I’ve written previously about my experiences with credit cards and the like, but one facet of personal finance I have yet to experience is getting a mortgage loan. One thing that bothers me about mortgage loans is that the entire loan is centered around the house you’re buying.
Basically you either pay them back, or they take your house. The collateral for this particular loan, is the thing you’re buying with the loan. A house actually costs so much that you really couldn’t put something up against it for collateral, besides another house.
However, I can remember several times when I was a kid and my mom and dad would tell us they were getting the house appraised to see if they could easily refinance their credit cards and other debt and consolidate at a lower interest rate with a new mortgage. They always seemed optimistic about it, so I never really worried.
Now I understand things like interest rates and principle amounts and consolidation.
It still doesn’t scare me. It’s just a huge amount of debt to think about – but it doesn’t seem feasible to purchase a house at my age with just saved up money.