A mortgage is a loan with a property attached to it to ensure that the loan is repaid. It is usually used in realty business. When you buy a house with a loan, the house is used as collateral and the lender has the right to acquire the house if the loan is not repaid.
In the era of cut throat competition, lenders have come up with various loan programs for the borrowers to consider. You may hear different types of mortgages based on fixed and adjustable rates, HELOCs, Balloon programs, credit repairs etc.

Fixed and Adjustable Rates:
As is evident in the name, fixed rates are where the interest remains constant. You hear no surprise. So the benefit here is that the interest rate will never rise irrespective of the economic ups and downs in the market. Adjustable rate is when there is an adjustment of interest rate every six months. So you get to see a lot of surprises. It allows you to save a great deal of money when the rate of interest is discounted under this program.

“HELOC’s”
A HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT (HELOC) is the best option for responsible borrowers. It provides a “draw” period where the borrower gets a flexibility and control over the amount of money borrowed. So the borrower has a choice of using the full line of credit or a part of it. It acts more or less like a credit card. When you make payment, the line of credit is restored and can be used again. It is best option when it comes to debt consolidation, education, investment, refinancing and home improvements.

Balloon Program
This program allows you to have monthly payments with liquidity over a stated period of time.  As the state period is over, the borrower is required to pay the lump sum of remaining amount. It requires refinancing of balloon program at the maturity.

Credit Comeback / Credit Repair
When you already have a previous late mortgage payment, credit comeback is designed to help you. The program allows borrowers an opportunity to bring down their interest rate by 0.375 %( approx) every year for the first 4 years of the loan provided the previous 12 payments were made on time. So you have an advantage under this program to bring down the interest rates up to 1.5% and you may relax under this program as the interest rates cannot be raised.
To choose the loan to be borrowed detailed market research should always be done. The most important factor to be kept in mind is the rate of interest. Factor like loan terms and conditions, repayment duration are also vital factors that should be taken care in mind. Always cautious study should be made regarding amount required, repayment ability and security offered to borrow a loan.
One can use the home equity loan for any purpose but it should always be kept in mind that it is borrowed money and one do have to repay the lender.