Second Mortgage

A second mortgage is a mortgage whose terms are subordinate to the first mortgage. Loans with a second mortgage are usually done when the homeowner needs money in order to pay for an existing loan.

Second Mortgage or Refinance?

This is a question every homebuyer is faced with when shopping for mortgages. Take this scenario: A homeowner is facing a credit card debt of 50,000. Should he take a 190,000 second mortgage to refinance an existing mortgage with a balance of 140,000? Or should he borrow the money from a 50,000 home equity loan?

In most cases, borrowers who took a mortgage when rates were lower will find a second mortgage better than a home equity loan. But to be certain, some factors need to be considered.

You need to compare the interest rate and points of the first mortgage with that of a second mortgage. Second, find out if there are any PMIs (Private Mortgage Insurance) involved with the second mortgage. Find out what loan term is most favorable for you on your second mortgage. Your income tax bracket and amount of cash you need from your second mortgage are also necessary factors.

Consider the case above. If the first mortgage at 14,000 was acquired two years ago, the interest rate would be 7 percent for 30 years without PMI. Lets say your income bracket is 39.6% (the highest) and you are capable of earning 5% more on your investments. Your house is now worth 213,000.

A second mortgage for 190,000 with settlement costs will require PMI. If you decide to get a home equity loan instead, you will get 30 years loan term at 8.25% and one point. For 50,000, your second mortgage will include additional costs for 15 years at 11.5% and one point. The result will be that over the course of five years, your second mortgage will have saved you 11,361 more than what refinancing will.

Take a second mortgage or get a new one and pay PMI?

Getting a second mortgage has more advantages when it comes to taxes than a separate loan. But usually, this depends on many other factors.

Getting a second mortgage is better than getting a separate loan when the rate difference between the second mortgage and the first mortgage is small. If the loan term is short, then getting a second mortgage probably makes more sense than getting a separate loan. Balance is paid off faster with shorter term loans. Since second mortgages have considerably higher rates, the shorter the loan term is, the better it is to get a second mortgage loan.

Other factors that affect the advantage of second mortgages over separate mortgages are tax brackets, closing costs, and expected appreciation rate.

For example, you have a tax bracket of 15% and a 30-year first mortgage for 160,000 and a second mortgage for 20,000 at 11.75%, zero points, and to be paid off in 15 years. A separate mortgage would be for 180,000 with down payment at 10%. Interest rate for this separate mortgage would be at 8.25%, zero points, and 0.52% PMI.

When you calculate this, you can see that over the five years, a second mortgage will have saved you 16.97% more than a separate mortgage would.

Mortgage

Home is where the heart is. That much is true. But home is also where money is. As the saying goes, Theres nothing like a home for a good investment. Touch. This is why for most people, buying a new home is probably the biggest financial decision theyll ever have to make.

When youre on the look out for a new home, you need cash. A lot of it. Most homes today have down payments that are more than what the buyer can afford right then and there. The solution for this? A mortgage.

The Difference Between a Bank Loan Officer and a Mortgage Broker

Loan officers at a bank or a credit union are employees working to sell and process mortgages and loans for mortgage customers or home buyers like you. Their loan types and mortgage products have several varieties but they all come from one specific originator, their employers.

The loan officers job is to help you process your application for a mortgage. To see if youre suitable a certain mortgage product, they will look into your personal credit account and start the approval process for your transaction.

Mortgage brokers on the other hand are professionals who are peddlers of mortgage products. They are the ones responsible for bringing together mortgage lenders and their borrowers. As opposed to bank officers, mortgage brokers are not employees of the lending companies they work for. Instead, they work independently as free lance agents who are on the look out for borrowers looking for a good mortgage.

So what?

Looking for a home mortgage usually involves you, your money, and a bank officer or a mortgage broker. So whats the big deal? You ask. The end result is the same you get a mortgage; you get a new house. But these two job types are different and it is important that you at least understand that difference.

In most cases, banks usually close mortgage loans more quickly than a mortgage broker does. This is probably because a mortgage broker deals with two types of persons the lender and the client. Resolving mortgage issues between these two is a time-consuming job. This is also perhaps why mortgage brokers charge high for closing fees. A percentage of the closing fee you pay on a mortgage goes to the mortgage brokers personal funds. This, along with a few more fees, stands as their salary.

