Many first time buyers feel pressurised by their estate agents into quickly organising a mortgage for fear of losing out on a property or are attracted to a low interest rate without looking at the mortgage deal as a whole.

However, with such a vast range of mortgage lenders to choose from, first time buyers are well advised to step back and do a little research before they commit.

There are a number of places to find good mortgage deals:

Speak to your bank

Your bank or building society may provide special offers to their account holders, but don’t feel that you have to accept their offer through customer loyalty as there are many other places to look.

Consult with a financial advisor

Financial advisors can offer you a range of mortgage deals to choose from that are appropriate to your circumstances. Some financial advisors offer free advice, but can only provide a limited range of mortgages, through which they earn a commission.

Independent financial advisors will offer a wider range of deals, but you may need to pay them to provide this advice. However, this is often a worthwhile investment, as commission earnings do not influence the advisor, so the mortgage is more likely to meet your requirements.

Get on the net

A search on Google will generate a list of hundreds of UK mortgage providers to choose from. Many will have online mortgage calculators, to give you an idea of your repayments.

Alternatively you can use financial comparison sites, such as MoneySupermarket.com to do the work for you. Simply enter your requirements and let the comparison site search hundreds of providers to provide you with the best deals.

Don’t always depend on the rate

Don’t always assume that a low interest rate makes a cheap mortgage. Providers often use low rate deals to attract new customers, however you may end up paying more money in the long-term.

Check the small print of the mortgage and find out if you will be penalised financially for opting out of the deal early or if there are any hidden costs.

Don Suter is Managing Editor of the UK Property Portal (http://www.ukpropertyportal.co.uk), an online directory. Mortgage Loan Interest Rates

Purchasing a home usually works out to be cheaper over the course of a person’s lifetime than renting. When one first buys a place, the mortgage payments will be higher, but as the mortgage is paid off this will be reduced. When the mortgage is completely paid off, the remaining costs for the home is usually less than the cost to rent a place. A mortgage goes down over time, but rent can only increase.

The most important thing to consider when buying a property is whether it is affordable. The mortgage is the major expense, but don’t forget related expenses such as property taxes and energy costs. It is also a good idea to pay as much money as a down payment so that the mortgage payments one has to pay will be less.

Buying property is considered a guaranteed investment, but recent events have shown that this is hardly the case. The sub prime crisis was fueled by people buying homes with no money down and taking advantage of low interest rates. But they did not consider that those rates would go up, and when they did, they could no longer afford their homes. The scale of the disaster caused house prices everywhere to drop.

Property is something one should buy for the long term, rather than selling it immediately for instant profits. Whereas stocks can be sold the next day depending on price fluctuations, the price of a house accrues over years instead of days or even months. One should therefore buy a place that one is willing to live in for a long time. This way, if you don’t get the price you are looking for when you put your place up for sale, you can afford to wait and try again later.

When purchasing a property, there are many professionals who can assist you. A real estate agent can help in buying or selling a home. He or she will tell you how much you can expect if you put your home up for sale, and will list the property and get you offers. Or if you are looking to buy, he or she will show you properties suited to your preferences. A real estate lawyer will take care of all the technical details involved in buying or selling a property.

Buying or selling a home will require you to pay fees. Hiring an agent to sell your home means that you will have to pay him or her a commission based upon the sale price of the house. A lawyer will charge you fees for his or her time, and for related expenses related to registering the sale and transfer of a property from one owner to another.

Real estate is considered to be one of the surest investments. But because it involves such large amounts of money, one should perform due diligence before getting involved in it.

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