What if interest rates go up?

[Travis Lucy]

I'm sure we all know central bank rates are quite low in Canada and the US, and I don't want to get burned if they go up in real terms at some point. When considering buying a property, do you make any allowance for interest rates to go up?

I'm house hacking now and considering spending around $20,000 to finish my basement and add a bedroom down there. So in my situation if my mortgage payment goes from $1,000 to $1,800 that would more than wipe out my cash flow.