Everything you need to know about home loans in one place. Use our "frequently asked questions" section to learn everything about mortgages, refinancing, home equity lines of credit and more.
A hybrid ARM is a mortgage that combines elements of a traditional fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable-rate mortgage. To do this, a hybrid ARM has two parts, or stages: during the first part of the loan, the interest rate is fixed, meaning it doesn’t change. During the second part, the rate will change based on a specific market index.
Read MoreAn FHA 7/1 ARM is a kind of hybrid home loan that’s insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). If you get a FHA 7/1 ARM, your interest rate will be fixed for the first seven years of the loan, and can then be adjusted afterward when the variable interest rate portion of the loan begins. Like other ARMs, FHA 7/1 ARM variable interest rates are based on a index rate -- which is usually the rate at which banks in a certain area lend money to each other.
Read MoreA 3/1 ARM is an adjustable-rate mortgage in which the rate is fixed for the first three years of the loan. As a hybrid mortgage, it has elements of both a traditional fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable (or variable) rate loan. As with pretty much all hybrid rate mortgages, the shorter the period of the fixed-rate part of the loan, the lower the initial interest rate. That’s the bank’s way of compensating you for the increased risk you’re taking on when the adjustable part of the mortgage kicks in.
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