Higher multiples are available from some lenders (4 x 1st income plus 1 x second income or 2.75 x joint income). Some lenders will work on affordability (taking into account your monthly outgoings) and have been known to go as high as 5 x income when there has been a large deposit (40%+ of property value).

Be certain that you can afford your mortgage payments, not only now, but also in the future should interest rates rise - this was the downfall of many people in the late '80's who bought properties when values peaked, using lenders offering very high income multiples. Interest rates rose to 15%, many people could not afford the mortgages but were unable to sell because property prices had fallen below the amount of their mortgage, known as 'negative equity'.

BUYING COSTS
Survey Fee. Every lender will insist that property is valued; they want to be certain that they are not lending more than it is worth or that the property is in a poor state of repair. The amount that you pay will depend on the type of survey and the value of the property. There are 3 types of survey:

1. Basic Valuation - This is the lowest in cost and provides the minimum of information about the property. Unless the property is quite old or of special construction, this is all that a lender will require. Prices range from about £100 for a £50,000 property to £500 for a property worth £500,000

2. Home Buyers Report - Provides more detail about the condition of the property; heating, electrics, risk of subsidence, etc… Prices range from about £300 for a £50,000 property to £600 for a property worth £500,000

3. Full Structural - This is a very in depth report going right down to the foundations of the property. Expect to pay twice as much as a Homebuyers report.

Your choice of survey will probably be decided by the age of the property; a brand new property should only require a basic valuation as it will be under guarantee, while an older property could have many hidden problems. A more in depth survey could help in negotiating a lower price for the property.

When instructing your own Surveyor, make sure they are on the lenders panel of approved Surveyors otherwise the survey report may not be acceptable to the lender and you will have to pay twice.

Solicitors Fees. Expect between £300 and £800 depending on where you live. Ring around for quotes and always ask for a quote with disbursements. It is not uncommon for a solicitor to say they charge £300 plus disbursements, only for you to find that the disbursements add up to £300. Disbursements are generally fixed fees charged by third parties; searches, land registry, transfer of monies, etc…

Stamp Duty. This is a percentage charge against the purchase price of your property and is paid by the purchaser. For properties purchased up to £60,000 there is no Stamp Duty. Over £60,000 and up to £250,000 the charge is 1%. Over £250,000 and up to £500,000 is 3%. Over £500,000 is 4%.

Stamp duty can also be charged if you add a name to the deeds when remortgaging, as there is a transfer of equity and this is deemed a partial sale. The rules are slightly different in that the Stamp Office apply the charge to 50% of the original mortgage. For example, if your mortgage was £120,002 this would be divided by 2, giving £60,001 - since this amount falls within the first stamp duty threshold, the charge will be 1% of £60,001.

Arrangement Fees. Lenders tend to charge arrangement fees on fixed rate mortgages but some do charge fees on all mortgage types. Typically, you can pay between nothing to £395 depending on the scheme. Check out the mortgage thoroughly a low rate scheme with a high fee can often cost much more than a scheme with an average rate and no fee. Some brokers may also charge a fee for their advice, sometimes up to 0.5% of the loan. We do not charge fees for mortgage advice except when the mortgage is of a commercial or investment nature or the applicant is applying for an adverse credit mortgage.

Don't forget about removal cost and connection fees for telephone, etc…

REPAYMENT TYPE
Interest Only - Your commitment to the lender is interest only, so payments will be lower than a capital & repayment mortgage. You will not be reducing the mortgage balance, so a separate arrangement must be in place. Until recently, the most common way of repaying such a mortgage was an Endowment policy. A more popular method now is to use an Individual Savings Account as they are much more flexible in terms of accessing monies or altering contributions. The combined cost of a savings plan plus interest to the lender is about the same as a capital & repayment mortgage.

While a savings plan could enable you to pay your mortgage sooner or leave you with a cash surplus, there is a risk that the returns will not meet expectation and result in a shortfall or the need to extend your mortgage term. Savings plans should be reviewed regularly to make sure they are on target.

