The resale housing market is expected to remain at near record sales levels in 2008, according to The Canadian Real Estate Association. For homeowners looking to trade up, there are several things to consider before jumping back into the real estate market:

Don’t be afraid of rising prices

Homeowners often worry that strong housing prices will price them out of the market. But this is often offset by a higher asking price for their existing homes. Longer amortization periods, resulting in lower monthly payments, are another way to bridge the gap between the price of your current home and your next one.

Assess your home’s value

A real estate agent or mortgage broker can get you in touch with an appraiser who can prepare an assessment report for your home. Once you know what comparable properties have sold for, you can list your home at a realistic asking price.

Do your financial homework

Whatever the market conditions, bigger houses cost more to purchase, finance and maintain. Work closely with your mortgage broker to ensure you can make the move without compromising your other financial priorities. Bridge financing may also be required if your purchase overlaps the sale of your existing home.

Confirm your timing

Deciding whether to sell your current house before buying your next one is an important decision. Purchase offers with conditions based on you selling your current home will diminish the appeal of the offer. These days, many sellers bypass this by including long closing periods or rental provisions in their purchase offers.

If you have lived in your home for a number of years, then you have had time to have built up some equity in your home. By making regular payments on your mortgage, and having an increase in the value of your home over those years, the equity increases – especially if you have kept the house in good working order and appearance. Through a home equity line of credit you can get access to your equity and use it to fulfill some of your dreams. Here is how you can go about it.

Although there is more than one way to get access to your equity, a home equity line of credit, often referred to as a HELOC, may be your best option. One reason is that you have access to the money in equity, but you do not pay interest on it until you actually draw it out and use it. Initially, when you apply, you are given a credit limit that sets the amount of cash you can get. You are then given access to the money through a credit card or checking account.

A time limit is also set in which you can draw the cash out of the account. This means that you can only use the cash in your home equity line of credit for a limited time – which could be up to 11 years.

The interest that you are paying during the draw period is calculated on a daily basis (usually). The overall time length including both the draw period and the payment period are usually calculated on a 30-year time frame. As you draw money out, you are only paying the interest on the amount used.

A HELOC can work best for you if you have a number of projects that you have the money for, but do not know exactly how much you will need. You can use the money to take that vacation or cruise you have always wanted – to Bermuda, Alaska, Europe, or wherever, to make renovations or additions to your home, to pay for college, buy a car, debt consolidation, or to cover some medical expenses – you decide.

You do need to know about how repayment will take place. Some lenders will require a single balloon payment to be made for the whole amount at the end of the draw period. This will mean that you need to refinance it. Others will simply figure out how much cash you used and then calculate your payments for the payment period – which, in most cases, will fully amortize the home equity line of credit mortgage.

HELOC’s often have no closing costs. You do, however, need to find out about the margin that is a percentage of interest above the APR. It is permanent and could double your interest on the loan. Shop around for the best deals and compare the fees, interest rates, time for repayment, and other features. Then – enjoy your equity, and your dreams.

If you are feeling the pinch of not having enough money each month, you might be able to reduce your monthly mortgage payment by refinancing. It could reduce your payment and allow you to enjoy greater financial liberty – once again.

If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, and you find your rates going up – or you are waiting for them to do so, you can also benefit by refinancing and getting a more stable mortgage. Here are some of the details.

Adjustable rate mortgages, not long ago, were one way that people could get a larger house because the payments started out low. They stayed low for a while, and everyone who had them hoped that their income would increase by the time the interest rate became adjustable. Well – it sounded good at the time. Many of you, however, know that it just did not happen for everyone. Many were left with ever increasing payments.

Refinancing this type of mortgage, or any type, could reduce your monthly payments simply by giving your better terms. You do have to wait, though, for the interest rates to drop, or grab a new deal before they get much higher. Getting a better deal means that you need to see the interest rates drop at least one full per cent less than what you have now.

Another way to reduce your monthly payment – even if the interest rates do not drop, is to stretch out the time for repayment. Longer terms are available, including 40 and 50- year mortgages. If you can avoid these mortgages, though, you should. By stretching out the time, you add interest to it – quite a bit of interest. While it will lower your payment each month, it does increase your overall indebtedness.

The type of loan you want to get would be a fixed rate mortgage. Typically these do have a higher monthly payment than an adjustable rate mortgage, but by adding time, this becomes your mortgage of choice. It has no future surprises. Your payments will always be the same, and your payments are fully amortizing.

It may also be possible that you had obtained your last mortgage with a less than excellent credit rating. This could have given you an increase in the interest rate you received. If that is the case, and your credit could stand some improvement, or has improved since that time, you could get a better interest rate just on that fact. Start out by getting a copy of your credit report and making sure that it is correct. An error here could put you back into a higher interest rate. Take some time to raise your credit score further and reduce some of your other indebtedness. Then apply for a much better deal.

You will need to get several mortgage refinance quotes in order to get the best deal. Compare them carefully by paying special attention to the fees, and the closing costs. To reduce the interest rate even more, you might want to consider buying points. Stay away, though, from any mortgage that includes a prepayment penalty.