Common Mortgage Mistakes - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. They let a someone like a realtor, or, a mortgage broker, or, a bank representative talk them into buying a bigger house that they can afford. You have to remember how people are compensated and make sure that it is in line with your best interest. The best way to not buy a bigger house than you can afford is get pre-qualified for the mortgage. So, visit with a mortgage professional. They will go through all your debt and income and they will determine how much you can afford. This is usually determined by a formula. They will look at what the principle interest, insurance and tax payments would be on your potential house and they will add in your other debt services such as credit card or card payments, and that amount of debt cannot be any more that thirty-eight percent of your income. So, if you do not have that going for you, you may not even want to consider buying a house, that is probably the first step. And then, then you go to a Realtor, you show him you are pre-qualified, and you go out and look at houses. And you know what you can afford, you know what will fit into your budget. Another mistake people make in, with the mortgage, is that they do not understand all of the options that are available to them. There is VA loans for veterans, there is loan programs for first time home buyers, there you should really understand how much there is out there. Another mistake people make is thinking that an adjustable loan is better than a fixed loan. Always payments are lower on an adjustable loan, cause the interest rates are lower. They are short term loans, so there is not as much risk for the lender. If you can afford a thirty year fixed mortgage in a low interest rate environment, as it is now, you are much better off. You will know, over a long term, how much your mortgage is going to be. There is one exception to that, if you think you are going to be moving in three years, four years, then maybe look at a five year allowance. So, again you have to understand the loan programs that are available to you. Another piece of advice when you are looking for a mortgage is do not just go to the bank around the corner and go with one bank professional. There are, yes, some of the banks have good offerings, but they are only going to offer their mortgages. Your better bet is to go to a mortgage professional that can look at loans from all different lenders and identify the best loan package for you as far as rate and term. And, that is probably the best way to go about it. Make sure you investigate the mortgage professional. Now, because of the credit crisis and all of the problems, all of the mortgage professionals are required to register with a mortgage professional service so that you know whether they have had any issues with clients in the past. Be careful, the mortgage is going to be the biggest debt of your life, so you want to make sure that you have as much information and use trusted professionals to help you.