Posts Tagged ‘adjustable rate mortgage’

Negative Amortization Mortgage Loan Information

A negative amortization mortgage loan or NegAm as it is sometimes refered to is basically when aloan payment for any period not enough to cover the interest charged over that period of time. This causes the outstanding balance on the loan to increase instead of decrease with each payment made. This type of loan is most often used as a mortgage loan by a corporation, and are sometimes referred to as PIK loans. Negative amortization mortgage loans usually only have this negative amortization schedule as an introductory period and once it expires a larger payment must be made in order to avoid default on the loan.

The purpose these types of loans are usually for advanced cash management or short-term payment flexibility. Negative amortization mortgage loans are not set up or desigend to make a mortgage more affordable. Usually the introductary negative amortization period is no more than 5 years and at this time the loan must be “recast” or setup on a fully normal amortization schedule.

ARM loan mortgage – Adjustable Rate Mortgage

An adjustable  rate mortgage, commonly refered to as an ARM loan is a loan where the interest rate adjusts periodically based on a variety of indicies. There are different variations of an ARM loan some of which have a fixed rate for a certain period of time such as 3, 5, 7, or 10 years and after that period it turns to an adjustable rate and floats based on certain indicies.

There are also many other forms of an ARM loan including interest only ARM, balloon rate ARM, and negative amortization ARM. All of these types of loans have pros and cons, it’s knowing when to get the appropriate loan at the appropriate time that saves you money.

As mentioned earlier usually there is an initial interest rate for a certain period of time, usually 3, 5, 7, or 10 years. After this time period has expired the interest rate is adjusted based on the certin indicies.  There are caps on ARM loans interest rates which are usually about 5%  on top of the initial interest rate. So if your initial rate was 6% the most it could increase would be to 11% (pretty expensive if you ask me).  There is also usually an option to turn the ARM mortgage to a fixed rate for an additional fee. There is usually a prepayment fee on ARM loans as well.

A great time to consider an ARM loan is when you plan to be in your current home for less than 3 or 5 years and current interest rates are low. You can do an ARM loan for 3 or 5 years and the rate will be fixed for that amount of time and take advantage of the lower rate. When you are ready to move in 3 to 5 years you will be able to sell the house and purchase your next house and start the process over. You won’t even have to worry about the variable or floating interest rate.