Jun
29
2022
SoFi Blog
Tips and news—
for your financial moves.
Jun
29
2022
Rental Prices Surge As Would-Be Homeowners Are Shut Out of the Housing Market
Rental prices have increased about 14% from a year ago on increased demand from people who can no longer afford to purchase a home.
Read moreJun
29
2022
How Retail Chains Study While You Shop For Back To School
The back-to-school shopping period comes amid summer heatwaves and vacations, but retailers are thinking about the holidays.
Read moreJun
28
2022
SoFi Mortgage Loans DR 2
A home mortgage
built around you.
Turn your dream home into a reality with flexible terms, competitive mortgage rates, and down payments as little as 3%.
3% down payments are for qualifying first-time homebuyers only. 5% minimum applies to all other borrowers. For conforming home loans with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio greater than 80%, SoFi requires PMI.
View your rate
Won’t affect your credit score.✝
How SoFi Mortgage Loans work.
Applying for a home loan with SoFi is simple with an application that can be done all online. Our MLOs can give you one-on-one assistance from down payment to closing.
-
1
Pre-qualify without the hassle.
It takes just minutes to get pre-qualified for a mortgage loan online.
-
2
Select your home loan.
Find the loan that matches your financial goals and complete the application process.
-
3
Receive the funds.
Once qualified, sign your paperwork and we’ll transfer the funds.
Why SoFi
home mortgages?
Competitive
rates.
Get your dream home or investment property at a great rate.
Mortgage loan options to choose from.
Customize your loan with flexible term options and put as little as 3% down.
3% down payments are for qualifying first-time homebuyers only. 5% minimum applies to all other borrowers. For conforming home loans with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio greater than 80%, SoFi requires PMI.
Pre-qualify
in minutes.
Pre-qualify and view your personalized rate in just minutes with our simple online application.
Help when
you need it.
Our mortgage loan officers (MLOs) can guide you through the process.
Choose the mortgage loan
that’s right for you:
Select from a variety of home loan options with mortgage rates and monthly payments that work for your budget.
30-year fixed1
6.000% Rate
6.228% APR
Enjoy lower monthly payments and a constant interest rate.
20-year fixed2
5.875% Rate
6.157% APR
Pay your home loan off over 20 years while maintaining a constant interest rate and monthly payment.
15-year fixed3
5.125% Rate
5.485% APR
Pay your home loan off faster while maintaining a constant interest rate and monthly payment.
10-year fixed4
5.125% Rate
5.640% APR
Pay your home loan off over 10 years while maintaining a constant interest rate and monthly payment.
All APRs are updated daily
View your rate
Need help finding the best option for your unique needs? Get in touch with a Mortgage Loan Officer at (833)-408-7634.
“Austin and his team were awesome and easy to work with! Great communication and follow up. Kept us in the loop every step of the way! I would go back to Austin without question.”
“Keith and his team did an outstanding job from day 1. They went above and beyond to facilitate on time closing and funding of our mortgage. The rates we received could not be matched by any other lender.”
“Mark and his team worked very closely with us to make sure that we were comfortable with the process, understood the expectations, timeline and overall schedule.”
300+ Reviews
FAQs
What is a mortgage?
A mortgage loan (or home loan) is a loan to purchase a home or other real estate—without having all the money upfront.
Learn more: Understanding Mortgage Basics
What are the different types of mortgage loans?
There are a variety of different mortgage loan options with different interest rates, terms, and protections. Fixed-rate mortgages have the same rate throughout the life of the loan, whereas adjustable-rate mortgages have interest rates that can fluctuate after an initial fixed-rate period of months to years. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans are loans issued by mortgage lenders on behalf of the government and are insured by the FHA. Learn more about different types of mortgage loans and their unique benefits here.
How much do I qualify for?
You can begin to figure out the right mortgage loan for you by evaluating your down payment, interest rate, credit score, and monthly payments. This Mortgage Calculator can help you get started.
What are the current mortgage rates?
Interest rates can vary and are subject to change. Our Mortgage Calculator can help you find a rate that works for you. You can also reach out to a Mortgage Loan Officer to discuss your needs.
How can I get the lowest mortgage rate?
Your mortgage loan’s interest rate is affected by your credit score, down payment, and the amount of your mortgage loan, among other factors. Our Mortgage Calculator can help you get a better look at your options.
How does my credit score affect my home mortgage interest rate?
Your credit score will weigh heavily in whether you qualify for a conventional or FHA mortgage loan and the interest rate on that loan. This article breaks down how your credit score can affect your interest rate, monthly payments, and mortgage loan options.
Learn more: What Credit Score Is Needed to Buy a House?
What is the minimum down payment on a home?
Mortgage lenders have traditionally asked borrowers to pay at least 20% of a home’s purchase price as a down payment. However, this is changing. Your credit score, type of mortgage loan, and purchase price can all affect how much you’re required to put down. This article breaks down these factors and can help you determine how much you should put down.
Learn more: How Much Is a Down Payment on a House?
Do I need to get a home appraisal before getting a mortgage loan?
