WHAT TO DO AMID RISING INTEREST RATES IN THE ATLANTA REAL ESTATE MARKET
Largely due to a slumping bond market, interest rates on all kinds of things in the Atlanta Real Estate Market, and all of Atlanta Georgia Real Estate are heading higher. Since mid-June, bond prices have slid anywhere from 5% to about 15%, one of the quickest drops in decades. Bond prices suffer when their yields go up. Yields on Treasury bonds rise for various reasons, most recently because of growing federal deficits and signs of an economic recovery.This shift has vast implications for anyone who's buying a house, using a credit card or trying to figure out what to do about stock and bond investments.Here are ways to cope with this shift in the Atlanta real estate, and Atlanta Georgia Real Estate market.

CONSIDER YOUR MORTGAGE OPTIONS
Rising yields on the 10-year Treasury note have been followed lately by rising mortgage rates. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now around 6.4%, according to HSH Associates, financial publishers in Butler, N.J. While this is relatively low when compared with rates of the past five or 10 years, it's still up more than one percentage point from the lows this spring.The interest-rate rise has the most immediate impact on consumers who are coming late to the refinancing party and those who are ready to move or buy a new home.Unless rates reverse course, some people looking to refinance in The Atlanta Real Estate Market, or Cumming Georgia Real estate market, or the Atlanta Georgia Real Estate market  now "might not get the rates they're looking for," says Brad Sarvak, head of Emery Financial, a Newport Beach, Calif., mortgage broker. Indeed, the Mortgage Bankers Association said last week that its refinancing index dropped 2.4%, the index's third straight weekly fall. Those who are about to buy Atlanta new homes have a few more options. The most popular in recent weeks is adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, which start out as a fixed-rate mortgage and then convert to a variable interest rate after a set period. The typical ARM now costs about 5.25%, roughly a percentage point cheaper than the fixed-rate 30-year mortgage, says Jess Lederman, an executive vice president in charge of the mortgage unit at Ohio Savings Bank. With a typical $200,000 fixed-rate loan, payments of principal and interest currently run about $1,215 a month. But an ARM during its five-year fixed period would have cost about $1,104 a month, generating a savings over five years of $6,650.When buying an ARM, home buyers first need to ask themselves the question of how long they plan to stay in the home. If they're not likely to stay past the fixed term of the mortgage, which usually lasts anywhere from three to 10 years, the ARM is even a better deal. "You're a fool not to do it," if you're going to move anyway, says Mr. Lederman.The trickier call is for the home buyer who is probably staying put. For those planning to put down roots, a fixed-rate mortgage could look savvy if rates rise over time. Because ARMs adjust to current market conditions after a set period, you could end up paying a higher interest rate in the future if you go with an adjustable rate.Most ARMs limit how far the interest rate can move after the fixed period expires. A five-year ARM that starts at a 5.25% rate, for example, could have a cap that limits the possible rate increase to six percentage points. If so, the rate would stay at 5.25% for the first five years, then change to a variable rate no higher than 11.25% after the fixed term ended. Ask your lender about specific caps since there are distinctions such as first-year caps, annual caps and life-of-mortgage caps.

ATLANTA HOME BUILDERS, BEWARE
Another group that's caught in a bind amid fluctuations in interest rates -- those building homes. The key question here is whether to lock in today's rates or to wait until the house is finished.Waiting could save a few bucks if rates turn back down or cost money if rates continue drifting higher. Most lenders offer various options to lock in a mortgage rate including a more flexible option that tentatively locks in a range of rates. But whatever you do, get the agreement in writing if you want to lock in today's rates.E*Trade Group Inc. also recently introduced the new wrinkle of "portable" fixed-rate mortgages that lock in current fixed rates even if the home buyer moves once. (The deal doesn't extend to a second move.) This mortgage costs a bit more than a standard fixed-rate mortgage, but will come in handy if the Atlanta home buyer moves at a time when rates are higher.Since 1976 the average yield on the 10-year Treasury note has been about 8.1%, significantly higher than the current rate, according to Lehman Brothers. But it's been more than a decade since rates have been that high in the Atlanta Residential Real Estate Market, and the Cumming Georgia Real Estate Market..

LIGHTEN UP ON VARIABLE-RATE DEBT
Other types of Atlanta home borrowers have a little bit more wiggle room than  Atlanta home buyers. Those with credit card debt and those who have borrowed to buy a car pay an interest rate more closely tied to the short term target rate of the Federal Reserve. That rate isn't expected to change substantially -- the Fed has said that it is planning to keep its target rate at the long-time low of 1% for the foreseeable future.Still, all eyes will be on Washington this week to see if the Federal Reserve reveals its bias toward tightening or cutting rates. And even though bond yields fell a bit last week, the increase in yields over the past two months indicates that bond mavens see an increased risk of higher rates, perhaps as early as this winter.If rates do eventually rise, paying off some variable-rate debt now will look like a good idea. The less debt you have when rates go up, the lighter the burden of paying interest on what you owe.

KNOW YOUR BOND TYPES
With rates rising, it's good to remember that not all bonds are created equal. Long-duration bonds of 10 to 30 years have the most sensitivity to interest rates, so they stand to lose the most when yields rise. Shorter-duration bond funds decline less in a rising rate environment, but also rise less when times are good for bonds. As in stocks, mixing the volatile with the more stable is a sensible approach.Anton C. Pil, global head of fixed income at J.P. Morgan's private bank, says that he sees "very few clients wanting to shoot the lights out" in bonds. Instead they use stocks or alternative asset classes such as hedge funds for their riskier investments.But this year, the bonds viewed as the safest Treasurys -- have been among the hardest hit. The end of the major fighting in Iraq and the slowdown in corporate scandals and defaults convinced investors that it was safe to move from Treasurys to more volatile parts of the bond market including high-yield corporate bonds.The KDP High-Yield Index for instance has gained 12% through July this year, while 10-year Treasurys have declined about 3% after starting the year with a big rally.Amy Falls, global head of fixed income strategy at Morgan Stanley, points out that Treasurys in recent years have been trading more independently from other parts of the bond market. That means investing in a broadly diversified bond fund or hedging bets among several different types of bonds is likely to minimize losses