If I could sum up my financial life in one phrase, it would be “thank goodness for no-qualifying loans.” The no-qualifying loan (or stated-income loan as it is sometimes called) allowed me to buy my first home in Los Angeles in 1986 at the age of 26, and I have relied upon it for every home purchase (and refinance) since. Without it, I would be a tenant today. I have always been a lousy hoop jumper; For example, I have never been in lockstep with the approximately 40-percent, debt-to-income ratio needed for a qualifying loan. I have always preferred a heftier 60-percent ratio. I suppose my finances are as nonconformist as I am. In the 1980s and 1990s, I moved up the ladder from low-income neighborhoods to pricier ones, but my mortgage payment remained the lion’s share of my expenses. I preferred to forgo travel, restaurants, and other perks in order to own a nice home and build equity -- a decision that proved wise as well as pivotal to wealth-building....(Read Full Article)