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.