People commonly ask me about rates, I tell them, it all depends on the program you are talking about.  Then they say well, a regular 30 year fixed.  I then ask questions about the down payment, verified or stated, etc..  I get wow, you ask a lot of questions just for a rate quite.  Yes, but I want to be accurate and give the right rate.  The most two popular are the Conventional & FHA loans.  A FHA mortgage has up-front mortgage insurance of 1.5% of the loan amount and is added right to the loan. For example a 100,000 FHA loan would actually be 101,500 after MI was added. The payments are calculated of the total loan amount. Also FHA has a monthly mortgage insurance premium as well. Using the 100,000 loan example the mi premium would be $41.66. A conventional mortgage has no up-front mortgage insurance, but does have a monthly premium. This premium is determined by the loan to value. The mortgage insurance rate varies at the following LTV's 100%, 97%, 95%, 90%, and 85%. No mortgage insurance is required for 80% or less. Assuming a 3% down payment, the mortgage insurance on a 100,000 loan would be $83-$86.