You could also use this method if you know that you are going to inherit enough capital to repay the mortgage at some future date.

Capital & Interest - Your payments to the lender cover the interest charged and gradually reduce the balance of the mortgage until the balance is repaid over the agreed repayment term. At the start you pay mainly interest and a little capital, towards the end of the mortgage the payment is mainly capital. This is the safest method of repaying a mortgage.

Many lenders will allow you to opt for a combination of each method, say 50% interest only and 50% capital & interest, this example would result in half of your mortgage being repaid over the term of the mortgage.

WHICH MORTGAGE?
Redemption Penalties - Some lenders will tie you into their mortgage for a specific period. Be careful of schemes that appear to offer generous interest rates as you might be tied to the lender for a number of years at the lenders standard variable rate (this can be different for new and existing borrowers). We would advise you to avoid mortgages with extended tie in periods (e.g. fixed rate for 2 years with a tie to the lender for 5 years)

Discount - You benefit from an introductory discount off the lenders standard variable rate. You don't have to pay the savings that you make back to the lender.

Fixed - The rate will remain the same for specified period. Usually more expensive than a discount rate (more fees, higher interest rate) but it does ensure that your payments cannot increase during the fixed period.

Capped - The rate can go down but not up. Example: rate is capped at 6% and standard variable rate at 7% - the lender will have to reduce their standard variable rate by more than 1% before your interest rate will reduce but the rate that you pay will not exceed 6% during the capped rate period. These deals tend to be more expensive than ordinary fixed rates because there is a possibility of the rate falling. Consider how likely it is that the lender will reduce their standard rate by an amount that will benefit you - you might find it cheaper to settle for a simple fixed rate.

Cashback - Ideal for help towards a deposit or moving costs. A little bit like a discount mortgage but you get cash up front for paying the lender's standard variable rate or a little higher. These schemes tend to tie you to the lender for a number of years or you have to pay back the cash.

Flexible - Ideal for people that want the ability to overpay or borrow back overpayments. It's like rolling together a mortgage and savings account into one with added tax advantages from saving interest rather than earning interest (which is the same thing) since you don't pay tax on interest saved but do on interest earned. Standard variable rates on these schemes tend to be lower than many of the high street lenders' rates.

DailyAnnual interest calculations - The fairest way to calculate interest is on a daily basis. With this method the interest charged reduces every time you make a capital payment. The old method, which many lenders still use, is to calculate annually. Interest is calculated at the start of each year rather than adjusting every time capital is repaid - the result is to pay more interest even though the headline rate might be the same as that charged by a lender using the daily method.

The choice of particular deals on offer has never been so great. There are literally thousands of schemes on the market. So we would advise anyone looking for a mortgage to seek advice from a professional mortgage adviser.

SELF EMPLOYED
Normally, you need to show 3 years accounts or two years and a projection. Alternatively, if you have been trading a short time and you have a deposit of 20% or more then you could get a 'self certification mortgage' whereby you do not need to provide proof of income. You may need to supply an Accountants letter confirming your ability to afford the mortgage. The rate will be higher than those offered for people with proof of income.

ADVERSE CREDIT
There are number of lenders that offer mortgage for people with adverse credit. Be careful, rates can be very high and some unscrupulous people act in this market. If you have experienced no problems in the last 6 months then you need not pay an extortionate interest rate. When talking to an adviser be honest with your credit history otherwise they may make enquiries with lenders that can't really help and you may make your credit file even worse.

OLDER BORROWERS
You can obtain a mortgage for the whole of your life where you pay no interest or capital repayments. The loan will be limited to about 30% of your property value and will be repaid from the proceeds of your estate when you die. These schemes, over time, can amount to a large proportion of your house being swallowed by the lender, especially if house prices did not rise.

