When planning your Baltimore mortgage loan, you will be asked to decide on a fixed rate or an adjustable rate. The main difference between these two is that one is constant while the other can change at any time.

To help you decide, you need to have a good idea how long you plan to keep the house. You may be in Baltimore because of a business transfer, in which case, you might get another transfer after several years. If this is your situation, go for the adjustable rate because it will allow you to enjoy the prevailing low interest rates.

On the other hand, if you think that this will be forever, decide on a fixed rate. This amount will be constant for the entire loan term. Thus, there are no surprises, and you can budget properly.

As you can see, the decision will depend on your plans, so study your bigger picture and you will be able to make a good decision on your mortgage.

We have all been looking for some kind of sign that maybe, just maybe, we are starting to come out of this horrible economic situation and devastating real estate crash of the past couple of years.  What kind of sign are we hoping for?  To be honest, really ANY kind of sign will do!  The good news is, the more you look around at news headlines these days, the less horrible news you’re seeing (relative to a handful of months ago, anyway).  On top of that, it is actually not all that uncommon to come across some stories that have some encouraging news in them.  For example…

In the outlying counties of Arizona (one of the hardest hit real estate areas), homes in the starter price ranges of $95,000 to about $150,000 are starting to see more than one bid placed on them.  Real estate agents who focus on mid-level, step-up homes are also reporting more foot traffic at their open houses as well as more contracts being written.

Granted, this is about as far from the Baltimore mortgage and real estate market as you can get geographically, but the point is that there is some positive news out there.  If it can happen in Arizona, one of the hardest hit areas, then maybe it’s starting to happen elsewhere too.  Keep your eyes open for those ‘good’ news stories.  They’re out there!