Mortgage Refinancing: Protecting Yourself When Using an Adjustable Rate Mortgage


by Louie Latour - Date: 2006-12-05 - Word Count: 327 Share This!

When used correctly, Adjustable Rate Mortgages have the potential to save you a lot of money. It is important to know what you are getting into before mortgage refinancing with an Adjustable Rate Mortgage. Here are several tips to help you protect yourself when choosing an Adjustable Rate Mortgage loan.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) typically come with lower interest rates than fixed interest rate loans. These loans often come with an introductory period where the initial interest rate is significantly lower than the actual interest rate. At the end of the introductory period the lender will convert your loan to the actual interest rate and depending on the type of ARM you choose your payment amount will change.

Depending on your tolerance for risk, using an interest only or payment option Adjustable Rate Mortgage could help meet your short-term financial needs. Before choosing an Adjustable Rate loan when mortgage refinancing, find out which index your interest rate is based on. Depending on the adjustment interval of your loan, the lender will adjust your interest rate to this index plus markup. Some indexes are more volatile than others; it pays to shop around and choose the most favorable financial index.

You can minimize the risks of mortgage refinancing with an Adjustable Rate Mortgage with caps. There are two types of caps that protect borrowers with Adjustable Rate Mortgages and you need to ensure your loan has both of them. Rate caps protect your interest rate by limiting the amount the interest rate can change when the lender makes an adjustment. Periodic caps limit the amount your payment amount can change when the interest rate changes. Make sure your Adjustable Rate Mortgages has both periodic and rate caps. Adjustable Rate Mortgages that do not have properly structured caps can experience negative amortization; this results in a mortgage balance that grows over time.

You can learn more about your mortgage refinancing options including common mistakes to avoid by registering for a free mortgage tutorial.


Related Tags: mortgage refinance information, mortgage refinancing, mortgage broker

To get your free mortgage guidebook visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.

Louie Latour specializes in showing homeowners how to avoid costly mortgage mistakes and predatory lenders. For a free copy of "Mortgage Refinancing - What You Need to Know," which teaches strategies to find the best mortgage and save thousands of dollars in the process, visit Refiadvisor.com.

Claim your free mortgage refinance information guide today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com

Mortgage Refinance Information Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: