Getting a mortgage is most probably one of the most important decisions in your life as you will repay it for twenty to thirty years. Therefore, you should do whatever is possible to take the most suitable mortgage for you. So first of all, you should decide if what you need if a fixed-rate mortgage, or adjustable-rate mortgage – ARM. When you’ve decided whether fixed rate mortgage is more desirable to you or the adjustable rate mortgage use one of many mortgage calculator available on the internet to compare what different banks or lender have to offer. Then discuss your candidates with friends and family to check how dependable the banks are. It might seem natural to take the mortgage with the lowest interest rate as it will cost you the least. But take into consideration that some banks may add some unnecessary fees, or cause some troubles so you should make sure your lender is dependable. It is also advisable to make plans considering timing. Do not expect that your bank or lender will do everything according to your pre-planned schedule. You should remember that you’re talking about large sums of money and that the banks have their own schedules so take it easy.

Before you find the home of your dreams you have to find a real estate agent that will help you. Thus it would sem quite logical that you need the best real estate agent you can find to make your dream come true. There are at least a few things you can do to make sure you are working with people to whom your satisfaction with a house or a flat is almost as important as to you.
First of all you should make sure that the estate agent you decide to work with is a full-time agent and not someone who gets distracted by too many things. Such real estate agents are by definition more professional and, what is important, they usually have quite a big experience. Secondly, make sure that you work with buyer’s agent and not someone who also sells as such a person might tend to show you houses which he is trying to sell and which might not completely meet your expectations.
In order to find a good buyer’s agent it is always good to ask your family, friends, colleagues from work and any other trustworthy people. You can also use Google and search for real estate agents in the area you are interested in, but be sure to look for ‘exclusive buyer’s agents’.
When you think you’ve found an agent do not hesitate to aks a few questions, such as: ‘How long have you been working as an agent?’, ‘How many transactions have you closed in the last few months?’, Have the houses you recently sold been in my price range?’ and so on and so on.
One more important thing is to aks your real estate agent to accept a flat rate you can afford. If it is possible try to persuade your agent not to take the standard estate commission but to accept the flat rate and you might add that you will add another $100 for every $1,000 you spend under your target price. That way you still save some money and your agent is even more motivated to find you what you are looking for.

As taking a mortgage is for the majority of people rather a big deal which will accompany them for quite some time it is wise to try to save on any unnecessary costs connected with it. All in all, it is better to spend your money of furnishing or household devices than on uncalled for fees. And as the closing costs may sometimes equal up to 5% of the total value of your new home it is worth trying to save on that. In order to get to know what you can to have a look at out advice:
1. As house dealing is a very competitive market and usually the sellers want to get rid of the house as much as you want to posses it it is good to ask the seller to pay part of closing costs. Some sellers may be prepared for that and so it should not be easy, and with others with a bit of persuasion it may be easier than you think. And your estate agent ought to be more than glad to help you.
2. Pick your settlement company as with some you may try to negotiate. You can try talking with lenders, real estate brokers, title insurance companies and escrow companies and get the best deal for you. There’s nothing wrong with that.
3. It is possible to update the survey if it is required to mark the boundaries of your new property. So you do not have to do a new one (but make sure if your lender will accept an update) and it might be enough to contact the company who did the first survey for an update. The property seller should know who did the first survey so ask him for help and again you can save a few hundred dollars.

At present, at the times of recession banks have started to require down payments – a practice that was popular 10-20 years ago. Even two or three years ago you could apply for a mortgage up to 100% and in some cases even 120% of total property value. But now, when we are facing difficult times almost all banks require you to have at least a small down payment. In fact banks follow certain rules as to how high the down payment ought to be, and so you will need only 3% if you qualify for FHA loan (Federal Housing Administration). As repayment of such loans is guaranteed by the federal government lenders is certain he will not lose money and that is why you need only 3% down payment. You will need from 5% to 10% if you want to borrow less than $417,000 and if your credit score is 720 or lower. One more important thing here is the location of the property, as if it is in a ‘distressed market’ you might e required to have a bit more money.
A bank will require you to have 10% to 15% down payment if you want to buy a property in a distressed market, or you want to borrow more than $417,000.
If you have a credit score lower than 720 or want to borrow a low mote than $417,000 the bank will require you to have 15%-20% down payment.
As you can see there are many variables so you need to make sure what you want and what you can afford prior to applying for a loan in order to get the loan as soon as possible and without unnecessary surprises.