Soak time. The length of time you marinate food depends on both the food and the marinade. Delicate fish, shellfish, and fruit usually soak for a shorter period of time (from 20 minutes to a few hours), while meats can go longer (up to a day or two).
Having your taxes and insurance included in your mortgage payment is actually very convenient. Instead of having to pay an annual insurance premium and half of your annual taxes on April 30th and the second half on October 31st, the lender establishes an automatic savings plan for you.
The answer is that because of how mortgage interest works, most of your payments in the early years goes to interest, not paying down your loan. On a 30-year loan of $100k at 7%, the payment is $665/mo., but when you make the first payment, a whopping $583 goes to interest, and a mere $82 goes towards owning the home.ast update: June 2013 (includes new FHA rules & rates). When your down payment is less than 20%, you usually have to pay for Mortgage Insurance, (PMI). This protects the lender in case you don't make your house payments, they repossess your house, and they have to sell it for less than the amount left on the loan.