🏠 Home Buying, Mortgages & Smart Borrowing

A practical buyer's guide to mortgages and consumer credit: understand how loan payments are built, how much you can truly afford, and how to compare every scenario before you sign. It maps to Consumer Credit — Mortgages & Borrowing. The course is organized into 11 modules, ending with a final exam (pass mark 80%). It is independent, free exam-preparation training — not an official or accredited review course.

What you'll learn

• How a Mortgage Actually Works
• PITI: The Four Parts of Your Payment
• Amortization: Why Early Payments Are Mostly Interest
• How Much House Can You Afford? DTI & the 28/36 Rule
• The Down Payment & Closing Costs
• Rent vs. Buy: The Total-Cost Decision
• Refinancing & the Break-Even Point
• Home Equity & the HELOC
• Auto Loans: Mechanics & True Cost
• Student Loans: Repayment & Real Cost
• Smart Borrowing: Avoiding Overborrowing

Learning objectives

• Break a monthly mortgage payment into principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI) and explain what each part funds.
• Read an amortization schedule and see why early payments are mostly interest.
• Calculate how much house you can afford using debt-to-income ratios, down payment, and closing costs.
• Run a rent-vs-buy total-cost comparison instead of comparing rent to a mortgage payment alone.
• Decide whether refinancing makes sense by finding the break-even point.
• Understand how a HELOC works, its variable-rate risk, and when tapping home equity is wise.
• Compute the true cost of an auto or student loan, including total interest paid over the term.
• Use the suite's calculators to compare scenarios side by side and avoid overborrowing.