A loan on a property or house that you have to pay within a specific period is known as mortgage. The loan or money you borrowed from a lender to buy the property should be repaid within the allocated time. There are mortgages of different shapes and sizes; you have to choose from them according to your plans and financial condition.

You have to pay the interest and principal of the loan on monthly basis in the specific period which is known as amortization schedule. In fixed rate mortgages the monthly payments are stable and its advantage lies in the fact you need not pay more even when inflation rates increases. It has long term planning and provides low risk for first time buyers as they know their monthly payment.

In fixed rate mortgage the interest rate will not come down even if interest rates drop till you do not refinance your mortgage. The disadvantage in fixed rate mortgage is that because of fixed rates you may not be able for a larger loan and depending on your taxes and insurance the monthly payment could go up. In adjustable-rate mortgage the starting interest rate and monthly payment is low but could change depending upon the life of the loan. In balloon/ reset mortgages there is an option to repay all the balance before the amortization schedule. If you don't like your current mortgage dealer then you can switch your dealer and this is simply known as re-mortgage.

In mortgage market there is very competition and you have to decide the lender and the scheme in which you want to borrow money. How much you could borrow depends upon certain factors like income streams, type of employments and personal commitments. Depending upon which scheme you want to borrow money needs different calculations and hence needs much time to calculate. The lender will inform you how much money you could borrow after verification of all materials provided by you such as ID, income certificates etc.

Since this is a competitive market you need a solicitor to research for you. Lenders now see some conditions before applying 100% mortgages to find out whether the candidate is suitable or not. The candidate should have been employed for three years continuously though not necessarily for the same employer. Mortgages are not applied for one bedroom apartments or studios and are also not available for self builds and site purchasing.