10 States With the Highest Mortgage Rates

If you're looking to buy a home in the near future, you picked a good time for it, with interest rates still near historic lows. They're not uniformly low across the country, though. Some states have relatively high average rates. Even if you live in those states, though, there's little reason to worry.

For context, mortgage rates for 30-year loans hita nearly three-year high of 4.32% in December, and were recently around 4.27%. The Fed has begun raising interest rates and some experts are suggesting that mortgage rates could exceed 6% by 2020.

Image source: Getty Images.

States with steep(ish) interest rates (and states with low ones)

More From Fool.com

Motley Fool Founders Issue New Stock Buy Alert

Forget GE! Heres how to play the largest growth opportunity in history

Forget Apple! Heres a Better Stock to Buy

He Made 21,078% Buying Amazon. Heres His New Pick

So which states offer the worst interest rates these days? Well, here are the 10 states with the highest average rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, perdata from Bankrate.com (as of the second week in February):

Source: Bankrate.com.

If you're curious, below are the states offering the best interest rates:

Source: Bankrate.com.

Rising interest rates can be costly to home buyers

How much of a difference does a steep rate really make? Well, check out the table below, reflectingmonthly payments for various interest rates for a $200,000 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. I'm including the lowest recent rate -- 3.94%, from Nebraska -- and the highest, South Dakota's 4.13%. As rates seem to be heading up, I'm including some even higher rates, too.

Source: Bankrate.com, plus calculations by author.

You can see that a 4.13% interest rate won't cost you an arm and a leg more than a 3.94% rate, but it does amount to a few thousand dollars' difference over 30 years. It's much more instructive to note what happens when rates are higher, such as 5% or 6% -- remembering that historically speaking, a 6% mortgage interest rate isn't that onerous. If the current rates of around 4% rise to 6%, it can cost a typical borrower close to $100,000 or more over the life of their loan. That's a big deal.

Higher rates mean less house

Higher interest rates also mean higher monthly payments, which could limit you to a less costly (and perhaps less nice) home. If you can only swing monthly payments of $1,000, for instance, the table below shows you how much you can borrow at various rates:

Source: Bankrate.com calculator.

You're unlikely to be quoted an 8% mortgage interest rate these days, but there have been years when rates were in the double digits -- so 8% is not unthinkable. Look at how much it restricts your buying power: The difference between a $4.4% interest rate and an 8% one cuts the amount of home you can buy by about 32% -- just about a third.

Image source: Getty Images.

Good news for home buyers

Fortunately, right now, and probably for the next year or two, interest rates will remain on the low side, historically speaking, allowing you to buy more home than you otherwise could. Even if you're in a state with relatively high interest rates, you don't necessarily have to settle for the average local rate. Even in South Dakota, for example, a little online shopping yielded rates as lowas 3.924% from some lenders.

You can aim to snag lower interest rates by making sure your credit score is as high as it can be, since high scores get lower interest rates from lenders. You can get free copies of your credit reports once a year from each of the main credit reporting agencies -- do so and correct any errors on them. If your score is legitimately low, consider waiting a while before homebuying, so that you can boost your score. Some ways to improve your credit score include paying bills on time and paying off a lot of debt in order to lower your debt-to-available-credit ratio.Lenders like to see you owing only about 10% to 30% of the sum of all your credit limits, because it suggests that you have your debt under control and can afford to take on some more debt via the mortgage you're seeking.

Two other helpful tips:

• Figure out just how much home you can afford. It can be tempting to go big, but doing so can leave you with little margin of safety, in case you or a spouse loses a job or your household faces some major unexpected expenses. Aim to be spending, say, no more than 25% of your income on your mortgage -- and if you can keep it to 20% or less, you'll free up more funds for retirement savings, college savings, or other needs.
• Once you decide that you're ready to make an offer as soon as you see a home you want, get pre-approved for a mortgage. That can make you a more competitive buyer.

No matter whether you live in a state with relatively high or relatively low mortgage interest rates, know that you can, to some degree, control the rates you're offered. Make some smart moves now and you may be able to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars less -- and perhaps buy the home of your dreams, too.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.