Adjustable Rate Mortgages

Variable or adjustable rate loans are mortgage loans whose interest rate, and accordingly monthly payments, can fluctuate over the period of the loan. With this type of mortgage, periodic adjustments based on changes in a defined index are made to the interest rate. The index for your particular loan is established at the time of application.

Well known indices include :

Treasury Security Indexes

Yields on United States Treasury Securities adjusted to constant maturities. When using Treasury Securities, the ARM's adjustment period is usually the same as the security's constant maturity.2. Treasury Bills -- Commonly called T-bills they come in denominations of 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. Depending on which three of these security index schedules you choose, the interest rate on your

Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) will adjust once every six months, once each year, or once every three years. 3. London Inter Bank Offering Rates (LIBOR) -- Interest rates at which international banks lend and borrow funds in the London interbank market. 4. Certificate of Deposit Indexes -- Average rates that you get when you invest in a 1- , 3- or 6-month CD. 5. 11th District Cost of Funds Index (COFI) -- This index reflects the weighted-average interest rate paid by 11th Federal Home Loan Bank District savings institutions for savings accounts and other sources of funds. ARMs based on this index can adjust every month, every six months, or every year. 6. Prime Rate -- An interest rate offered to banks best customers.

Historical and current values for some ARM's indexes are available on our site. You can also find values of indexes in the H15 Federal Reserve statistical release and in business newspapers.

New interest rate = index + margin

The margin is fixed percentage points added to the index to compute the interest rate. The result will then be rounded to the nearest one-eighth of a percent.

Example:

The index is 5.3% and the margin is 2.5%,
then the new interest rate = 5.3% + 2.5% = 7.8%.
The nearest to 0.8% is 0.75% = 6/8%.
The result will be 7.75%.

The margins remain fixed for the term of the loan and are not impacted by the financial markets and movement of interest rates. Lenders use a variety of margins depending upon the loan program and adjustment periods.

Most ARMs have an interest rate caps to protect you from enormous increases in monthly payments. A lifetime cap limits the  interest rate increase over the life of the loan. A periodic or adjustment cap limits how much your interest rate can rise at one time.

Examples:

1. The initial interest rate is 4.5%, the index is 7%, and the margin is 3%, then the new interest rate = 7% + 3% = 10%. If the lifetime cap is 5% then the actual new interest rate will be 4.5% + 5% = 9.5%.

2. The initial interest rate is 6%, the index is 5%, and the margin is 3%, then the new interest rate = 5% + 3% = 8%. If the periodic cap is 1% then the actual new interest rate will be 6% + 1% = 7%.

Your mortgage disclosure will tell you the exact index, to be used, whether the weekly or monthly value applies, the lead time for your index, the margin, and any caps.

Negatively amortizing loans

Some types of ARMs offer payment caps rather than interest rate caps, which limit the amount the monthly payment can increase. If a loan has payment cap but has no periodic interest rate cap, then the loan may become negatively amortized: if the interest rates rise to the point that the monthly mortgage payment does not cover the interest due, any unpaid interest will get added to the loan balance, so the loan balance increases. However, you always have the option to pay the minimum monthly payment, or the fully
amortized amount due
.

Example:

Your loan has a payment cap of 7.5%. If your payment is $1,000 per month and interest rates rise, your new payment would normally be $1200/mo (for example). But your capped payment is only $1075. The other $125 get added to your loan balance, to be paid off over time, unless of course you decide to pay that additional amount now.

The advantage of negatively amortizing loans is that you can control cash flow (relatively stable payment), take advantage of   low interest rates relative to the market at any given time, and pay back the money borrowed today at a depreciated value years from now (because of natural inflation). This makes such loans a great tool for homeowners as long as you understand the mechanics of what's going on.

With most ARMs, the interest rate can adjust every six months, once a year, every three years, or every five years. The interest rate on negatively amortized loans can adjust monthly. A loan with an adjustment period of 6 months is called a 6-month ARM, with an adjustment period of 1 year is called a 1-year ARM, and so on.

Most ARMs offer an initial lower interest rate than the fully indexed rate (index plus margin) during the initial period of the loan, which could be one month or a year or more. It is also known as teaser rate.

All ARMs are available with 30-year terms and some with 15-year terms. Adjustable rate mortgages generally have a lower initial interest rate than fixed rate loans.

