Many borrowers have been trained to avoid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), especially after misuse of those loans got so many borrowers into trouble during the last boom market, but ARMs issued through government programs such as FHA or VA have certain safeguards built in to them that protect borrowers from the biggest hazards that normally go along with having an adjustable rate, making them nearly as safe as fixed-rate mortgages while still giving borrowers better interest rates. Read the rest of this entry »

Following up on our last article on how homeowners may want to refinance their ARMs to lock in a fixed rate, Money/CNN has an interesting article giving some specific numbers as examples of how looming rate adjustments might affect a homeowner’s bottom line. Read the rest of this entry »

The short-term indices that determine the rates charged to holders of ARMs have been rising steadily for a while now, and long-term rates have finally started to rise as well; as a result, many homeowners who used ARMs to purchase their homes should at least consider refinancing their loans as fixed-rate mortgages to lock in the still-relatively-low rates before they vanish. Read the rest of this entry »