MORTGAGE PROTECTION
Make sure that you or your family can meet your mortgage payments in the event of illness, death or redundancy.

Couples, especially those with children, should consider life assurance, andor income protection and critical illness cover.

If you're single then you may not require life assurance payable on death - why bother if you cannot benefit from it? However, income protection or critical illness cover is a MUST HAVE.

Life Cover, payable on death - 2 choices, Level Term Assurance; a lump sum payment that remains level for a specified term (suitable for interest only mortgages), Decreasing Term Assurance; a lump sum payment that decreases broadly in line with a capital & interest mortgage (suitable for capital & interest mortgages). Decreasing Term Assurance costs less then Level because the risk to the life office diminishes.

Critical Illness Cover - Pays a lump sum on diagnosis of certain illnesses which are likely to reduce your working capacity. For example: cancer, heart attack, disablement, loss of limbs, loss of speech or hearing or sight, organ transplant, certain degenerative disorders, plus many others.

Income Protection - Pays an income for the period that you are unable to work. Income can be paid after a deferred period of 1, 3, 6 or 12 months of incapacity (a longer period results in a lower premium). You might choose a deferred period of 12 months if your employer paid your income for 12 months of illness. Benefits are currently paid free of income tax. Your occupation, age, sex and smoking status will determine the premium.

INSURANCES
BUILDINGS: Having bought your home make sure that it is fully insured. The lender will insist that you maintain such insurance as a condition of the mortgage.

Make sure that this is arranged BEFORE contracts are exchanged. Don't wait for completion, if the house burns down after contracts are exchanged it is YOUR loss, not the previous owners- even if they are still living there.

Home insurance is fiercely competitive now that direct insurers have moved into the market and are offering cheap deals over the telephone to build up a share of the market.

So shop around yourself or ask your independent adviser whether he can get a good deal for you. The mortgage lender may well want to arrange the insurance for you. If it is a condition of the loan you may have to accept whatever the lender can offer you - even it if is more expensive. Before choosing any mortgage deal you should always check whether this is the case and be sure the savings you make on the mortgage 'swings' outweigh any extra costs on the insurance 'roundabouts.'

Even where it is not part of the deal some lenders usually insist on "vetting" any policy you buy independently of them, for which they charge a fee - usually about £25.

This is really a "fine" they impose to deter you from bothering to go outside and to compensate them for the commission they would otherwise have collected on any policy they sold you.

Premiums depend upon the rebuilding cost of your home and where it is. Most insurers now rate according to your postcode based on their past experience of customers living there.

CONTENTS: Don't forget to cover your home contents too.

Again some special discounted or fixed rate mortgage deals make the arranging of this insurance by the lender compulsory.

If you are moving to an area new to you ask the local police station for guidance on whether it is a high or low risk area for burglary.

By getting the local crime prevention officer to advise you on making improvements to the security you can often get an insurance discount. If the house is in a "neighbourhood watch" area many insurers offer automatic discounts. If not ask the police how to go about organising one.

REDUNDANCY INSURANCE
You cannot rely on Social Security to pay your mortgage if you lose your job. The DSS rules are complicated, but if you already have a mortgage, which dates back before October 2nd 1995 you get no help for the first eight weeks out of work and only half your mortgage interest may be met for the next 18 weeks. So if you have no other means of paying, you will be four months in arrears after six months.

Borrowers starting a mortgage since October 1995 get no help at all for the first nine months they are jobless, which makes repossession very likely. These rules apply to all new mortgages, even if you are remortgaging.

There is no help provided if either you or your partner is working for more than 24 hours a week.

Most borrowers can now take out insurance, which will meet the mortgage typically for a year out of work because of illness, accident or redundancy. That is long enough for most people to get back on their feet again.

Some mortgage providers now offer this automatically to new borrowers. Otherwise your mortgage adviser can arrange cover. Premiums typically work out at about £6 every £100 of mortgage monthly payment covered.

