All of the news and controversy surrounding adjustable-rate mortgages has sparked a lot of concern and curiosity from homeowners throughout the nation.

Many who have adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, are now wondering if they should get into a new loan even if they have has no problems with their current loan.

Well, that is not an easy question to answer, since there is no one standard answer.
Many people who did not know they were in an ARM, or who just didn’t care were shocked when their payment reset according to current market standards and went up a significant amount of money.

These are the same people that are in foreclosure or who have become delinquent on their loans.

But even if you have been able to make your payment every time, with no problems now or that are foreseeable in the near future, it may be time to refinance into a different loan for one of many reasons.

A recent article on Quickenloans.com, “4 reasons to refinance your adjustable rate mortgage,” discusses some reasons why a homeowner may find it is time to get into a new loan.

“How do you know whether you should refinance out of your adjustable rate mortgage (ARM)? Before you decide, it should be clear what your purpose for refinancing is so that you can be sure your mortgage is still meeting your financial needs.”

The first reason why a person would probably want to refinance their ARM is to get a lower interest rate and payment.

“Many people refinance their ARM to lower their interest rate. It may be that you got your ARM at a higher rate than what is currently available. If you refinanced to a lower interest rate, you would subsequently be lowering your monthly mortgage payment and possibly saving yourself some money.”

This is probably the number one reason why most people refinance, and that is because everyone loves saving money.

Some people also want to refinance their ARM so they can get into a fixed-rate mortgage. Many homeowners do not like the unpredictability factor that comes along with taking out an ARM.

The next reason why a homeowner would want to refinance their ARM is to consolidate a tremendous amount of debt they may have.

“Consolidating high-interest credit card debt is another good reason to refinance your ARM. If you have a lot of credit card debt that you want to get rid of, it's a smart idea to use your mortgage to do it-the interest on your credit cards is most likely higher than the interest rate you could get on a mortgage. Plus, mortgage interest is tax-deductible* whereas credit card interest is not. That can be a great advantage and could save you more money.”

Finally, the last reason to refinance out of an ARM is to get cash-out for a variety of reasons such as home improvements.