The Deed of Trust is the legal document that pledges a property as collateral for your loan. It's a binding agreement among three parties: you (the lender), the borrower, and a neutral third-party trustee, often a title or escrow agent.

It gives you a recorded security interest in the property, a lien, so the home can't be sold without paying you off first. Deeds of trust are filed in public records, keeping the arrangement transparent and enforceable.

The Promissory Note is the borrower's written promise to repay principal and interest in full, on defined terms and by a defined date. It's the document that spells out exactly what you're owed, and when.

The Amortization Schedule is the repayment roadmap. It breaks every installment into principal and interest and shows the remaining balance after each payment, so you can watch your capital being returned, step by step, across the life of the note.