Another thing is that mortgage brokers can be more resourceful than banks. Because mortgage brokers do not work for only one company, they have more access to mortgages and loans. Greater suitability and better mortgage options are what mortgage brokers bring to their customers. For instance, your credit history is not that great. Banks generally reject mortgage applications if the credit score is below 670. With a mortgage broker, you can shop around for a lending company that offers bad credit mortgage loans.

In looking for the mortgage thats right for you, make your choice based on the best mortgage terms a lender can offer you. Dont settle for anything else. If possible, you can ask for mortgage advice from experts, real estate agents, and even your friends who have recently bought a home.

Mortgage Refinancing

Mortgage refinancing loans experience a boom whenever rates are low. A lot of people are tempted to get do a mortgage refinancing on their homes to increase their savings. Aside from that, people who want to consolidate their bills are drawn into mortgage refinancing.

There are countless other reasons why people go for mortgage refinancing when buying a new home. However, it should be noted that not everyone benefits from mortgage refinancing. For homeowners with second mortgages, mortgage refinancing may backfire. The same goes for those people with a lot of debt or those having trouble paying bills on time. By going for mortgage refinancing, they might end up paying more than when they stick to the loan they already got.

Things to keep in mind when Mortgage Refinancing your home

There are a few things to keep in mind when you decide to go for a mortgage refinancing loan. In mortgage refinancing, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself this question: Does my property have enough equity for mortgage refinancing? Mortgage refinancing a home will not help anything if the equity has been steadily depleting.

Lets say a homeowner borrows 90 per cent of value from his home to finance another loan. At that rate, the homeowner will be running serious risk of depleting his homes total equity by going for another loan through mortgage refinancing. This is especially true for mortgage refinancing when closing costs start rolling in.

A second thing that affects mortgage refinancing is the borrowers loan qualifications and credit line. A positive credit history would spell good news for mortgage refinancing. However, if credit is bad or if the relationship between debt and income is skewed, then mortgage refinancing is not the right option.

Maintaining a positive balance between income and debt levels is strenuous for most people. At the rate with which home equity loans and credit lines are selling, its easy to see that a lot of homeowners have succumbed to second lines in order to cover their bills. Some borrowers have taken advantage of loopholes in credit checks to sell their houses for more than what theyre worth. Mortgage refinancing wont come easy for these types of people.

Customers who are interested in mortgage refinancing also receive pre-qualification tests and credit checks like all other customers. Customers with a few late payments or high credit card balances will have trouble finding lenders who are willing to give them mortgage refinancing loans. However, these points wont really exclude anyone from mortgage refinancing entirely. Its just that rates might just be a little bit too high to give any room for savings or rates are not low enough to make mortgage refinancing worthwhile.

Mortgage refinancing may also turn sour for buyers with good credit. Private mortgage insurance (PMI) and long loan terms can make mortgage refinancing a bad deal. Private mortgage insurances usually apply when a homeowner borrows more than 80 per cent of a homes value. This protects the lender in case of a default or a foreclosure. Before deciding on mortgage refinancing, take the PMI into account and see if youre willing to pay that much.

Also, mortgage refinancing may add 30 more years on your 30-year first mortgage. Yes, the monthly payment will be less but are you really willing to pay for your loan for 30 years more instead of 10?

Mortgage Rates

There are several factors that affect your mortgage rate. One major factor of mortgage rate movement is inflation. Inflation means a growing economy and increasing prices of goods and services. A growing economy means a stronger demand for goods and services, allowing producers to increase their prices. This therefore results in higher real-estate prices, higher apartment rents, and higher mortgage rates.

In an effort to reduce inflation and slow down economy, the Federal Reserve lowers down interest rates, and in the process, decrease mortgage rates. Although mortgage rates have the tendency to move in the same direction as interest rates, their actual movements are also based on the supply and demand for mortgages.

Mortgage rates have a slightly different equation in their supply and demand as compared to interest rates. This is the reason why sometimes, mortgage rates move differently from other rates. For instance, a lender has a commitment to make and is forced to close additional mortgages. To achieve this, they would have to lower down the mortgage rates even with interest rates going up.

Other Factors Affecting Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates are affected by several other factors besides inflation. Mortgage rates rise up when the amount of the loan increases. This increase in mortgage rates is especially true if the loan amount exceeds the established loan limits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Loan limits typically changes at the beginning with each year to conform with the trend mortgage rates are taking.