A home appraisal is an objective and professional analysis of a home’s value. An appraisal consists of information like the floor plan, amenities, and size, as well as a visual inspection, real estate trends in the area, and the value of homes near yours. Before applying for mortgage loan refinancing, listing your house on the market, or buying a home, you’ll need to get a home appraisal.
See more FAQs
1 30-YEAR Payment Example: The payment for a 30-year term, loan amount $362000.00, Rate 6.000%, LTV 80% is $2170.00 for full Principal and Interest Payments with $5419.14 due at closing. The Annual Percentage Rate is 6.228%. No prepayment penalty. Payment shown does not include taxes and insurance. The actual payment amount will be greater. Interest rates and annual percentage rates (APRs) are for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice.
2 20-YEAR Payment Example: The payment for a 20-year term, loan amount $362000.00, Rate 5.875%, LTV 80% is $2567.00 for full Principal and Interest Payments with $4861.66 due at closing. The Annual Percentage Rate is 6.157%. No prepayment penalty. Payment shown does not include taxes and insurance. The actual payment amount will be greater. Interest rates and annual percentage rates (APRs) are for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice.
3 15-YEAR Payment Example: The payment for a 15-year term, loan amount $362000.00, Rate 5.125%, LTV 80% is $2886.00 for full Principal and Interest Payments with $5162.12 due at closing. The Annual Percentage Rate is 5.485%. No prepayment penalty. Payment shown does not include taxes and insurance. The actual payment amount will be greater. Interest rates and annual percentage rates (APRs) are for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice.
4 10-YEAR Payment Example: The payment for a 10-year term, loan amount $362000.00, Rate 5.125%, LTV 80% is $3862.00 for full Principal and Interest Payments with $5172.98 due at closing. The Annual Percentage Rate is 5.640%. No prepayment penalty. Payment shown does not include taxes and insurance. The actual payment amount will be greater. Interest rates and annual percentage rates (APRs) are for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice.
Jun
28
2022
Options Trading 101: Beginner’s Guide to Options
Options Trading 101
An Introduction to Stock Options
Editor's Note: Options are not suitable for all investors. Options involve risks, including substantial risk of loss and the possibility an investor may lose the entire amount invested in a short period of time. Please see the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options.
Options trading can be an appealing way to build wealth or manage risk, especially if you’re looking beyond just investing in stocks, bonds, and other assets in your portfolio. But options trading can be a complex and challenging endeavor. The key to success in options trading is understanding the basics, including knowing what options are and the risks and rewards involved.
SoFi has created this options guide to provide you with information and resources on the basics of options so you can start to develop a trading strategy that fits your goals and risk tolerance.
Options Basics
What Are Options?
Options are contracts giving the purchaser the right to buy or sell a security, like a stock or exchange-traded fund (ETF), at a fixed price within a specific period of time.
An option is a contract between the holder and the writer. The holder (buyer of the contract) pays the writer (seller of the contract) a price – the premium – for the right to buy or sell the underlying asset. Option holders can buy or sell the underlying security by a specific date (called expiration date) at a set price (called the strike price). If the option holder exercises the contract on or before the expiration date, the option writers must deliver the underlying asset.
How Options Work
As mentioned above, when you buy an options contract, you have the right to buy or sell the underlying asset at a specified price within a certain time frame.
There are two main types of options: call options and put options. A call option gives the holder the right to buy an underlying asset, like a stock, at the strike price, while a put option gives the holder the right to sell an underlying asset at the strike price. In general, if you think the underlying asset price will go up, you would buy a call option. But if you believe the underlying asset price will go down, you would buy a put option.
Options are derivatives, meaning an option contract’s value is derived from the value of an underlying asset, like a stock or bond. Options are also leveraged instruments, which means investors can potentially earn higher returns or experience significant losses using relatively small amounts of capital.
Since options contracts fluctuate in value, many traders can buy or sell the contracts before expiration for a profit or loss, just like they would trade a stock or bond. This process of buying and selling options contracts is known as options trading.
The Greeks
Options Greeks, also known as the Greeks, are important in options trading because they provide traders with a way to gauge the value of options contracts. Here’s a look at the most common Greeks used by traders:
• Delta is an assessment tool used to measure risk sensitivity. Delta estimates how much an option’s price changes when the underlying asset price changes. Specifically, it measures the option’s price change in relation to every $1 change in the underlying asset.
• Gamma measures the change in the delta with respect to the change in the underlying asset price. If delta measures how an option’s price changes in relation to the underlying asset’s price, then gamma measures how delta itself changes in relation to a change in the asset’s price.
• Theta measures the change in the option price with respect to time. It gives investors a sense of how much an option’s price decreases the closer it gets to expiration.
• Vega measures an option’s sensitivity to changes in the underlying asset’s implied volatility. When an underlying asset of an options contract has significant and frequent price changes, it has high volatility, which also makes the option contract more expensive.
Pros and Cons of Options
Many investors get interested in options trading because it can be a way to generate income, speculate on the price movements of securities, as well as a way to hedge against losses. However, with these possibilities, they are downsides to options trading too. Before diving into the world of options contracts and options trading, it’s essential to understand the benefits and risks of this investment strategy.
