We did a fixed rate 5 year and got a crazy low interest rate during that time. We weren't sure we'd stay in our condo or try to buy a house at some point during those 5 years. However, we had a broker who kept us updated constantly on rates. When we were approaching the 5 year mark, we went to a 30 year fixed and our rate only went up a small amount. We saved a nice chunk of change for that 5 years. Plan now is to stay put for another year or two and watch the market. If it becomes feasible, we'll buy a house and hope to keep the condo as a rental (our mortgage is way less than rents in our area).

Did I read somewhere that Easter's not going to fall this early again for, like, two hundred years or something?

My mom sent me an e-mail with the following:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year.

We don't get "introductory low-interest" on a variable rate mortgage. We just get a lower rate than is offered on a fixed mortgage.

Right. Because it isn't just being able to afford changes in the index. It's that the payments are often artificially low for some reason or other.

So if, just to toss out numbers, the rate should be 5% for the first five years based on the index, and you're paying 1% under an introductory rate, you're going to see a jump in your payment in the sixth year regardless. And if interest rates go up, that jump is going to be very big. Add in that some of these mortgages only require you to pay interest for several years. So when you have to start paying back the amount you actually borrowed, your payment jumps by an additional amount.

We got a 30 year fixed when we moved 5 years ago. Oddly enough, our rate is lower than some of the rates trumpeted in the "Lower Your Rate!" junk mail we're always getting.

This is very similar to my problem. Even when I found a church that had traditional pomp AND liberal politics, no one ever welcomed me into the community, so I drifted away.

I could give you a rec, but it's in Manhattan.

Getting a five-year ARM when you only plan to stay in a house three years is normally a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

See, this is where I think we're coming at it from radically different viewpoints, because, for the life of me, unless I'm paying cash, I can't imagine buying a house I was only planning to live in for 3 years.

Among Ashkenazic Jews, a common treat at this time of year is hamentaschen (lit. Haman's pockets).

You know, I spent almost my entire childhood under the belief that they were actually Haman's ears. Like, trophies from his dead body. And the hat thing was just so that the little kids wouldn't have nightmares.

No?

I could give you a rec, but it's in Manhattan.

I'm open.

Dunno if anyone will want this, but here's how to read the WSJ online for free: [link]

You might be wondering, Hey, I'd like to do this, but is it ... "wrong"?

It is not. The Wall Street Journal wants people to come to its site for free -- if it didn't, it wouldn't give readers of Digg and Google News full access to its articles.

I'll grant you that setting your browser to spoof Digg is slightly deceptive. But it's a minor fib, on the order of, say, handing a cashier an expired coupon.

This is very similar to my problem. Even when I found a church that had traditional pomp AND liberal politics, no one ever welcomed me into the community, so I drifted away.

Have you tried Grace, down on Broadway by NYU?

Have you tried Grace, down on Broadway by NYU?

I have not. There are many many churches I have not been to... I'm thinking about trying one in my neighborhood, because that would seem to up the odds of my actually going.