The Pay Option Arm and/or Pick A Pay is a type of mortgage that has allowed consumers a choice of monthly payments on their payment coupon which are 1. 'Start Rate' of 1%-2% 2. Interest Only Payment 3. 15 year payment or 4. A 30 year payment. For financially savvy home owners these monthly options have proven to be useful if they were to pay the interest only payment and put the difference in savings between the interest only payment and the 30 year payment in any conservative or aggressive interest bearing account. It's great to have the minimum payment option in the case of financial emergency. The product is also great for entrepreneurs, doctors, attorneys, real estate investors and other high tax bracket individuals that want to pay the start rate and defer the interest payment for another year and take massive tax write offs at a latter date. These ideal borrowers have not been the average borrower with the latest real estate trend in the marketplace.

The Real Estate market is on fire; it has been for a few years now and the so-called 'bubble' has yet to burst in states like FL, CA, AZ, NY and CO where home values are sky rocketing outside of the reach of the average wage earner. In my personal experience I have witnessed mortgage brokers sell the Option Arm to borrowers by advertising Zero Points, Zero origination and/or no closing costs at all. This is only possible because the broker is receiving as much as 3 points in lender paid commissions to sell these mortgages to borrowers at a high margin. Which basically means the mortgage will go into a negative amortization state faster than you can blink an eye if you choose to pay that phenomenal 1-3% start rate! Therefore, the brokers that can offer you this wonderful mortgage option and payments at no up front cost (Zero Points/origination fee) to you so that you can purchase that wonderful $750,000.00 home with No Income Documentation (because you cannot qualify otherwise) for as little as $781.25 for the 1st year and not to exceed more than 7% of the payment the following year... That old saying 'it sounds too good to be true' couldn't be more true! Some of us understand that Option Arms are synonymous with negative amortization. Although there are some uneducated and/or insincere loan officers out there that will sell that loan to a First Time Homebuyer that's a teacher or a bus driver or a secretary trying to afford to purchase a small home in Los Angeles or Ft. Lauderdale for $450,000.00 knowing the property is outside of their range if they had to pay a 30 year fixed payment. In fact, they can only qualify for a 'Stated' or 'No Income Documentation' loan and have little to no savings which is why they can only afford to buy the home without any origination points to conserve down payment and closing costs.

If this borrower knew that within 6 months they would owe their lender $460,000.00 (or more) instead of $449,990.00 they would run with their tale between their legs. Therefore the selling point that property in those areas have and are continuing to appreciate as much as 25%+ according to (MSN Money's 'appreciation by metro area' study) is an oxymoron for the average Joe that can't ever pay the 15 year or 30 year payment and can just barely pay the interest only payment due to the country's wages not keeping up with home values. So the majority of the foreclosures we are witnessing today could have been avoided if more mortgage professionals would take the position of being a good financial planner and letting these borrowers know the true risks of buying a home they really cannot afford to purchase for 2 reasons A. If they are wage earners wanting to do a 'Stated or 'No Income Verification' loan with no foreseeable extra income to pay at least a 30 year payment they should find a cheaper home and if one isn't available they shouldn't be purchasing a home at the present time and B. If they are not financially savvy enough to pay a minimum payment or interest only payment in an effort to set aside the difference of the 30 year payment into an interest bearing account.

Basically, as mortgage professionals we should be accountable for our actions and sell the right loan to the right borrower. This will make the investors happy having less of a foreclosure rate and allowing the market to continue to prosper!

Ten`e Williams is a seasoned mortage professional who enjoys shattering some of the enormous misconceptions in the mortgage industry in an effort to help consumers make informed decisions about what could be the largest purchase they will ever make. She has also created a series of online courses that show borrowers how to maximize thier purchasing power at www.breakingmyths.com