There are thousands of homeowners who have clear deeds to their homes and who owe nothing to a mortgage company or bank for their house. However, many of these same individuals decide to take on a secured home mortgage for one reason or another. You may be one of those individuals trying to decide whether you should take on a home mortgage; if you are, there are some guidelines that should be met before even considering taking a lien against a fully paid-off house.

Two of the guidelines include taking a count of one’s current financial savings and obligations. A couple questions to ask yourself before deciding to apply for a secured home mortgage include:
1. Do I have money left over after all my fixed expenses are met each month?
2. Do I have at least 3-6 months savings for fixed expenses and financial obligations set aside in case a disaster happens, I get fired or laid off from my current job, or a medical emergency occurs?

Those two questions are crucial so that one can get an accurate picture of how stable their financial situation is in the current moment. This is important to not only assess whether or not you’ll be able to afford the repayment of the home mortgage, but also to determine whether or not you should be applying for a secured loan against the house in the first place.

Of course, approving the application for a secured home mortgage is ultimately left up to the bank or mortgage company. However, financial responsibility lies with the individual and knowing whether one can afford a mortgage payment on top of monthly obligations should be assessed thoroughly.