Comparing a 6.73% 30-year mortgage quote on a $1,145,000 New York purchase

[grain.plain]

I have checked the headline rate and the basic monthly payment. What remains unclear is which quote is cheaper over the period I am actually likely to keep the mortgage on a roughly $1,145,000 New York purchase.

One offer is fixed at 6.73% for 30 years, but its fee and loan-to-value band materially affect the comparison. Should I use APR only as an initial screen, then add fees, payments and exit costs over a common holding period? The lower-rate option costs more upfront but allows more flexible overpayments. I’m also weighing portability and early-repayment terms, while testing whether the payment is affordable without relying on a later refinance.

 

[frame.grand]

APR is a useful first filter, but I’d also calculate the cost over your realistic ownership or refinance horizon. Add upfront lender fees, monthly payments and any likely exit cost, then compare the offers over the same number of years. A lower rate can take a long time to recover a large fee.

I would not assign much value to portability or overpayment flexibility until the lender explains exactly when and how those terms apply.

 

[kai_cole]

What down payment and loan-to-value tier are the lenders using, and how long do you expect to keep this mortgage? Without those two details, APR alone could point you toward the wrong quote. If you refinance or sell fairly soon, the expensive fee may never pay for itself. If you keep the loan much longer, the lower rate could win. I’d also test affordability at the quoted payment without assuming refinancing becomes attractive.

 

[compareTheBridge]

I’d slightly push back on treating the expected refinance date as the main comparison period. That assumption can make an expensive loan look harmless even though future rates and qualification are uncertain.

Make a simple table for each quote: cash due at closing, monthly principal and interest, cumulative payments after several possible holding periods, remaining balance, and any early-repayment cost. Confirm whether “portability” has meaningful value for a US property loan rather than relying on the label. With a 30-year fixed rate, the rate-reset concern mainly arises if you voluntarily replace the loan, not while you keep the original terms.