Using your mortgage to gain finance to business ventures or to buy an education for your child qualifies as good debt because it is secured by a valuable tangible asset. But have you thought of using your mortgage facility to secure contractor mortgages?
As long as the financing company who is granting the additional mortgage is fairly certain that the value of your property will cover the increased loan, they are willing to extend your mortgage.
That is only half of the story though. They also insist on knowing your true monthly income so they can make sure you will be able to make the monthly payments.
There are many other uses of mortgages.
Because of the stagnation in the housing market in Ireland, many home owners are opting to keep their flats or houses. Rather than selling they adapt the property they have to meeting their needs.
For instance, a house owner might change an attic or a basement room into a bedroom en suite, or extend the house to include another two bedrooms and a bathroom. Or the home owner might decide to redo the kitchen.
A good way to finance renovations or home extensions economically is to apply for an extra mortgage to pay the contractors. Paying interest on a second mortgage on your home, or accessing funds that you have already paid off on your first mortgage, is much cheaper than any other kind of loan.