At some point, in everyone's life, they dream of home ownership. Some envision what their dream house would be like, perhaps a luxury mansion or ranch. Some, on the other hand, have a vision of their dream property that's a little more humble and caters to the dreamer's needs.

Home buyers must be absolutely sure that they have the financial security to commit to a mortgage of any size. The down-payment aside, one must honestly ask themselves how much their monthly overhead will be increasing with the new property. Whether they are buying an estate in Georgia or piece of Georgian Bay real estate, many people neglect to consider the true cost of home ownership: heating and hydro, property taxes and maintenance all add to the mortgage payment that you will have to make each month.

The recent crash of the U.S. housing market is often blamed on the practices of "predatory lenders". These are people who sold home buyers mortgages at inflated lending rates in lieu of a large deposit on the property. From Illinois to Islington Village, those debts were sold and called-in on home-buyers who founds themselves unable to pay for their new dream homes.

What resulted was widespread foreclosures on people's properties. The already working-poor and middle class found themselves suddenly trying to desperately unload their Arlington Virginia or Arlington TX real estate listings. To this day, lenders are having to evict whole families from their homes as a result.

However, part of the blame has been laid on the borrowers, too. Although it is not the intent of most real estate pundits to "blame the victim," it can be argued that there was a recent surge in naivete alongside these sales. This issue began in the U.S. and quickly spread to lenders and buyers from Sloan Square London to Scrivener Square Toronto. Which is to say, those buying mortgages around the world with little or no assets, little or no income or down-payment should have been savvier.

Some feel that buyers often either knew that they would be unable to make the mortgage payments each month, were unaware or in denial about the true cost of their investment. And, at the end of the day, a real estate agent Kingston Ontario or Kingston Jamaica is not going to question your finances or spending savvy. All they see and are concerned with is that you have been pre-approved for a mortgage and are ready to buy.

If the recent economic downturn has taught us anything, it's that it is the onus of the home buyer to understand their own financial capabilities when considering the biggest purchase of their lifetime. Do not let the lure of home ownership overtake your common sense.