When purchasing a home, many people either do not have the cash on hand or wish to spread the total payment over a long period of time, such as 15 to 30 years. Mortgage loans are available to allow people to finance the majority of the housing purchase. However, once the contract is signed, most banks actually sell these loans to another banking institution which operates in the secondary mortgage market.

The primary market consists of the actual lenders and borrowers. It is the bank or lending institution that draws up the contract and terms of the agreement, working out the details with the home purchaser. These organizations decide the amount of principal that will be lent, the interest rate to charge, and how long the loan will be for.

For a bank, this is a repetitive procedure that is completed for numerous amounts of people or businesses. A loan does not have to be for a housing purchase, but can be made for several different reasons. Doing such slowly eliminates the reserve funds that they have on hand. Over time they can become depleted.

Institutions which function in the secondary market purchase these loans from the primary lenders. The reason that the first lender is willing to sell is because they would like to have more funds on hand to lend to other people. The interest charged on these loans is a means to produce a large portion of their income.

Once purchased, the institution will often bundle together similar home loan purchases so as to create a security to be sold on the stock market. Investors can purchase shares of the securities, which the company hopes will help to offset the risk of defaulting on their payments. These types of products are usually called mortgage-backed securities or collateralized debt obligations, plus a few other names.

The offerings in the secondary market, which many people do not even realize exists, do not place the mortgage loans of the initial borrowers at risk for loss of their home. They do however, put the stock market at risk when the borrower defaults on their payments. It is a complicated process to understand and operate.

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