A mortgage is a legal agreement by which a bank, building society, etc. lends money at interest in exchange for taking title of the debtor's property, with the condition that the conveyance of title becomes void upon the payment of the debt. In other words, a mortgage is a debt instrument, secured by the collateral of specified real estate property, that the borrower is obliged to pay back with a...

Most Germans don't worry about owning their home. They just don't care and that is a fact. The country’s homeownership rate ranks among the lowest in the developed world, and nearly dead last in Europe, though the Swiss rent even more. Here are comparative data from 2004, the last time the OECD updated its numbers. (Fresh comparisons are tough to find, as some countries only publish homeownership...

Whether to rent or buy the place you intend to live in is such a critical decision that everyone will have to make sooner than later. It doesn’t just affect how much money you have left at the end of the month, it also affects your lifestyle and the size of the savings you accumulate over the years. Every day, people buy homes when financially they’d be better off renting because it’s important to...

When it comes to buying vs. renting a house, there is always a passionate debate about which makes the most financial sense. Both sides have valid points, so it can be a bit confusing. For example, in the US, recent changes in the tax law have also made owning a home less financially advantageous, so the buy vs. rent dispute continues to evolve. A common argument for buying is, ‘Why would you pay...

Continued... The mid-1990s to the present can be described as the post-structural adjustment and globalization era. Government’s policy on housing over the period remained largely the same as from the ERP/SAP era, with greater emphasis on the private sector participation in housing delivery. However, ISSER (2013) has argued that the private sector is unlikely to provide housing for poor and...