How often do adjustable-rate mortgages change?

HowStuffWorks.com Contributors “How often do adjustable-rate mortgages change?” 16 March 2011.

How often the interest rate changes on an adjustable-rate mortgage depends on the specific terms of your adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM). So before you sign on for an ARM, make sure you understand exactly what the terms are.

A typical ARM adjusts once a year. However, you can also find ARMs that adjust every six months or after longer intervals, such as two-year ARMs. You can find some other types of ARMs that don’t adjust at the same, fixed interval, but they have more creative patterns. For example, a 5/1year ARM means you have a fixed rate for the first five years of the loan, but then it adjusts annually each year after that. Another type of creative ARM is the 3/3 year ARM, which has a fixed rate for the first three years, and then adjusts every three years after that.

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