The length of the loan may also affect mortgage rates. Shorter loans usually means lower mortgage rates and longer loans can cost you higher mortgage rates. Loans with a 20-year or 15-year note can allow you to save thousands of dollars on mortgage rate payments. However, this also means that your mortgage rate payments every month will also be a lot higher.

To avoid this, an adjustable mortgage rate may help you get started on a lower mortgage rate, but if interest rates grow, your monthly mortgage payments will rise also. Fixed mortgage rates are usually higher than adjustable mortgage rates but they can save you money too, especially if the interest and mortgage rates go up.

Larger down payments can help you save up on your monthly mortgage rate payments. You can get the best possible mortgage rate with a down payment that is greater than 20%. Higher mortgage rates are expected if the down payment is less than 5% since the beginning equity is smaller and provides less collateral.

Discount points are another way to move mortgage rates. Lower mortgage rates usually means higher points paid on your loan. The same goes for closing costs, which are fees that the lender must pay. Higher closing costs paid to them means lower mortgage rates. However, if you do not wish to pay for all the closing costs upfront, the lender will raise your mortgage rate in order to cover it.

The concept is pretty simple. Lenders are usually willing to lower mortgage rates as long as more money is paid upfront. More money down means lower mortgage rates. And lesser money down means higher mortgage rates.

Mortgage Loans

One should never take a mortgage loan at face value. When you sign your mortgage loan papers, you will know the interest rate you will be paying for every month after that for the duration of the mortgage loan. But interest rates of mortgage loans arent always as good as they look. Very few people know that most of their monthly payments actually go to their mortgage loan interest.

When you take a 30-year mortgage loan for 100,000, the actual amount you pay for is 300,000. 100,000 is used to pay for the principal mortgage loan balance. But the remaining 200,000, which part of your mortgage loan did it go to? Thats right. Interest. Majority of your mortgage loan payments actually go to interest and to the pockets of your lenders.

Now, heres another thing to think about when acquiring a mortgage loan. Moving is a common trend in America. The average person in America moves every 7 or so years. Moving into a new house usually means acquiring a new mortgage loan to cover the costs of the new house. Its a never-ending cycle. And with interest payments at 91% of your monthly mortgage loan payment, it is also a vicious cycle.

Think getting a 30-year fixed rate mortgage loan at 100,000. Interest rate for this mortgage loan is 7%. When you move after 5 years, you still have a mortgage loan balance of 94,000, 94% of the original amount.

In five years, you paid several thousands of dollars for your mortgage loan but only ended up paying only 6,000 of your mortgage loan because the rest went to interest. 86% of your mortgage loan is what you would still owe even after ten years or 120 repayments. To reach 50%, you need about 20-25 years of mortgage loan payments. Thats how long a mortgage loan takes to get paid off.

And if you think that a mortgage loan will help you with your taxes, think again. Mortgage loans takes about a dollar of interest from you while you only get back about 28 cents from tax deductions.

Instead of prepaying their mortgage loans, some people use the money to jump start another investment. But the thing with investments is that there is no sure-fire way to adopt in order to succeed. You could get lucky or you could lose a lot. Its a far riskier business to invest your money on the stock market than paying off your mortgage loans.

Now dont let this picture about mortgage loans depress you and make you stay away from them for the rest of your life. The truth of the matter is, mortgage loans are a way of life. So how do we go past the mortgage loan hurdles? Pay off your mortgage loans early by paying extra. By paying extra once a year, you can actually remove 8 years from a 30-year mortgage loan.

Perhaps the best way for you to get ahead on your monthly mortgage loan payment is through a bi-weekly mortgage loan. With a bi-weekly mortgage loan, your payment is done every two weeks for half your monthly amount. At the end of the year, youll notice that you have made 13 monthly payments instead of 12.

Mortgage Finance

A majority of home owners today got their houses through mortgage finance or loan. In the last decade, the changes in home mortgage finances and loans have brought many promising benefits to homebuyers. However, these changes in mortgage finance have also cost some important tradeoffs.

The most important benefit that a homebuyer got from this change in mortgage finance is the fact that they are now offered more choices. This allows them to do a more effective comparison shopping of mortgage finance products and make a more critical decision.

