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It has been a good day. 

We sold our apartment. Secured a loan for another. And, a loan for the renovation work we need to do. We are pretty happy 😊 It is funny being happy about going heavily into debt, but we are pretty stoked that we have at least a chance to do what we want to do with this place.

![OI000134.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/tarazkp/QptX8BDu-OI000134.jpg)

We also put a collar on the loan meaning, added some protection against rising interest rates, as they are the lowest they have been. I am not sure if it is a good thing, but I remember my parents struggling through ~20% interest rates in the early 90s. We can remove the collar later, if needs be.

I am really happy. Very little has gone our way the last few years, and it has taken its toll on health and relationships, with health being a major source of pain and expense.

We were resigned to doing it the hard way with the renovation work, but I am very glad we have some backing and don't have to kill ourselves to make it happen. I think that we were even able to negotiate a decent deal on the loan that gives us done flexibility and opportunity to work with. 

Banks rarely lose of course, but their biggest gains are made by those who do not look at what all these little numbers mean and what happens if they change slightly.

I think many people want to have the best of it all and take loans they can't afford with the understanding that they will be better off later and will cope okay. I had lunch with a friend today who said that we could take a bigger loan because my wife is at the start ogmf her career and can expect to advance in earnings. Yes. But assumptions are always dangerous. 

I believe that the housing bubble is going to burst and in Finland, there are a lot of people pushed to their max spending limits and foemrced to buy new homes, even though interest rates a low. When they increase a bit and people start selling what they can't afford to maintain, it is going to have a domiko effect and the dump will drive prices into the ground. We have estimated that we can survive in quite extreme interest rates and above the 6% stress test they use to check fitness. I feel that sevel of stress testing gives a false sense of security.

It is hard to know what will happen, but we were able to collar the loan for 10 years and of nothing happens in that time, we will lose the little we pay each month. However, we are 12 years out since the 2008 GFC and the only economic certainty is, it always crashes. The next crash is going to be harder than the last as the economy is more broken than it was with fewer working tools to adjust it.

For now though, I don't want to think of such things and will choose to instead spend my energy considering the work that needs to be done, the designs we will contemplate and just being glad we have the opportunity to build something that is ours. 

Well, mostly the bank's. 

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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