Flexibility alone makes an Option ARM mortgage an excellent choice for borrowers who don't have a fixed income or for people with fluctuating income-like people who work on commission or self employed borrowers; even people who are serious investors who want to channel their money into their investments, rather than their mortgage.
Without a fixed income, it can be hard to meet a mortgage payment on time during slow months at work. Say you have a bad month of commission-sales are down; you have to fix your car; and finances are pretty tight. With an Option ARM loan, you can choose to make just the minimum payment to get you through the month, and then make a larger payment when things pick up. Having a safety net like this is much less stressful than falling behind on your mortgage payments.
But keep in mind, this type of loan is not for everyone. This is the kind of loan that is for clients that can soundly manage their finances people who are at least somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to things like managing and investing their money. For instance, this loan might be perfect for someone who is in sales and works on commission and who knows how to get by when sales are down. This is not the kind of loan for people who may have lots of debt and are looking to only pay the minimum payment all the time. Please contact our loan experts at
Quickerlend for more detail.
Here's why: Your minimum payment on Option ARM loans may not fully cover the interest that accrues monthly. This is known as "deferred interest." If the minimum payment doesn't cover the entire interest owed, it gets tacked onto your loan balance which means you can get into trouble very quickly, if you don't know what you're doing. Your loan balance can actually increase as you make these low payments. You can elect to use the minimum payment as often as you like, but if used too often without making some larger payments in between, you could end up with a mortgage balance that is higher than the value of your home.
Quickerlend offers an option ARM mortgage with a minimum payment that limits how much interest is deferred. Our option ARM program calculates your minimum payment based on your interest rate minus a percentage for the first five years until it reaches the maximum deferred interest level of about 115 percent (New York 110 percent). During the first five years, your rate is fixed. After that, it becomes a six month fully amortizing ARM. When that happens, the loan loses its potential to be a negatively amortizing loan. If you're looking into getting an option ARM, look for one that limits the potential for deferred interest or negative amortization.