Where to get a mortgage finance loan

Several specialized mortgage finance institutions offer mortgage finance products to home buyers. These savings and loan mortgage finance institutions were also called thrift associations because lenders take in deposits of their savers and use the money to make mortgage finance and loan products. Thrifts experienced a wane in the 1980s when interest rates were more or less erratic and mortgage finance failure was on an all-time high.

The thrift institutions were later on replaced by mortgage finance bankers. These people are the ones who originate the mortgage finance product and offer these to investors. The 1990s brought on the arrival of mortgage brokers who are savvy freelance mortgage finance agents who originate loans for several lenders and sell these to several clients, from enterprising investors to homebuyers.

Today, mortgage brokers are still popular among homebuyers who get mortgage finance advice. Because mortgage brokers maintain associations with several lending companies, they are probably the best sources of mortgage finance advice in the market right now. The Internet is also a great help for homebuyers when they make their final mortgage finance decision.

What type of mortgage finance loan you can get

During the 1980s, the general rule was that only people with good credit standing can get a mortgage finance loan. In todays market, almost anyone can apply for a mortgage finance loan in order to buy a house. With an excellent credit, it is very likely that you can get a mortgage finance loan that covers 100% of the purchase price. Poor credit does not necessarily mean that you are excluded from getting a mortgage finance loan. Securing a mortgage finance loan on bad credit is still possible but with higher interest rates.

First-time homebuyers who do not yet have a credit record also have a number of mortgage finance loans available for them. These mortgage finance loans usually have low down payments and flexible standards specified in the underwriting.

How Mortgage Finance Loans work

Streamlining some underwriting parts of the mortgage finance loan has made loan approval a much quicker process for homebuyers. With the advent of computers, information on mortgage finance loans can be easily accessed. In some mortgage finance companies, approvals are done online or using computer programs. The notion of credit scores has also reduced the number of mortgage finance loans to get rejected. Since credit scores can ease the usually strict mortgage finance loan approvals, applicants experience less hassle.

The mortgage finance market of modern times seemed to have developed new mortgage finance products. For instance, when interest rates began falling, home owners took advantage of this by refinancing their mortgages. In an effort to reduce their costs on refinancing, lenders began offering mortgage finance loans with no discount points.

Mortgage Calculator

Mortgage calculators are pivotal factors when youre looking for the right mortgage that best suits your home buying needs. Below is a short list of mortgage calculators to help you make your financial decision.

APR Mortgage Calculator

An APR mortgage calculator helps you calculate and compare the APRs or Annual Percentage Rates of different types of mortgage loans. To use an APR mortgage calculator, you need to fill in the loan amount and the quoted interest rate. Say for example, you take in a 30-year loan for 20,000 at 4.5% interest rate. Percentage of discount points is 2.0% with a closing fee of 1,000. When you calculate this using the APR mortgage calculator, youll find that the annual interest rate of this loan is 5.5275%.

ARM vs. Fixed Mortgage Calculator

Different financial situations require different types of mortgage. An adjustable rate mortgage is good when the loan term that you want is short. On the other hand, fixed rate mortgages might give you the certainty that you need when it looks like interest rates are rising. Use ARM vs. fixed rate mortgage calculators to find out which mortgage suits you. An ARM vs. fixed rate mortgage calculator would require you to fill in the details both mortgages. Once done, the mortgage calculator will help you determine how much you can save with either mortgage types.

For example, you decide to take out a loan of 105,000 payable in 30 years. The fixed rate mortgage interest rate is 7.5% while the ARM interest rate is 4% with an adjustable period of one year. Maximum cap period of the ARM loan is 0.5% while the lifetime cap is 4%. Once you put in these details into the mortgage calculator, you can start estimating your savings on each mortgage. The mortgage calculator will show you that with a fixed rate loan, you will be paying 734.18 monthly and no savings. On the one hand, the mortgage calculator will also show you that ARM loan will have you paying up to 663.67 monthly with cumulative savings up to 11,024.46.

Comparison Mortgage Calculators

As the name itself suggests, this mortgage calculator allows you to compare several mortgage types and find out what suits you best. You can put in variables to as much as four loans into this mortgage calculator and start comparing prices. By providing the number of payments to be made, interest rates, and principal amount, this mortgage calculator will calculate for you the projected monthly payment.

