of money you have at your disposal to make your down payment. Make sure that you therefore plan for the closing costs, which would usually be about 1 to 8% of the cost of the house. This way, you will not get shocked towards the end of the house buying process, when you realize that you will not have any money left over in your savings once you sign on the dotted line.

When establishing your budget, make sure that you will have some money left over in your savings to handle aspects like moving house, basic repairs, emergencies, and even your monthly mortgage payments for at least three months af

To buy a house, you make a small down payment (usually up to 20% of the value of the house), then you look for the rest of the money from a lender (a mortgage). If you are not careful, you could end up making costly mistakes. There are some things that you could do before even applying for a mortgage to ensure that the biggest debt of your life does not end up being the cause of your death.

The first tip is to fix your credit, if necessary, before applying for a mortgage. Obtain copies of your credit report from all three of the credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union) long before ever applying for a mortgage loan. By law, each CRA has to give you a free copy of your credit report once a year if you ask for it. Look through your report and make sure that it does not have any erroneous entries. Sometimes similar names can get mixed up, such as John S. Smith's credit information getting put onto the credit report of his son, John S. Smith Jr. Other times there is really no concrete explanation for an error; it just simply happens. You should also obtain your FICO score, which is a three digit number that rates your credit worthiness and is used in more than 70% of mortgage-lending decisions. Obtaining your credit history and score at least six months before applying for a mortgage will give you enough time to challenge any erroneous entries, and also to work on improving the legitimate entries.

Once you've fixed your credit, you need to find out how much interest is being charged on mortgages for a people with similar credit ratings to yours. MyFico.com usually publishes this kind of information regularly. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to choose your mortgage lender wisely, so that you avoid being charged much more interest than you should.

When looking for your mortgage lender, look for first-time home buyers' programs, which normally offer better interest rates. If you do not qualify for these loans, you should make sure that the lender that you finally choose has a good reputation, is preferably an ‘A' lender, and does not have any prepayment penalties or any junk fees. Make sure that you discuss with your lender all the fees you should expect to pay, and ask them to clarify if there are any costs that you do not understand; these could very well be junk fees that you do not want to have thrown on you!

Closing costs can lower the amount of money you have at your disposal to make your down payment. Make sure that you therefore plan for the closing costs, which would usually be about 1 to 8% of the cost of the house. This way, you will not get shocked towards the end of the house buying process, when you realize that you will not have any money left over in your savings once you sign on the dotted line.

When establishing your budget, make sure that you will have some money left over in your savings to handle aspects like moving house, basic repairs, emergencies, and even your monthly mortgage payments for at least three months aft

before ever applying for a mortgage loan. By law, each CRA has to give you a free copy of your credit report once a year if you ask for it. Look through your report and make sure that it does not have any erroneous entries. Sometimes similar names can get mixed up, such as John S. Smith's credit information getting put onto the credit report of his son, John S. Smith Jr. Other times there is really no concrete explanation for an error; it just simply happens. You should also obtain your FICO score, which is a three digit number that rates your credit worthiness and is used in more than 70% of mortgage-lending decisions. Obtaining your credit history and score at least six months before applying for a mortgage will give you enough time to challenge any erroneous entries, and also to work on improving the legitimate entries.

Once you've fixed your credit, you need to find out how much interest is being charged on mortgages for a people with similar credit ratings to yours. MyFico.com usually publishes this kind of information regularly. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to choose your mortgage lender wisely, so that you avoid being charged much more interest than you should.

When looking for your mortgage lender, look for first-time home buyers' programs, which normally offer better interest rates. If you do not qualify for these loans, you should make sure that the lender that you finally choose has a good reputation, is preferably an ‘A' lender, and does not have any prepayment penalties or any junk fees. Make sure that you discuss with your lender all the fees you should expect to pay, and ask them to clarify if there are any costs that you do not understand; these could very well be junk fees that you do not want to have thrown on you!

