Maybe youre buying your first home in Kentucky, or perhaps youre relocating to Kentucky from another state. Either way, its important that you educate yourself on Kentucky home loans before shopping for a home and mortgage. This article explains what youll need to know before buying a home in Kentucky:

The price of homes in Kentucky varies widely between zip codes. For example, in Louisville, Kentucky, the median price of a home in 2005 was $225,000; however, in Lexington, Kentucky, the median price of a home was $156,000. In 2004, the median home cost was for the entire state of Kentucky was $179,000. Additionally, in the last few years, average interest rates on home loans in Kentucky have been higher than the national average.

The rate of job growth in Kentucky is lower than the national rate, and the number of bankruptcies and foreclosures is higher than the national average. The rate of home appreciation in Kentucky is also lower than that of the nation. Homes in Kentucky appreciate at less than half of the rate of average national appreciation.

Kentucky is one of the many states that have enacted laws in order to counteract the rate of predatory lending. Kentuckys high-cost home loan law subjects loans that are considered high-cost to certain regulations. High-cost loans include mortgages in which the total points and fees required to be paid by the borrower at closing exceed eight percent of the total loan amount and residential mortgages in which the APR exceeds the Treasuries securities rate by eight percent on first mortgages and ten percent on second mortgages.

Kentucky high-cost loan laws apply to purchase, refinancing, and second mortgages. Lenders may make high-cost home loans, but they must abide by certain restrictions. For example, lenders may not collect repayment penalties after the borrower has owned the home for three years, they may not create a repayment schedule that results in an increase in the principal amount owed, and they must reasonably believe that a borrower will be able to make the payments on their mortgage.

Because Kentucky officials are attempting to counteract predatory lending practices, the penalties of not abiding by Kentucky high-cost home loan laws are very strict.