What's the deal with interest only mortgages?

What exactly are interest-only mortgages you hear everyone and his grandmother talking about?

In this environment of increasing housing costs and decreasing paychecks and job uncertainty, one of the major selling points of an interest-only mortgage is that it enables someone to purchase a higher valued home. It’s important to understand though not having to pay principal for a set number of years and thus not having equity in your home during those years means you can have a fancier roof over your head for the time being, in the medium to long run if this decision is not carefully planned out, you can put yourself in the poor house and end up in total financial disarray resulting in foreclosure on your home. To learn more about interest only mortgage do’s and don’ts and for a basic definition, visit What's the deal with interest only mortgages?