After applying for a mortgage, you may see two different fees. A mortgage rate and an annual percentage rate, which is most commonly referred to as APR. APR can be difficult to understand on its own, especially when coupled with a mortgage rate. These are two very different fees you should calculate for because it could change the way you think about your home loan mortgage rates.
Simply put, your mortgage rate is the cost of borrowing the principal loan amount. It can be a variable or fixed rate, but it’s always expressed as a percentage. The annual percentage rate, APR, is a broader measure of the cost of your mortgage because it reflects the interest rate and other costs such as broker fees, discount points, and sometimes closing costs. The APR is also represented as a percentage.
The difference between the two is that your mortgage rate calculates your monthly payment, while the APR calculates the total cost of the loan. For instance, your monthly cost is affected by the mortgage rate while the total cost of the loan is affected by how high the APR climbs.
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