Garrett Ham

By ERIN FLYNN JAY Buyers who are sensitive to high mortgage rates have developed an interest in assumable mortgages, betting they are the ticket to avoiding excessive costs, but are they worth the hype? An assumable mortgage lets a homebuyer take over the seller’s existing mortgage, including its terms and interest rate. It’s like adopting a well-behaved financial pet instead of getting a new, potentially unruly one, said Ritika Asrani, founder and head broker at St Maarten Real Estate. “While you can’t literally time travel to snag a rate from a decade ago, assumable mortgages allow you to benefit from historically low rates,” said Asrani. “If the seller locked in a killer rate back then, and rates have risen since,…