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Mortgage Loan Term
Explanation:
Indicates not only the length of time in which you are required to pay back your mortgage in its entirety, but also whether its interest rate will be fixed, variable or a mixture of the two. Some of the most common types of mortgages are 30-year fixed mortgages and 5/1 ARMs.
Fixed rate mortgages, like the 30-year fixed mortgage, have the same interest rate for the entire term, which could be any number of years.
Variable mortgages, more commonly known as adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), all have 30-year terms and offer a fixed interest rate for the first few years before switching to a variable interest rate that depends on either the Libor Rate or the Prime Rate. For example, a 5/1 ARM is an adjustable rate mortgage that has a fixed interest rate for the first 5 years and a variable interest rate that changes on an annual basis for the remaining 25 years.
Our Thoughts:
A basic rule of thumb is that if you are confident you won't be living in your house for longer than an ARM's fixed-rate term, it may be preferable to a fixed mortgage because of its lower initial interest rate.