates) among t🀅hem.
The Bottom Line
Borrowers, banks, and commercial lenders use the mortgage constant 🔯to determine the costs of a mortgage. Borrowers can look at the constant to determine which mortgage offers the lowest annual cost while banks an📖d lenders can use the constant to ensure the borrower has enough income to cover the mortgage.