There are a few things to know about subprime mortgages lenders. They specialize in providing mortgage loans for people with less than ideal situations, whether it be difficult to prove income, low or poor credit scores (most often the case with subprime mortgages), or no down payment (this factor alone will not necessarily put you in the subprime loan category).

The interest rate on a subprime mortgage loans will be higher than any other type of mortgage loan where credit, income and down payment are all optimal. However, with subprime mortgage loans, as a borrower, you need to be careful about a few things when dealing with subprime mortgage lenders.

The interest rate with subprime mortgages can vary greatly. There are some subprime mortgage lenders that, for the same set of qualifications, can offer an interest rate of say, 7%, which is a little above average, and then there will be others who will quote 9-12% or more. Now, if this is all for the same qualifications, you could be talking about hundreds of dollars a month extra in payments just because you are not getting a fair interest rate for your qualification. This is where the borrower needs to be careful. Make sure you are getting the best interest rate possible with your subprime lender. Some subprime lenders take advantage of borrowers with bad credit or hard to approve situations, and they charge much more in interest than what is fair for to the borrower.

Another way subprime mortgage lenders can take advantage of unsuspecting borrowers is by the lender having a pre-payment penalty on the loan that is unreasonable and not fair to the borrower, based on their qualifications. A typical subprime mortgage loan will have a 6 month to a 2 year pre-payment penalty. However, sometimes a subprime lender will offer a loan with a 3 year or higher pre-payment penalty. That is too high, I think a 2 year pre-payment penalty is high, but any higher than that, and you should probably keep looking for a new lender.

Other than a couple of things to be careful of when dealing with subprime lenders, getting approved, even with a slightly higher interest rate, can be a really great thing for you to buy the home you want.

To see our list of recommended subprime mortgage lenders, visit this page: Recommended Subprime Mortgage Lenders