By Grant G. Thornt


Mortgage loans are a means to obtain money to purchase a house or real estate. Many people borrow the majority of the funds needed to buy their home, and then finance the remainder through a lending institution. By doing this, they are able to spread the payments over an allotted period of time, usually 15 to 30 years. What most people do not know is that many of their loans are then sold to another bank in the secondary market.

When a borrower is finding a bank to lend the money to purchase a house, they are searching in the primary market. This is where the lender and borrower will agree upon the terms of the contract. The decisions to be made have to do with the principal being borrowed, the interest rate charged on the loan, and the length of time for repayment.

The repetition of this process for individuals and businesses begins to slowly deplete the resources of the bank. Loans can be made for home purchases, or other personal or commercial reasons. As more people are lent money, the reserves of the institution are slowly no longer available for others to use.

Since one of the main sources of income in institutions such as these comes from the interest paid, they are going to want to get more money to lend out. For this reason, they often sell a bundle of the home loans to businesses that operate in the secondary market. These companies buy mortgages from the banks that operate in the primary market.

Once purchased, the institution will often bundle together similar home loan purchases so as to create a security to be sold on the stock market. Investors can purchase shares of the securities, which the company hopes will help to offset the risk of defaulting on their payments. These types of products are usually called mortgage-backed securities or collateralized debt obligations, plus a few other names.

The offerings in the secondary market, which many people do not even realize exists, do not place the mortgage loans of the initial borrowers at risk for loss of their home. They do however, put the stock market at risk when the borrower defaults on their payments. It is a complicated process to understand and operate.




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