[carlosdp]

How is a mortgage not financing, and how is a mortgage not just another over-collateralized loan?

Every loan has some form of collateral. Even credit cards do, it's just less tangible: you are staking your credit score, which they'll start chipping away at as soon as you start defaulting.

[lottin]

A mortgage is indeed a form of financing because the lender does not keep the collateral until the debt is paid off in full. If they did, there would be no financing going on. It would be equivalent to saving for 30 years and then buying the house.