We're moved into the house and I'm a little freaked out about our mortage. The only way to get a 30 year loan with our wonderful credit union was to go on a 5/5 ARM. Starts at 4%, caps at 10% and can't go up more than 2% per period. The credit union is great and has helped me with loans in the past when I fell on hard times, but everyone seems to think ARMs are the worst idea in the world. We also found a headstone in our curbside trashcan. The garbage men won't take it, it's too heavy, but now we have all these questions like "is there a body on our property?" and "why does the idea of breaking this into rubble freak us out?" On the good news side, I'm finally implementing my dream of home automation. I currently have speakers in every room downstairs and have light switches for the living room and bedroom on the way. Soon I'll be able to live out my childhood dream of a voice activated home.
I wouldn't sweat it too much. Many areas of the world have no such thing as a 30 year fixed, and they own homes just fine. The question is whether you can afford a potential payment of 10% 8 years from now. If yes, then it's shitty but no big deal. If no, then it may be a good idea to look to refi into a fixed rate after a couple years when your credit is better. I wouldn't let it burn you up too much. The exciting thing is that you have a house that you can do whatever you want with.
Tell me about your speaker setup! Are they all set to play from one source? Can you split the speakers into groups? How did you get it wired? Asking because pumping sweet sounding music is a hallmark hospitality, and I'm shooting for the stars.
So, my setup is my personal project that my wife has no interest in. This is important because it all comes out of my discretionary fund which never gets too big, so I had to build it in pieces and for cheap. The first thing I got were new speakers for my PC. This left me with some Logitech 2.1's that connected through a 1/8in jack. Next I got a Chromecast Audio, plugged it into the 2.1's and set that up in the kitchen. I downloaded the home app, hooked up my google music account, and now could say "ok google, play music in the kitchen". Worked great, cost under $100. Next, I told everyone that loves me that chrome cast audio's and 2.1's are always on my gift list. So the holiday's roll around and I get two more audios and one more set of speakers. I went out and got some bookshelf speakers and a smaller amp from amazon. Those became the setup for my living room and dining room. Using the home app, I named all the Audio's based on the room they were in then grouped them together as "downstairs". I cracked and bought a Google Home (though now you can make one from a raspberry pi and they're talking about the next generation being a router as well). I also have two Google Videos named properly, so now you can say "play music on [location]" to get tunes anywhere downstairs, or 'play video on [device]" to get shows on the projector downstairs or tv upstairs. And, since it's all chromecast, you can of course do all of these things from any android phone on the network (we keep it open for parties, but no one ever really uses it). I also have a nest thermostat and protect, and some switches coming, but those are more for energy efficiency.
Interesting! I, too, have a sliver of a budget for speakers and the like, but it seems so easy to do it piecemeal now that it sounds completely doable. Thanks
The point of an ARM is to get out and cash out your equity or refi into a conventional. It's also entirely possible that every other bank out there can beat your credit union. Credit unions, because they're membership-owned, have a fiduciary responsibility to their members and they are estimating risk appropriately. Banks, on the other hand, can sell your mortgage to someone else and tranche it up and treat it like a security (AND NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN). I don't think interest rates are going anywhere anytime soon. It's not a bad time to ARM it. Just keep in mind that if you make your minimum payment you're paying interest and every penny above that goes to principal. If you can pay anything above minimum you will build equity much faster.
I'm too stressed to tell if these are sarcasm caps - but one of my biggest fears was having our mortgage sold, which was the main reason we went with the CU. b_b I'm also responding to you. We're also making payments as though it was a 15 year loan, but were planning on a family in the near future, so we wanted the flexibility of being able to pay less. And yeah, I'm 90% excited (this is the coolest thing I ever bought) and 10% freaking out (this is the most expensive thing I've ever bought) but I've never been so excited to build shelves, so that's cool.AND NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN
It doesn't really matter if your mortgage is sold because the terms stay the same. I think our mortgage has been sold three times, and that's above and beyond the two refis. The securitization of mortgages isn't bad for the homeowner, it's bad for the market; it incentivizes unstable behavior by banks and provides excess cash flow into the market, thereby inflating prices. A 10/90 freakout ratio is appropriate and level-headed. I'll say this: Wayfair is about 150% the quality of Ikea and costs a little less (and you don't have to get it to your house) but both companies make temporary furniture. legit shelves are far easier than ikea bullshit and drywall anchors are a tool of last resort. this will beat every stud finder at Home Depot because it uses a burly neodymium magnet to find nail heads as opposed to questionable readings of capacitance. Congrats. Keep us posted on your automation adventures.