30 Year and 15 Year Mortgage Calculator

This mortgage calculator will help you decide which mortgage suits your needs 30 year or a 15 year term. For instance, youre considering a 100,000 loan. For 15 years, the interest rate is 6.250%. For a 30-year term, the interest will increase slightly to 6.500%. Discount points for each are equal at 1%.

For more accurate results on this mortgage calculator, lets put in a state/federal tax rate of 38%, property tax amount of 2,000, homeowners insurance of 600, and savings rate of 4%. The purchase price of the home is 125,000. The result generated by the mortgage calculator will be a total payment of 1,074 for the 15-year term and 849 for the 30-year term.

First Mortgage Loan

Every person who has ever bought a home with a mortgage knows that by the time the pay off is made on the mortgage more is paid to cover interest costs than the actual purchase price of the house.

For example, on your first mortgage loan, you borrow 125,000 at 8% with a 30-year term. After your first mortgage loan period is done, youll have paid over 205,000 in interest and the 125,000 principal amount you borrowed. A result, your house that is only for 125,000 ends up costing you 330,000 on your first mortgage loan.

This is the reason why, it makes absolute sense that before taking on your first mortgage loan, a little bit of shopping is done. Getting the best product for your first mortgage loan is nice and most probably the biggest financial decision youll ever have to make.

All right. So lets get down to the basics. Most people think that a mortgage is a loan. Well, its not. A loan is something the lender gives you. A mortgage, on the other hand, is something you give to the lender.

Now when you take on your first mortgage loan, its imperative that you know what types of mortgage products are currently being offered in the market. Below are some of these first mortgage loans.

Fixed Rate for your first mortgage loan

If youre thinking of getting your first mortgage loan, a fixed rate mortgage might be the right choice for you. In a fixed rate mortgage, interest rates are set all throughout the whole loan term. This means that when you take on your first mortgage loan, your interest rate will not increase or decrease. The interest rate of your first mortgage loan will remain the same all throughout the loan period, usually 30, 20, 15, or even 10 years.

Getting a fixed rate first mortgage loan will have you paying for a predetermined monthly payment rate. Payments for your first mortgage loan interest and principal will never change. Having this type of mortgage for your first mortgage loan is especially advantageous if over time, interest rates suddenly go up. Plus, down payment if you get this as your first mortgage loan could be as low as 5% of the original purchasing price.

Adjustable Rate First Mortgage Loan

If the projected interest rates in the market are going down, then an adjustable rate mortgage might just be the right option for getting your first mortgage loan. Adjustable rate mortgages are mortgages where the interest rates and monthly payments depend on the rise and fall of rates in the market. This type of loan is especially a good choice for a first mortgage loan also if you expect a rise in your income over the next few years.

Balloon First Mortgage Loan

If you do not plan on keeping your house for long, then getting a balloon first mortgage loan will do the trick for you. A balloon first mortgage loan offers lower interest rates compared to a conventional loan. The only downside to this type of mortgage for a first mortgage loan is that a large amount is due in five to seven years. If you do not have funds to cover that amount and you are still in the house by the end of the loan term, you might need to get another loan in order to cover the cost for that first mortgage loan.

Canadian Mortgage Rates

In todays market, renters and even homeowners in Canada are seized by the desire to save enough funds for down payments. The reason is simple. Canadian mortgage rates are going down and real estate prices are in full swing.

To cover the heavy demand for more mortgages, lenders have adapted flexible techniques, like lowering down their Canadian mortgage rates and coming up with new products all the time.

A traditional Canadian mortgage rate would be a loan requiring the buyer to put down 20 per cent of the propertys value in cash. Such a Canadian mortgage rate requires a big amount of money but the benefits are great.

Look around for low Canadian mortgage rates

Shopping around the Canadian mortgage rate market can cut down your down payment costs. With a little research, buyers can even access the posted Canadian mortgage rates and interest rates of large banks and get them for less, about one percentage point or sometimes more.

For instance, the Canadian brokering company in Montreal, Multi-Prets Hypotheques is currently offering their customers a five-year Canadian mortgage rate of 5.1 per cent. This is low compared to other banks posted Canadian mortgage rate of 6.5 per cent. This allows consumers to save thousands of dollars in Canadian mortgage rates and interest rates alone over the life of their loan.

