If I told you flames threatened your home and everything you owned, you’d do everything you could — call 911, make sure your family got out safe and battle the blaze with your bare hands if it came to that. If I told you that your home and your family were threatened by an adjustable rate mortgage, you’d sit there blankly and wonder what the heck I was talking about.

Welcome to real estate — the biggest purchase most of us ever make and often the worst financial decision as well. If you own a house, want to own or are just fascinated by human insanity, read on.

There are many ways to buy a house — rent to own, pay cash, trade, etc., but most people take out a mortgage or big honking debt. The type of mortgage has gotten complicated over the years, but if you lock in with a fixed rate (currently just about 6.25 percent for a 30-year loan) then it doesn’t change unless you change or refinance it.

ARMs on the other hand, are adjustable and usually tied to some index. So if you bought you house with a special low rate of, say, 3 percent, then life was grand. But if that loan adjusts (get it?) upward, then you might find yourself paying hundreds of dollars more each month.

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Or not, if you can’t afford it.

Unfortunately, as house prices boomed in the last few years, more people went to ARMs and more complicated mortgages so they could buy the house they wanted, not the house they could afford. That bill is coming due for thousands or even millions of homeowners. The result could be foreclosure or just a big debt. Even the National Association of Realtors has expressed concern that “exotic mortgages” could lead to a spike in foreclosures.

Here’s a typical scenario: A couple buys the most house they can afford and, to do it, takes out an ARM locked in for maybe five years. Then, when the five years are up, the rate adjusts (usually upward) and keeps adjusting until they pay it off or refinance. If they can’t pay it off, the bank has no choice but to foreclose.

The current five-year adjustable rate is about 6 percent, but that could go up. Seven percent. Eight percent. Or more. Even 6 percent is a lot higher than the rate many homebuyers started with.

Across the life of a loan, even 1 percent can choke you with debt.

And that’s why some homeowners are wising up and converting ARMs to fixed-rate mortgages — especially since rates remain so low. According to The Associated Press, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said there was an increase in refinances recently.

But it’s not enough. Too many homeowners are still at risk because they won’t lock in a rate.

It’s your choice. Depending on your circumstances, an ARM can be a great loan. But if you aren’t careful, an ARM can end up costing an arm and a leg.

Dan Gainor is The Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute, a career journalist and media commentator. He can be reached at gainorcolumn@gmail.com.