With so many borrowers out there having taken adjustable mortgages and neg am loans etc the current numbers are heading up in the foreclosure departments at banks eveywhere. I am an old fashioned guy who believes that if you can't afford a 15 year or a 30 year fixed then maybe you should be looking at a different property. I have advised many people over the years and some have taken my advice on this matter and many did not.

The unfortunate part now is that there are a lot of people out there with very little or absolutely zero equity! I recieved a call from a nice lady 3 weeks ago that wanted to sell her home. Their adjustable mortgage just adjusted and their payment now was un manageable. This was on a rental home that they own. When they purchased at the top of the market about a year ago they paid top dollar for the property. The unfortunate thing was that they also purchased the nicest home in a not so nice area! With trailers all around and a rough area to start with I went out to evaluate the home. It was kept up nice and was very nice inside but the outside needed much work and with the area not that great I gave her a price that I would be willing to list and sell the property at. She was flabbergasted. She said that "We paid more than that for it!" I mentioned yes and that was a year ago... Needless to say I didn't get the listing and she listed with another Realtor...That is ok...In fact that is great! I wish them the best...If they can get more for the property than they paid for it and save a foreclosure on it that is the ultimate...If I were betting though I would be putting some chips on the reality of coming out of pocket to get that one sold!

If you are having problems with your payments on your home talk with the lender. Do it quickly and don't wait especially if you are behind on  your payement(s). Some lenders will work with you and others will just start the foreclosure process and not communicate with you at all like what happened to one client that I was involved in helping.

It is a two way street and double edged sword with the adjustables.Many people don't want to take the responsibility for choosing an adjustable rate mortgage. Others can own up to the fact that they did and now don't know what to do when the payment is too high to handle. There are some limited times that the consumer can benefit from an adjustable rate but my experience is that the majority usually benefit from a fixed rate!

Here is a link that you may find useful http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/banking/homefinancing/homefinancing.aspx

Remember the words "communicate" if you are behind or having trouble with the payments! Don't hope things will get better do something and do it quick if you are getting behind on the payments.