Owning your own dream house is a feeling of freedom and pride. Rather than renting where your money is going nowhere but your landlord's pocket, owning your own house is definitely a good long term investment.

Mind you, owning a house is not that cheap. As we all know it, real estate values are presently in an all time low and construction materials are raking in prices sky-high. But then you do not have to be intimidated by all of these. You can still choose to buy one as your long term investment in the future.

Benefits of owning your own house

Obviously, it is yours! You can do whatever you want, design it to your taste, and paint it to your desired color. Also, when you pay off your monthly installments your money returns to you in a form of equity finance, compared to paying rent where your ...

As with all things in life, there are expenses in what you do, mortgages are no exceptions. Mortgage lenders have a very sophisticated system where you tend to be paying a fee for everything and this can be very depressing as you are wondering where does it end? The lender is required by law to disclose to you all the costs you will be paying to them, when you submit a loan application. This does not make it more palatable, it just shows you what you are up for.

The down payment is what you are contributing to buying the home, with the lender providing the balance. The lender will set an amount that must be the down payment for your loan. Usually this will be in the 5% to 10% range but sometimes the lender will make this less. Some lenders will also charge monthly fees, be aware of ...