Lower down Canadian mortgage rate with CMHC loans

Another way to lower down Canadian mortgage rates and minimize the amount of cash you put down is to get a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) insured mortgage. A CMHC-insured mortgage can reduce the Canadian mortgage rate and down payment to 5 per cent. That Canadian mortgage rate is 20 per cent lower than traditional mortgage loans.

With a CMHC-insured mortgage, you get a loan that is like most other loans except that you get insurance from CMHC on the additional loan amount, which is the difference between the traditional 25 per cent Canadian mortgage rate and the actual payment you put down. Getting a CMHC insurance involves only a one-time payment with Canadian mortgage rates varying between 1 per cent and 3.25 per cent of the total loan, depending on the amount of cash put down.

Low Canadian mortgage rates with non-standard mortgages

Reducing your Canadian mortgage rate can also be achieved by opting for non-standard mortgages. Aggressive financial market players like Torontos Xceed Mortgage Corporation offer incredibly low Canadian mortgage rates and minimum down payments.

Getting a non-standard mortgage is perfect for people who have large earning powers but few capital resources. Because they have few assets to back them up, lenders might up their Canadian mortgage rates when they apply for loans. For instance, an entrepreneur whose assets are mainly invested in her business wants to apply for a loan. Her chances of a getting a low Canadian mortgage rate for a traditional loan is less compared to getting a reduced Canadian mortgage rate from a non-standard mortgage.

Lenders of non-standard loans will cover the entire purchase price of your house, leaving you to save a lot on high Canadian mortgage rates and a large down payment. However, lenders will only provide financial backing if your total monthly financial commitments (debt, interest, taxes, etc.) are no higher than 40 per cent of your monthly income.

Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Payment

People are asking if home loans in newspaper ads showing astonishingly low rates are for real. These ads are what we call adjustable-rate mortgage payments.

Loans with an adjustable-rate mortgage payment type usually have low rates only for a short time. Rates of adjustable-rate mortgage payment are adjusted on a regular basis, usually after the first year is over. This means that the interest rate and the amount of the monthly adjustable-rate mortgage payment may vary, going either up or down.

With adjustable-rate mortgage payments, there is little chance of you knowing what your future monthly payment would be. Some types of adjustable-rate mortgage payments have limits to the interest-rate increase. When an adjustable-rate mortgage reaches a certain percentage, the interest rate will no longer increase for the duration of that period. But at the end of that period, the adjustable-rate mortgage payment will vary once more.

Determining whether or not an adjustable-rate mortgage payment is the right type of loan for you usually depends on your financial situation. Also, it depends on the type of adjustable-rate mortgage payment you plan to make. Adjustable-rate mortgage payments have characteristics that might ultimately prove risky in the long run. Because the dynamics of interest rates in the market are never certain, the amount of your adjustable-rate mortgage payments are uncertain as well.

Adjustable-rate mortgage payments generally have lower initial interest rates compared to fixed-rate mortgages. This makes an adjustable-rate mortgage payment more affordable and easier on the pocket. Adjustable-rate mortgage payments may also help you qualify for a larger loan. This is due to the fact that lenders sometimes decide to extend a loan provided that your current income is steady and your adjustable-rate mortgage payments for the first year are up-to-date.

Another advantage of having an adjustable-rate mortgage payment type of loan is that it could turn out to be less expensive in the long run. With an adjustable-rate mortgage payment, the chance of interest rates going higher is equal to its chance of going lower. Now here in also lies the risk of having an adjustable mortgage payment.

When it comes to having an adjustable mortgage payment, there are no guarantees. It is either the interest rates will lower down or it will rise up. Lower interest rates mean lower monthly adjustable-rate mortgage payments. Higher interest rates mean higher monthly adjustable-rate mortgage payments for you. There is no middle ground. Adjustable-rate mortgage payments are basically a trade-off you exchange more risk for lower rate with an adjustable-rate mortgage payment.

But despite this, there are some ways to circumvent the risks and increase your chances of landing a good investment in an adjustable-rate mortgage payment. Below are some questions you need to consider:

Is there a possibility that my income will rise up enough to cover higher adjustable-rate mortgage payments should interest rates go up?
Is there a chance that I might take on other sizable debts like a loan for a car or school tuition in the near future?
Will my adjustable-rate mortgage payments increase even though interest rates remain the same?
How long do I plan to own this home? (If you plan on selling soon, an increase in interest rates should not be a problem for your adjustable-rate mortgage payment.)