Alaska is the largest state in the nation, but Texas is very close. It is big, with both wide-open spaces and megalopolises. The city of Spring is very similar to Texas. You can look all around you at the wide open spaces, but you are still just 20 miles from Houston.
Spring has some great attractions, like Six Flags Splash Town water park, and the Crawfish & Music Festival. Old Town is a recreation of the old railroad town that used to be there, and it is a major tourist attraction. It is very artsy, with lots of good restaurants, cute little shops and galleries.
If you are thinking of moving to Spring, you will be interested to know that the unemployment rate is low, wages are higher than average and the cost of living is low. You do not find that combination in many places. You will also find that homes are very affordable; the average home price in Spring is about half of the national average, and quite a bit less than in Houston.
Whether you are buying a home in Spring, refinancing or looking for a home equity loan, you will discover that there is a dazzling array of mortgage options. If you look at them carefully, though, you will find two basic types of mortgage: fixed rate and adjustable rate.
Fixed Rate Mortgages: Fixed rate loans have one interest rate for the life of the loan. It does not matter what happens to the economy or the housing market, your house payment stays the same. That is one of the nice things about a fixed rate loan; they are predictable. You know from day one when each and every payment is due and how much it will be. The disadvantage of a fixed rate mortgage is that you could pay more in interest than you need to.
Most mortgages are fixed rate. When interest rates are as low as they have been recently, it is an attractive option for either a mortgage or a refinance. Home equity loans are almost always fixed rate.
Adjustable Rate Mortgage: The interest rate on an adjustable rate mortgage changes from time to time, usually at the beginning of an introductory period and then at specified intervals after that. An ARM is indexed to some standard that is determined by the lender. One common index is the prime lending rate. The lender adds a margin—his profit—to the index and that is your interest rate for that period. The rate is adjusted at the end of every period.
Because most of your house payment in the early years of a mortgage is interest, your payment varies directly with the interest rate. If your interest rate goes up, so does your house payment.
Clearly, if interest rates fall, you benefit from an ARM and if they rise, you lose. There are other advantages of an ARM, though. The initial interest rate is usually lower than you will get with a fixed rate loan. If you plan to move or refinance within the first five or ten years of the mortgage, you can save a lot of money with an ARM.
Additionally, there are several variations on the standard ARM that can help you get the home you want with payments you can afford. Option loans, interest only mortgages, jumbo loans and 50-year mortgages are all ARMs.
ARMs are more popular for buying a home than refinancing, and some are designed specifically for first-time homeowners. Sometimes an ARM is also the best deal for refinancing, especially if your current mortgage has a high rate of interest or if you are doing a cash-out refinance.
You need a lender who will work with you and help you decide what kind of loan is best for you. To find one, just fill out the form on the bottom of the page.
