is an arm right for you 
an arm can be a smart financial choice if you are planning to keep the loan for a limited period of time and will be able to handle any rate increases in the meantime put simply an adjustable rate mortgage is well suited for the following types of borrowers in many cases arms come with rate caps that limit how much the rate can rise at any given time or in total periodic rate caps limit how much the interest rate can change from one year to the next while lifetime rate caps set limits on how much the interest rate can increase over the life of the loan 1notably some arms have payment caps that limit how much the monthly mortgage payment can increase in dollar terms that can lead to a problem called negative amortization if your monthly payments aren t sufficient to cover the interest rate that your lender is changing with negative amortization the amount that you owe can continue to increase even as you make the required monthly payments 8