But do check the small print. Many insurers will not cover you if you are self employed, run your own business, work part time or have a fixed term employment contract. Any illness or injury cover excludes any pre existing conditions.

Before buying a policy check out:

QUALIFYING PERIOD - how long after taking out the policy before you can make a claim.

DEFERMENT PERIOD - how long must I be off or out of work before I qualify for benefits. Once you qualify some policies will backdate the benefit to the day you left work, others don't.

HOW LONG THE BENEFIT WILL BE PAID

AMOUNT OF BENEFIT Some policies will cover only your mortgage. Some will meet other bills too.

PREMIUMS - How much it costs.

GET OUT CLAUSES - Some insurers have a number of clauses, which they can use to avoid paying you.

HOME HUNTING
Before you put in an offer for a property, talk to a mortgage adviser to ensure that you are likely to get a mortgage. With details of your salary and credit history a mortgage adviser should be able to say how much you could borrow.

If you need to act quickly once you have found a property then get a 'Decision In Principle' from a lender. This way the lender will have already conducted their credit searches and verified your income, they only need to value the property before issuing an offer. Don't do this with more than one lender because each will conduct a credit search which gets logged with a central credit agency - too many searches looks bad and could result in you being refused a mortgage.

Don't buy the first property that you see. Get a feel for prices and standard of repair. The three most important aspects of buying a property are Location, Location, Location - you will probably sell the property at some point in the future and it goes without saying that good properties in popular locations always sell first.

Unless there is great demand for property then don't put in the asking price straight away. Most people usually ask for more than they are prepared to accept on the basis that they expect to be 'knocked down'.

OLD OR NEW?
New homes carry certain added bonuses. Builders can often subsidise attractive mortgage deals for you and may help meet the buying expenses for first time buyers. Many builders also have a part-exchange option, however, always make sure that they are offering a fair price.

There will be little to spend on maintenance and decoration for the first year or two and the house or flat comes with a ten year structural guarantee.

Heat and sound insulation is usually better in new homes too. When sales are slack, as they are now, builders often throw in things like carpets and curtains for free. Some starter homes come with fully fitted kitchens including cookers and fridges.

Great if that's what you want. But remember that you'll have to pay for them in the asking price. And when you come to sell them the next buyer might not be that keen on your second hand kitchen equipment.

'second hand' homes often come with useful extras such as fitted carpets, an attractive garden, light and bathroom fittings, curtains and even some furniture. They will normally have greater character and have larger rooms.

They're usually closer to shops, schools and the station than new homes. But some repairs and maintenance are often needed right away. And it is strongly recommended that you have a higher grade of survey before you buy.

RIGHT TO BUY
Anyone who has been a council tenant for at least two years has the RIGHT TO BUY their home - usually at a substantial discount.

This can be mean anything from 32 per cent to 60 per cent off a council house and as much as 70per cent off a flat. Ask your town hall for details.

Should you decide to go ahead, an independent mortgage adviser will be happy to fix up a mortgage for you and guide you through the maze of paperwork.

MOVE OR IMPROVE?
Once you've been in your home for a while you may find that it is no longer big enough for you or lacks certain amenities.

MOVING house is expensive- all told it could cost anything between £2,000 and £5,000.

Here's how the costs can stack up:

SELLING a £50,000 property would cost about £1,600 including about £1,200 to the estate agent, about £300 to the solicitor and about £100 to release your deeds from your current lender.

BUYING a £70,000 property would cost about £1,400 including £400 to the solicitor, £300 in survey fees and £700 stamp duty.

Removal expenses could amount to £300. All told, that's £3,000 or even higher if the properties are of a higher value.

Removal firms' charges will depend on how far you are moving and exactly how much of the work you want them to do. If you don't have time to pack yourself it may be worth paying extra to have it done for you. It should mean fewer breakages and any damage by the packer should be covered by insurance. Check out whether insurance is included when shopping around for quotes.

