When it comes to mortgages, buying your first home differs greatly to buying a second, vacation home, with lenders viewing your application entirely differently. If you’ve been the type of homeowner who has always repaid their mortgage, making timely payments and consistently, then you should encounter a smoother experience when it comes to buying another home.

High risk mortgages are generally offered to individuals with bad credit, and the easiest way to avoid only being able to qualify for such a mortgage, is to improve the factors that make you a risky borrower. That said, credit scores cannot be altered much overnight, and even if they could, another event such as defaulting on another loan, could you find you catapulted right back into high-risk territory.

Taking advantage of low interest rates (historically low, in Canada’s case) is possible with a mortgage pre-approval, and while it doesn’t provide you with a guarantee that you’ll be approved for a mortgage, it does give you the opportunity to lock in a low interest rate – if only for a matter of weeks.

The single most effective way to make sure that when the time comes to purchase your first home, you’re able to afford it, is by taking the time to conduct thorough research, and being honest about your income and expenditures.

There may come a time in life when refinancing your mortgage is a viable option, and there are several reasons in which this might be the case.