Before you chalk this up to an old adage, let me tell you that it is this very concept that keeps us motivated to work so hard for our clients. You see, I could be accused of being one of those sappy folks that actually believes - at my core - that a family's home is the most sacred place on earth. And this coming from someone who has had the great privilege of visiting the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, Westminster Abbey, and the Sistine Chapel. But of all the magnificent places that I've had the honor of seeing, none can compare to a family's home.

And yes, it has been pretty hard work lately. Mind you, we are up to the challenge! Hard work doesn't faze us one little bit around here. But there is no getting around the reality that to get a loan approved these days in the face of increasing investor requirements, changing underwriting guidelines, and the incredible environment of State and Federal regulations, only the hearty in our industry remain today. In fact, I heard of two other mortgage companies that closed shop a couple weeks ago because they were unable to keep things going in this environment.

Yet our company and our branch remain strong and remain vibrant regardless. And I think I can attribute that to our amazing teams both here in our branch and at our corporate office. It is because we all stay focused on helping people get the most cost-effective financing so that they can buy a home of their very own - their very own sacred place. It is there that they laugh, live, love and learn. It is in the home that one's character is formed.

Some have been given one talent, others another talent. Here, we've been given the gift to help people navigate what can be a minefield some days as they work their way through the financing of the purchase of their new home. Here we use that gift to help them reach their dream of homeownership, turning it in to reality.

In this historically low interest rate environment coupled with some uncertain time, I (almost) always recommend a fixed rate mortgage.

I was meeting with a client this week who wanted to look at options for refinancing his home. The loan that he is currently in was originally a 5/1 ARM and has now entered its adjustment period. Fortunately, the index on which his adjustments are based are very low right now so when his rate came up for adjustment he received the benefit of this low environment. So for the next 6 months, he's in a great spot.

But like so many that have had Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) in the past, this may be the time to switch to a fixed rate loan. In fact, that is exactly what my husband and I did this past year. The reason so many are electing now to now move to a fixed rate is that 1) rates are at historic lows, 2) we plan to be in our home for another 7 to 10 years at least, 3) we would like to move to certainty from uncertainty and 4) we believe rates are going to rise in the future. Thus, this is the season to lock in low rates for the long term.

In fact, this story has been repeated with so many of my clients lately, that I nearly forgot that there are a few that do not necessarily follow this pattern. Case in point was my client this week, I'll call him Jim. You see, Jim agrees with 1) and 4) above, but he's not in the 2) camp. Jim plans to enter his next phase of retirement in the next 3 to 5 years and take a snowbird flight to Arizona. So if he plans to sell his home in the next 3 to 5 years, he asked me, why would a 30 year loan benefit him? While he agreed with 3) above, he was weighing this thought of uncertainty with the certainty-enough that he gets with another 5/1 ARM. Paraphrasing his words, "if I'm only going to need the loan for the next 3 to 5 years, it shouldn't matter if the rate adjusts 5 years down the road because I'll be done using the loan by then, right?" He has a good point.

What really makes this an intriguing option for him is that the start rate on his loan would be 1.5% lower on the 5/1 ARM than it would be on the 30 year fixed. That rate difference equated to approximately $10,000 in interest over the next 5 years! Now those are the kind of savings that get me excited - $10,000!

To be sure we weren't missing anything, we also looked at going in to a 15 or 20 year fixed rate loan. Both the 15 and the 20 year loan have an interest rate that is lower than a 30 year fixed rate. And yes, the payments are higher on a 15 or 20 year loan over a 30 year loan because you are paying the loan off in a shorter period of time. This has been a very viable option for a number of my clients. But for Jim, the 5/1 ARM got him the greatest savings for the period of time he plans to use the loan.

It was a good exercise for me this week; a good reminder that while the fixed rate option is the best option for most of the clients we are talking to right now, there are still some for whom an intermediate ARM could be an option to consider. What is most important is to understand each client's individual needs and find the financing strategy that works best for them and gets them the greatest value (and lowest risk) over time.