You can save money moving home by shopping around for the most competitive solicitor, estate agent and removal firm, but the cheapest are not necessarily the best.

Estate agency fees can vary considerably. Most offer a "No Sale-No Fee" policy whereby if they are unable to find a buyer, they will not charge a fee.

You may get a cheaper deal if you offer one sole agency. But put a time limit on it in case they don't sell your property.

Avoid giving estate agents "sole selling rights" as that would mean you have to pay them even if you manage to sell it privately. If they insist on this then try to get a break from their contract after a certain period.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS
Improving your home may look like the cheaper option. But before deciding to do so, remember that all too often people who spend a lot improving their homes still move soon afterwards and don't recover the money spent on improvements.

Some improvements are better investments than others and some can actually REDUCE the sales value of your home.

So before you dig up the garden and turn it into a shark pool or embed gnomes into the brickwork consider carefully whether it would appeal to a would-be buyer.

Several major mortgage lenders including the Halifax and the Woolwich regularly assess the commercial appeal of the most common improvements. Here's how the top ten rate:

CENTRAL HEATING is the best investment you can make. Put it into a home which hasn't any and it will almost certainly pay for itself in the asking price you can command.

GARAGE: Depending upon where you live adding a garage will almost certainly pay for itself - and it should mean cheaper car insurance premiums for you too.

EXTENSIONS for extra bedrooms, larger bathrooms or kitchens may pay for themselves so long as they are in keeping with your home's scale and appearance.

LOFT CONVERSIONS add little to the value of a home. You'd be lucky to get back a third of the money spent. A poor conversion may make your home unattractive to would-be buyers.

You are also unlikely to recover the cost of DOUBLE GLAZING, REFITTED KITCHENS and BATHROOMS.

INSULATION: Fitting roof and cavity wall insulation adds little to your home's value - it comes standard with modern homes. But you should recover your costs with savings on fuel bills if you stay long enough.

Fitting SECURITY LOCKS and ALARMS makes sense. It doesn't cost a lot and you should recover all or most of the cost in lower insurance premiums. It significantly reduces the chance of being burgled. Many people feel they have to move after being burgled because they can't cope with the invasion of their privacy. So again it can be a big money saver.

Improving the GARDEN can make your home more saleable. But a neat, tidy garden will fetch as good a price as those that have been elaborately landscaped.

SWIMMING POOLS are a nice idea but in chilly Britain the maintenance costs and the risks of children falling in will deter more buyers than they attract. A loser in most locations.

If you need to raise the money to pay for improvements, it may be best to visit your independent mortgage adviser or ask your building society or bank to add it to your mortgage. Failing that ask for a home improvement loan.

ADVICE
Any mortgage lender and estate agent can offer you help and advice about home buying but in the main they are not impartial. They can only tell you about what they have to offer. A bank almost certainly won't tell you that the building society across the street is offering a better deal.

For truly independent advice you need to go to an Independent Financial Adviser. As Independent Financial Advisers with a wealth of experience in the mortgage market, we are ideally placed to offer professional impartial advice

HELP
Should you ever run into difficulty meeting your mortgage contact your lender immediately and explain the situation fully. Mortgage lenders generally lose money if they have to take possession of your property, so they would much rather come to an arrangement giving you more time to pay.

Should you need to obtain detail about your credit history then write with your address history for the last 6 years, enclosing a cheque for £2 to: Experian, PO Box 8000, Nottingham NG1 5GX. Tel 0115 9768747

If you have reason to complain about the standard of advice in respect of a mortgage then contact: International Arbitration Centre, 12 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP. Tel. 020 7421 7444

This document does not constitute financial advice under the Financial Services Act 1986. If you should require such advice, you should consult a fully authorised financial adviser.

YOUR HOME IS AT RISK IF YOU DON'T KEEP UP THE REPAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR OTHER LOAN SECURED ON IT.