ight have been able to change them, or at least been aware of what could happen, and saved yourself a lot of heartache.

I've bought a lot of houses in my time, an

It's an exciting time - you've found the home of your dreams, you've been approved for a home loan, and there's only a few formalities left before it's yours. Then a huge wad of papers you need to sign arrives, and all of a sudden it seems a lot harder. Reading mortgage documents isn't like reading a good novel - it's boring, tedious and often full of legal jargon.

Chances are that you'll sign the documents, get the loan, buy the house - and everything will be okay. But what if it's not? What if something goes wrong further down the track, and all of a sudden you discover some very nasty clauses in the fine print? Maybe if you'd found them upfront, you might have been able to change them, or at least been aware of what could happen, and saved yourself a lot of heartache.

I've bought a lot of houses in my time, and

uge wad of papers you need to sign arrives, and all of a sudden it seems a lot harder. Reading mortgage documents isn't like reading a good novel - it's boring, tedious and often full of legal jargon.

Chances are that you'll sign the documents, get the loan, buy the house - and everything will be okay. But what if it's not? What if something goes wrong further down the track, and all of a sudden you discover some very nasty clauses in the fine print? Maybe if you'd found them upfront, you might have been able to change them, or at least been aware of what could happen, and saved yourself a lot of heartache.

I've bought a lot of houses in my time, an

s and often full of legal jargon.

Chances are that you'll sign the documents, get the loan, buy the house - and everything will be okay. But what if it's not? What if something goes wrong further down the track, and all of a sudden you discover some very nasty clauses in the fine print? Maybe if you'd found them upfront, you might have been able to change them, or at least been aware of what could happen, and saved yourself a lot of heartache.

I've bought a lot of houses in my time, an

at if something goes wrong further down the track, and all of a sudden you discover some very nasty clauses in the fine print? Maybe if you'd found them upfront, you might have been able to change them, or at least been aware of what could happen, and saved yourself a lot of heartache.

I've bought a lot of houses in my time, an

ight have been able to change them, or at least been aware of what could happen, and saved yourself a lot of heartache.

I've bought a lot of houses in my time, and in some ways that's worse than just buying one - I sometimes get a bit lazy, and think that all mortgage documents are the same. Well, I've learnt now that they're not. I had one loan that I was considering refinancing, because the rate was high. I'd been having some trouble getting finance at the time I first took out the loan, and had gone with a new lender. I wasn't happy with the fact that I was paying $25 a quarter "loan management fee" and $250 annually as a "package review fee". Talk about giving the lender money for nothing - they've never reviewed my loan except to put the interest rate up!

Imagine my surprise when I finally took the time to re