Chris Jennings

Principal: This money is applied straight to your loan balance.
Interest: This is the cost of borrowing the money. How much you’ll pay is indicated by your interest rate.
Escrow costs: Sometimes, your lender might require you to use an escrow account to cover property taxes, homeowners insurance, and mortgage insurance. When this is the case, you’ll pay money into your escrow account monthly, too.

Writer and editor in the online financial media space for 4+ years
Bachelor's degree in English
Proponent of the em dash

Expertise

Mortgages, real estate, investing

Personal finance experience

As a Credible authority on mortgages and personal finance, Chris Jennings has covered topics that include mortgage loans, mortgage refinancing, and more. He's been an editor and editorial assistant in the online personal finance space for four years, and his work has appeared in Fox Business.

Previous experience

Chris takes pride in making challenging mortgage topics more accessible to the first-time homebuyer so that they feel empowered and confident in their journey toward owning a home. Before coming to Credible, he worked as a digital editor at GOBankingRates. When Chris is not on the clock, he spends his time reading, writing fiction, watching sports, and browsing Zillow for homes he cannot afford.

Education

Chris received his bachelor's degree in English from Illinois State University. While there, he edited for and contributed a weekly sports column to the student newspaper.