Mortgage is a fancy word for a loan. The bank owns your house in a mortgage in exchange for giving you the loan. If you default the loan, the bank reserves the right to sell the house to recoup. Like most loans, you set up periodic repayment like once a month or once every 2 weeks.
There's no 30 year rule. Banks will have various terms like 1/2/3/4/5 ...view middle of the document...
Variable means what you think it means. Depending on the type of mortgage, you can pay back some or all of the principal during or at the end of the term.
You can certainly have 2 mortgages. Your ability to get this will depend on your credit rating and your relationship with the bank. For example, if you're wealthy, the bank would be happy to loan you more. (But if you're wealthy, you probably don't need a mortgage). Mortgages can't exceed a certain % of the fair market value of the house. For example, a house is worth $500k. The bank will not loan you $600k because if you default, the bank can't recoup their loan even if they sell the house. Realistically you'll get maybe 60-80% of the market value of the house. Of course, you can have 2 mortgages with 2 different houses. Again, it depends on your relationship with the bank. If you're an average joe blow, they'll just present you with the same standards they give to everyone.