
This article is mainly for the US and the Canada people and they are the only who'll benefit from this article, my apologies to rest of the users.

The fact is you can’t get a loan unless you apply, so of course the application is the first part of the process. And you can’t apply unless you know which loan you should apply for. The variety of loan types can be overwhelming, so you may want to talk over your options with your experts.

The amount of rent you charge is not a function of your wants or needs, but rather a complicated dance of supply and demand, cost and profit.
In order to break even you will have to know your costs inside and out. This means more than the mortgage.