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Does Your Head Spin Every Time You Think About Choosing A Mortgage?

Do You Want The Knowledge At Your Finger Tips So You Can Begin The Real Work - Finding The Right Property?

Read On To Find The Information You Need.

Are You Looking To Buy A Property?

Are You Thoroughly Bamboozled About The Best Mortgage For You?

Do You Just Want To Find All The Answers, In One Place?!

Then Read On.

Deciding which mortgage is right for you is always a challenge, and never more than with your first property. There are so many mortgage lenders, and each of them has numerous products... balancing the pros and cons is a challenge, to say the least!

What you really want is simple: a low interest rate and all the features that will help you pay off your mortgage faster.

There's never been a better time to get all that. Interest rates are at an all time low across the board, and property prices are more reasonable than they have been for years.

Which mortgage is right for you?

The sheer number of available options can make the whole process of choosing a mortgage seem like an enormous chore. With banks, credit unions and other financial institutions all offering competitive loans right now, you need to utilise all the available tools to find the best mortgage for you - your own power mortgage.

What's a power mortgage? It's a mortgage that puts the power back into your hands, enabling you to pay off your real estate investment faster, with less interest, and with the flexibility you deserve.

Use a Mortgage Calculator - or Many!

One of the most important tools you can use to help find this dream mortgage is a mortgage calculator. Almost all mortgage lenders make mortgage calculators freely available on their websites. By entering your information, you can find out how much money you will be able to borrow, and then what your minimum monthly repayments will be based on current interest rates and the term (or length) of your loan.

There are also mortgage calculators to tell you how much interest you will pay over the course of the loan, and how much time and money you can save by making extra repayments, or fortnightly rather than monthly repayments.

The best loan for you - your personal power mortgage - will depend on your own personal circumstances. For most people though, often the loan product with the lowest interest rate is not the loan that will save you the most money over the course of your mortgage.

Features like the being able to have your salary paid directly into your mortgage and redraw as you need it without paying additional fees can reduce the amount of interest you will pay. Also look into whether there is a fee for paying out the mortgage early - these can be sizable.

Most mortgages have a once off set up fee, and an annual fee on the anniversary of your first payment. Some also have monthly fees - multiplied by 12 months a year, and possibly a 20 year mortgage, even a fee of $8 per month is an extra couple thousand dollars out of your pocket.

Mortgage Lenders Wholesale

If the numbers are all too much for you, enlist the help of a professional - a mortgage broker. Most big financial institutions also act as mortgage lenders wholesale. That simply means that they enlist the help of a mortgage broker as one means to gain more clients.

A mortgage broker will have a whole portfolio of lenders he works for. He or she will ask you a whole of questions about your income, assets, and expenses, and help recommend the best loan. He will advise you of how much each bank or financial institution is willing to lend you, how high their interest rates are, any additional fees they charge and any other conditions.

Your mortgage broker will be willing to do the entire math for you - and tell you how much you will pay in total, in interest and principal over the course of your mortgage. If you tell him you are planning on getting a huge pay rise and paying out the loan in 10 years not 30, he or she will do all the calculations on that too.

A common mistake is to choose which mortgage you will opt for based on the lender who is willing to loan you the highest amount of money. Don't forget that you may need to pay for unexpected repairs or maintenance on your new investment property, you may have unexpected car expenses, and you may even want to go on a holiday some time in the next few years! Make sure you do not over commit - always ensure you have a bit of money to spare. It is almost guaranteed that interest rates will rise in the next year or two as the global economy and US economy begin to recover, and that will impact your monthly repayments. (It will also drive up the value of your property! It's not all bad news.)

And of course, the very best thing about employing the services of a mortgage broker is that it's free. Mortgage brokers are payed by their mortgage wholesale lenders, not by the clients looking for a mortgage.

Utilising a mortgage broker can save you a lot of time, and can uncover hidden catches you may not spot yourself. Because the world of mortgages really is world of fine print - and you really want to be focussing on the fun bit, right? On finding your investment property.

The Time is Right

There has never been a better time to buy an investment property and take out a mortgage than right now.

The global financial crisis has hit the United States hard - but there will be a few people who will do very, very well out of it. You can be one of them.

Property prices in some cities have plummeted as far 20 per cent. That means you can buy a million dollar property for 800,000 dollars! Or, if that's out of your reach you can still buy a half million dollar property for 400,000 dollars, or a 400,000 dollar condo for as little as 320,000 dollars.

Then once you've found your dream home, or your prime investment, you can rest assured that over the next couple of years at least, you will most likely be paying the lowest interest rate that will be available within your lifetime.

You can pay off your property faster and for less, then be in the best possible position to buy another! Before you know it, you will have an enviable property portfolio. Or even if that sounds too much like a fantasy (it doesn't have to be!) at the very least you will have a comfortable home while most of your friends and contemporaries are regretting not having had the nerve to invest when you did.

Choosing the right loan does take some research, but when you consider that could save you literally tens of thousands of dollars, it is worth it.

But keep it in perspective. Choosing a mortgage could become a full time occupation - and once you have found your mortgage, you still have to find a property, which is pretty time intensive too.

If you do spend too long agonising over each decision you will miss the boat. A whole lot of quick, decisive people will beat you to it, and you will be one of the people who, in a few years time, is regretting not jumping on into the property market while both prices and interest rates were at their lowest.

In short: do your research, and do it now! Set yourself a time limit to find the right mortgage, because compared to finding your property, finding the right mortgage is the easy bit.

When you have made decisions, don't look back. Second guessing yourself is just a waste of time. Instead, constantly look ahead. In five years time, re-assess your mortgage. Is it still the best option, or is it time to consider re-financing? Your circumstances will change, and so will the market - so stay ahead of the game.