WhatAre ARMs Really About?
WhatAre ARMs Really About?
by Camilla D. Patterson
In addition to all of the other decisions you have to make when you are choosing a home loan, such as whether to go fixed or floating rate, how much down payment to make and how many points to pay, lenders have further complicated everything by offering a wide range of choice of indexes for ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages).
When we talk about the index for an ARM, we are talking about the standard that the adjustments to the mortgage rate will be tied to edmonton mortgage rates. Various indices are used, including government treasury instruments, the Fed Fund rate or LIBOR.
Interest rates on ARMS adjust, upwards or downwards, based on how general rates are moving, which is reflected in the movement of the underlying index rate. One such instrument would be Certificates of Deposit-your mortgage rate would go up and down with the CD rate. ARMS also contain adjustment caps, so that you can limit the exposure as to how high your mortgage rate can go, even if your index rate continues to increase, which is good if you just had an adjustment, and the rates go up again. By the same token, if your adjustment is scheduled to take place immediately after the CD rate increased, you will have that rate for a while, even if the CD rate comes back down in the interim.
Your ARM may be linked with the Treasury Bill rate, which is the rate the US Government pays on its 90 day investments. The Fed Fund rate is the rate banks pay to the Federal Reserve Bank for funds. Another popular index used by many is the LIBOR, or the London Interbank Offered Rate, which highly rated international companies pay to borrow.
Deciding upon which index is best for you will depend on your own situation as well as your view of interest rate movements. If you have an ARM that uses CDs as its base, you can expect it to be very responsive to interest rate moves. Rates on Treasury instruments such as the Treasury Bill move more slowly than CDs, and so will react more less to interest rate changes alberta mortgages. LIBOR is one of the quickest moving indices, so if you want to take advantage of quickly falling interest rates, this is the one to use.
An interesting, and possibly dangerous choice in interest rate choices is the option ARM, which allows the borrower to pick the “option” of choosing his mortgage payment every month. The options that are offered are interest-only payments, and a lowest possible payment that can’t be less than the interest-only payment. There is a real danger in option mortgages that the mortgage will end up with negative amortization, which means the mortgage balance goes up instead of decreasing as it normally would.
With all of these choices, a prospective borrower should really talk to a professional mortgage broker who understands the various products and can help you choose the best one for you.