As mortgage rates rise and home prices zoom upward, some home buyers are turning to interest-only home loans.

An interest-only loan allows you to pay just the interest on the mortgage for a set period, often the first five, 10 or 15 years. You don't have to pay principal during that time. When the interest-only phase is up, the monthly payments skyrocket as you begin paying principal over the remaining term of the loan. Most borrowers expect to sell the house or refinance the loan before the interest-only period ends.

For people who want the lowest possible monthly payment, interest-only mortgages are the home equivalent to auto leasing. Both are handy ways to get something that you otherwise couldn't afford.

Joe Rogers, a national sales manager for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, says interest-only loans are fine financial tools. But like all tools, they work best when they are used for their intended purpose.

The best candidate for an interest-only loan is someone who could afford to pay for the home with a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage, but who chooses an interest-only loan as part of a financial plan, Rogers says. Such a borrower isn't getting an interest-only loan just to squeeze into a house that is otherwise unaffordable.

Let's say someone borrows $200,000 at a fixed rate of 6.5 percent, paying only interest in the first five years. During those five years, the payments would be $1,083 a month, plus taxes and insurance, with nothing contributed toward the home's equity. At the beginning of the sixth year, monthly principal and interest would rise to $1,350 in order to pay off the loan over the next 25 years.

By comparison, someone borrowing the same amount at the same rate, but paying on the principal the entire time, would have monthly principal and interest totaling $1,264. After five years, the borrower would have accumulated almost $13,000 of equity.

If you get an interest-only loan, you always have the option of making more than the minimum payment and having it applied toward principal. This feature appeals to people who make a good living but don't have a steady income from month to month: small-business owners, salespeople who work on commission and employees whose end-of-year bonuses make up much of their annual incomes.