Step $1$: Finding Your Dream Home

First, find your dream home. You are welcome to use any site that does not require registration. Realtor.com is a good place to begin. Due to mortgage limits$,$ please make your home value no more than $$700,000$ in order to to see a difference in mortgage rates in later steps.

Next, shop for a mortgage. Please use this website: Bank Rate Mortgage

Use Excel to create a mortgage payoff table using the information you find.

Step $2$: Making Financial Decisions

answer the following questions:

What is your dream home? Place a link to the page with your home listing.

What type of mortgage did you choose?

Why did you choose that length of mortgage$/$points$/$fixed or variable rate?

How much did you choose to finance compared to paying upfront on a down payment?

Step $3$: Impact of Credit Scores

On the Bank Rate website, change your credit score from whatever you set it at initially to the $620-639$ range.

Copy your original Excel spreadsheet into a new tab and change the interest rate to the one with a low credit score.

How much more in interest would you pay over the life of the loan?

Do you think the higher interest rate is justified? Why or why not?