Combined (Hybrid) Loans

Hybrid loans, a combination of fixed and ARM loans, come in different varieties:

Fixed-period ARMs

With fixed-period ARMs homeowners can enjoy from three to ten years of fixed payments before the initial interest rate change. At the end of the fixed period, the interest rate will adjust annually. Fixed-period ARMs -- 30/3/1, 30/5/1, 30/7/1 and 30/10/1 -- are generally tied to the one-year Treasury securities index. ARMs   with an initial fixed period beside of lifetime and adjustment caps usually have also first adjustment cap. It limits the interest rate you will pay the first time your rate is adjusted. First adjustment caps vary with type of loan program.

The advantage of these loans is that the interest rate is lower than for a 30-year fixed (the lender is not locked in for as long so their risk is lower and they can charge less) but you still get the advantage of a fixed rate for a period of time.

Two-Step Mortgage

Two-Step mortgages have a fixed rate for a certain time, most often 5 or 7 years, and then interest rate changes to a current market rate. After that adjustment the mortgage maintains new fixed rate for the remaining 23 or 25 years.

Convertible ARMs

Some ARMs come with option to convert them to a fixed-rate mortgage at designated times (usually during the first five years on the adjustment date), if you see interest rates starting to rise. The new rate is established at the current market rate for fixed-rate mortgages.

The conversion is typically done for a nominal fee and requires almost no paperwork. The disadvantage is that the conversion interest rate is typically a little higher than the market rate at that time.

The other kind of convertible mortgage is a fixed rate loan with rate reduction option. If rates had dropped since the time of closing it allows you, under some prescribed conditions, for small conversion fee to adjust your mortgage to going market rate. Generally the interest rate or discount points may be a little higher for a convertible loan.

Graduated Payment Mortgages (GPMs)

Graduated payment mortgages have payments that start low and gradually increase at predetermined times. A lower initial payments allow you to qualify for a larger loan amount. The monthly  payments will eventually be higher in order to catch up from the lower payments. In fact, your loan will be negatively amortizing during the early years of the loan, then pay off the principal at an accelerated pace through the later years.

Lenders offer different GPM payment plans, which vary in the rate of payment increases and the number of years over which the payments will increase. The greater the rate of increase or the longer the period of increase, the lower the mortgage payments in the early years.

Example

The following table compares the monthly payment schedule of a 30 year fixed rate loan with the most frequently used GPM plan. In this plan payments increase 7.5 percent each year for 5 years before leveling off.

The example uses a mortgage with a loan amount of $60,000 and an interest rate of 10 percent.

Year 30 year fixed GPM loan
1 526.80 400.22
2 526.80 430.24
3 526.80 462.50
4 526.80 497.20
5 526.80 534.49
6 526.80 574.57
7 - 30 526.80 574.57

Buydown Mortgage

A temporary buydown is the type of loan with an initially discounted interest rate which gradually increases to an agreed-upon fixed rate usually within one to three years. An initially discounted rate allows you to qualify for more house with the same income and gives you the advantage of lower initial monthly payments for the first years of the loan when extra money may be needed for furnishings or home improvements. To reduce your monthly payments during the first few years of a mortgage you make an initial lump sum payment to the lender. If you do not have the cash to pay for the buydown, the lender can pay this fee if you agree on a little higher interest rate.

A very popular buydown is the 2-1 buydown.

Example

If the interest rate on the note is 8% with a 2-1 buydown mortgage your initial discounted rate is 6% and you would have 6% interest rate for the first year, 7% for the second year, and 8% afterwards. You will need to prepay the difference in payments between the 6% and 8% rates the first year, and between the 7% and 8% rates the second year.

3-2-1 and 1-0 buydowns are also available, though less common. Compressed Buydown, works the same way, but with the interest rate changing every six months instead of on a yearly basis.

The lower rate may apply for the full duration of the loan or for just the first few years. A buydown may be used to qualify a borrower who would otherwise not qualify . This is because a buydown results in lower payments which are easier to qualify for.

With a variety of different loan programs available, it is important to choose the type of loan that will best suit your needs.

The right type of mortgage chiefly depends on how long you plan on staying in the house and the amount of monthly payment you can comfortably afford.

If you don't plan to stay in your house for at least 5 to 7 years, it will be reasonable to consider an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, Balloon Mortgage or Two-Step Mortgage. ARMs traditionally offer lower interest rates during the early years of the loan than fixed-rate loans. A Two-Step Mortgage will give you a lower interest rate than a 30-year mortgage for the first five or seven years. A Balloon Mortgage offers lower interest rates for shorter term financing, usually five or seven years. Because of a lower interest rate it is easy to qualify for these type of mortgages. However don't accept the ARM unless you can afford the maximum possible monthly payment.

Generally, you can start to consider 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgages if you plan to stay in your home for more than seven years and your credit is not in the process of recovery.

 

 

 

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