What is a mortgage?

Mortgages are transactions which involve borrowing money which is secured on a property.
The money is usually loaned by a bank or building society and can be paid back in a variety of ways including interest only or variable or fixed interest or a mix of both.

A mortgage helps the borrower purchase the property they want without having to save the full sum before buying and the lender makes money from interest on that loan. (Interest payments are usually high at the beginning and the reducing of capital loaned is low with this becoming inverse as the number of loan years reaches the end.

Remember mortgages are secured against a property and failure to repay these loans will result in the loss of the property!