It's exciting to buy a home and feel free of the restraints of paying off someone else's property through rent. But once the inital euphoria wears off, many homeowners have woken up in a cold sweat, thinking, "How am I ever going to pay off this mortgage?" It can be done and certainly has been done in a reasonable amount of time, and here are some tips on how.

     A recent Harris-Decima poll questioned Canadian homeowners about how they managed to become mortgage-free faster. The majority of them used one or more of the following strategies to pay off their mortgages:

• 52 percent made lump-sum payments when they could

• 42 percent increased the amount of their regular mortgage payments

• 40 percent increased the frequency of their regular mortgage payments

     Sound easy? Maybe, but it didn't come without certain sacrifices. In fact, the poll showed that the Canadians who paid off their mortgages followed one or more of these habits:

• 53 percent said they skipped large, "unnecessary" purchases

• 53 percent said they created a budget to track their spending

• 49 percent cut down on extra spending, including restaurant and entertainment costs

• 38 percent skipped vacations 

     Today's low interest rates are allowing more people to move up in the market. With smart planning and the guidance of your mortgage broker, you can afford you dream home within a realistic timeframe.

Please call today for a no-obligation discussion on your current loan situation, and for updates on today's mortgage options and how you may benefit from them.