With real estate prices ever on the rise, first-time home buyers are facing more difficulties in buying a home. Who ever thought they'd buy a $500,000 starter home?

Mortgage lenders have acknowledged the problem by creating new and innovative mortgage products, mostly designed to lower the borrowers' payments in the first few years of the mortgage. Many of these products allow borrowers to buy homes that they traditionally couldn't afford, but they aren't without risk.

The latest and most exotic mortgages out there include:

1. The 40-Year Mortgage
2. The Portable Mortgage
3. The Interest-Only Mortgage
4. The Negative Amortization Mortgage
5. The Flex-ARM Mortgage
6. The Piggy Back Mortgage
7. 103s and 107s
8. Home Equity Line of Credit
9. Loan Modification Mortgage
10. Short-Term Hybrids

1. The 40-Year Mortgage

This is similar to a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, except the payment is being stretched over an extra 10 years. The lender will charge a slightly higher interest rate, as much as half a percentage point.

A 40-year mortgage gives you lower monthly payments than a 30-year loan, while allowing you to lock in today's interest rate. If you buy a $300,000 mortgage at a 6.25% interest rate, you could be saving $95 each month in payment.

But by extending the length of the mortgage, you are increasing the amount of interest paid on the loan. For a $300,000 mortgage, a home buyer will spend an additional $170,030 in interest with a 40-year mortgage.

These mortgages are best suited for first-time home owners who don't plan to live in the home for more than a few years. If they can't afford the higher payment of a 30-year mortgage, the 40-year may give a good start to home ownership.

2. The Portable Mortgage

E*Trade has a program called Mortgage on the Move. It allows a home buyer to lock in a low interest rate and then take the rate with them to their next home in a few years. A second mortgage can be used if the buyer needs to borrow more money for the new home.

When interest rates are low - and looking to rise - locking in a rate for the next 30 years is attractive.

But interest rates for portable and second mortgages are higher than for standard loans. You may be looking at paying