Getting your first home loan

The first thing to remember when looking for a property is that it will almost inevitably cost more than you actually think. First of all there is a whole array of other fees which you have to add onto the actual cost of the house which when added together make the house up to 5% more expensive than you originally thought.

First of all there are the mortgage arrangement fees which can often be very expensive, generally you might be able to add all the fees to your mortgage however don’t forget that you will have to pay interest on your loan so the more you borrow the more you will have to pay back in the long run.

Also when choosing a house make sure you take into account the fact that the house has running costs. There is insurance, gas and electricity fees, council tax etc, therefore make sure you choose wisely when thinking about these costs.

Once you have found a house you want go on-line and do a little research yourself into which home loans are the best value for money. Many websites have mortgage league tables so these can be very helpful. By doing your own research you might be able to cut out using a middle man to do the looking for you.

For instance using your estate agent to find you a mortgage can be much more expensive because they might only look at certain products from certain lenders as well as charging a finder’s fee on top of that.

There have recently been a large number of lenders either pulling out of the market entirely or severely limiting the number loan products offered, particularly in specialist areas like self-cert or bad credit loans.

If you need a specialist loan it is always best to go to an independent broker to let them search the whole market for you.