Some of the main advantages of options trading are:
• Options give you the chance to make money whether the market is going up, down, or sideways.
• Options may be an inexpensive way to participate in the market without tying up as many funds as stock or bond trading requires.
• Options provide investors with leverage, which can help magnify returns.
Some of the main drawbacks of options are:
• Options trading is a complex and risky strategy and one that requires a great deal of knowledge and experience to succeed.
• Options involve a great deal of leverage, which can amplify losses if the trade goes against the trader.
• Options contracts are not always as liquid as other securities, making them harder to buy and sell.
More on the basics of options:
Key Options Concepts
When it comes to options trading, there is a lot of jargon that investors need to know to navigate this investment strategy successfully. Here’s a look at some popular options trading terminology.
Call Options
A call option is an options contract that gives the purchaser of the contract the right to buy shares of a stock or another security at a fixed price. When an investor buys a call option, the option to buy the underlying asset from the seller of the contract is open for a set time period.
More: What is a Call Option?
Put Options
A put option is an options contract where the buyer has the right to sell shares of an underlying asset at its strike price up until the option’s expiration date. Meanwhile, the seller of the put option must buy those shares from the buyer when the buyer exercises their option to sell.
More: What is a Put Option?
Strike Price
A strike price is the price at which the holder of the option contract can buy or sell the underlying security. An option strike price can also be referred to as an exercise price, as it comes into play when an investor exercises the option contract they’ve purchased.
More: Strike Price, Explained
In The Money vs Out of the Money
“In the Money” and “Out of the Money” refer to the relationship between the options strike price and the market value of the underlying asset. In the money describes a contract that would be profitable if its holder chose to exercise the option today. If this is the case, the option is said to have intrinsic value. Out of the money contracts do not have intrinsic value. If an option is out of the money at the time of expiration, the contract will expire worthless.
More: Differences Between In-the-money and Out-of-the-money Options
At the Money
“At the Money” means a given option’s strike price is identical to the underlying asset’s price. However, in this age of decimal asset pricing, it is rare for an option’s strike price to exactly equal the price of the underlying stock — so the at the money strike price is usually considered the one closest to the asset’s price.
More: What Does At-the-Money Mean?
Options Premium
An options premium is the price of an options contract. The premium is the price the option holder pays the writer for the right to buy or sell the underlying asset. In other words, it is the current market price of an option contract and the amount the writer (seller of the contract) makes when someone purchases the contract.
More: How to Sell Options for Premium
Time Decay
Time decay is the loss of an option’s value as it gets closer to expiration. Time decay accelerates, meaning the time value declines more quickly as the expiration date gets closer because investors have less time to profit from the contract.
More: What Is Time Decay in Options?
Implied Volatility
Implied volatility measures the expected volatility of a security’s price. While implied volatility shapes the price of an option, it does not guarantee that the price activity of the underlying security will indeed be as volatile or as stable as the expectation embedded in its implied volatility.
More: What Is Implied Volatility?
Long and Short Position
Having a long position generally means you expect the price of an asset to go up – you are bullish. An investor in a short position benefits from a decline in the price of an asset, meaning you have a bearish outlook.
More: Short Position vs Long Position, Explained
Intrinsic Value and Time Value
An option’s intrinsic value is the payoff the buyer would receive if they exercised the option right now. In other words: the intrinsic value is how profitable the option would be, based on the difference between the contract’s strike price and the market value of the underlying security. An option’s time value is not as straightforward. Time value is based on a formula that includes the expected volatility of the underlying asset and the amount of time until the option contract expires.
More: Intrinsic and Time Value of Options, Explained
Buy to Open vs Buy to Close
Buy to Open and Buy to Close are options orders used by traders. Investors who want to initiate a new call or put options contract (rather than buy an existing one) use a buy to open. A buy to close order, on the other hand, occurs when an options writer wants to exit an existing option contract and buys the put or call option contract they initially sold.
More: Buy to Open vs Buy to Close
Index Options
Index options are options contracts on an underlying asset whose value is based on a financial market index, like the S&P 500 index or other benchmark indices. Traders of index options are making bets on the direction in which an index will move.
More: What Are Index Options?
Start Options Tradingwith SoFi
Trading options can appeal to investors who think an asset’s price will go up or down or want to attempt to offset risk in their portfolio. If you’re up for the challenge and the risk, it’s important to find a user-friendly options trading platform, like SoFi’s. Investors have the ability to trade options from the mobile app or web platform, and they also have access to a full library of educational resources about options.
Pay low fees when you start options trading with SoFi.
Options Strategies to Know
Options trading strategies are the plans that traders use to determine when to buy and sell options contracts. Traders can use several different option trading strategies to make money in the markets, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
More info on options strategies:
Advanced Options Topics
Once you get an understanding of the basics of options trading and strategies, you may be interested in learning more tools and concepts that can help you generate income, hedge positions, or speculate. For more advanced options topics, check out the articles below.
Stay up to date on the latest business news and stock market happenings.