30 year fixed rate mortgages are the “classic” mortgage in America (though they are not quite the original mortgage, in fact the concept originated during FDR’s presidency over 60 years ago). Fixed rate mortgages have been exceptionally popular for three generations in America, and there is good reason:
– Fixed Rate Mortgages are predictable, reliable and widely available.
– What fixed rate mortgages are not is flexible, nor are they perceived as affordable.
That’s beginning to change, as rates rise in the broader mortgage markets, adjustable rate mortgages, or ARM loans, are providing fewer and fewer advantages over fixed rate mortgages, except for the fact that most of the popular Option ARM or Cash Flow Option loans available in the market are in fact adjustable rate ARM mortgages. But in the past several months, new programs have been introduced which provide the payment flexibility of the adjustable rate mortgage and the security of the fixed rate mortgage.
Now, it is possible to obtain 30 year fixed rate mortgages with a fully amortized, principal and interest payment as low as, and sometimes lower than, a...