Here's another area where you have more options than in the past. When buying a house and applying for a loan, you have a wider range of mortgage products to choose from today. While most of these loans fall into one of two categories (fixed or adjustable rate), there are many "hybrid" options as well. There are also all kinds of variations of the fixed-rate and the adjustable-rate mortgages.

Of all the topics covered so far, this is probably the most important. The type of home loan you choose will affect your financial future in many ways. And choosing the wrong mortgage (or buying over your head) could lead to disaster. Just ask the thousands of people who had their homes foreclosed on over 2007 - 2008. Many of them failed to do the proper research into mortgage loans before buying a house and taking a loan.