Closing costs can lower the amount of money you have at your disposal to make your down payment. Make sure that you therefore plan for the closing costs, which would usually be about 1 to 8% of the cost of the house. This way, you will not get shocked towards the end of the house buying process, when you realize that you will not have any money left over in your savings once you sign on the dotted line.

When establishing your budget, make sure that you will have some money left over in your savings to handle aspects like moving house, basic repairs, emergencies, and even your monthly mortgage payments for at least three months af

lending decisions. Obtaining your credit history and score at least six months before applying for a mortgage will give you enough time to challenge any erroneous entries, and also to work on improving the legitimate entries.

Once you've fixed your credit, you need to find out how much interest is being charged on mortgages for a people with similar credit ratings to yours. MyFico.com usually publishes this kind of information regularly. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to choose your mortgage lender wisely, so that you avoid being charged much more interest than you should.

When looking for your mortgage lender, look for first-time home buyers' programs, which normally offer better interest rates. If you do not qualify for these loans, you should make sure that the lender that you finally choose has a good reputation, is preferably an ‘A' lender, and does not have any prepayment penalties or any junk fees. Make sure that you discuss with your lender all the fees you should expect to pay, and ask them to clarify if there are any costs that you do not understand; these could very well be junk fees that you do not want to have thrown on you!

Closing costs can lower the amount of money you have at your disposal to make your down payment. Make sure that you therefore plan for the closing costs, which would usually be about 1 to 8% of the cost of the house. This way, you will not get shocked towards the end of the house buying process, when you realize that you will not have any money left over in your savings once you sign on the dotted line.

When establishing your budget, make sure that you will have some money left over in your savings to handle aspects like moving house, basic repairs, emergencies, and even your monthly mortgage payments for at least three months af

oking for your mortgage lender, look for first-time home buyers' programs, which normally offer better interest rates. If you do not qualify for these loans, you should make sure that the lender that you finally choose has a good reputation, is preferably an ‘A' lender, and does not have any prepayment penalties or any junk fees. Make sure that you discuss with your lender all the fees you should expect to pay, and ask them to clarify if there are any costs that you do not understand; these could very well be junk fees that you do not want to have thrown on you!

Closing costs can lower the amount of money you have at your disposal to make your down payment. Make sure that you therefore plan for the closing costs, which would usually be about 1 to 8% of the cost of the house. This way, you will not get shocked towards the end of the house buying process, when you realize that you will not have any money left over in your savings once you sign on the dotted line.

When establishing your budget, make sure that you will have some money left over in your savings to handle aspects like moving house, basic repairs, emergencies, and even your monthly mortgage payments for at least three months af

of money you have at your disposal to make your down payment. Make sure that you therefore plan for the closing costs, which would usually be about 1 to 8% of the cost of the house. This way, you will not get shocked towards the end of the house buying process, when you realize that you will not have any money left over in your savings once you sign on the dotted line.

When establishing your budget, make sure that you will have some money left over in your savings to handle aspects like moving house, basic repairs, emergencies, and even your monthly mortgage payments for at least three months after finalizing your purchase. This will remarkably reduce the amount of stress that you will face after dealing with the closing costs.

Lenders will usually be willing to lend you up to 33% of your gross income towards your mortgage. However, you need to remember that home ownership is expensive. As a home owner, you have to make your mortgage payments regularly, together with property taxes, home owners insurance, bills and utility payments, and maintenance and repairs. Factor all these aspects into your budget when deciding on how much mortgage to get, so that you don't overextend yourself. Also remember that you will still have to deal with all your other obligations, as well as any emergencies that may come up. Don't allow the mortgage companies to ‘trick' you into accepting more than you can deal with!

Buying a house is more than making mortgage payments; it means taking up additional expenses that you would not have been bothered with as a renter. When planning to apply for a mortgage, make sure that you have taken all the costs of owning a home into consideration, so that you can get the most appropriate loan for you and your family.