Student loans, relaxed attitudes to credit card borrowing, lifestyle choices of preferring designer label clothing ranges, exotic holidays, new cars, up to the minute must have consumer goods from plasma screen televisions to vacuum cleaners, eating out, buying in ready prepared salads and other meals, all take a toll on the amount of regular disposable income available for commitment to a mortgage.

It seems those days of courtship and saving a deposit for the married home may be a chapter for sociology students studying past trends.

For many savers the rapid inflation in house prices made it impossible for their accounts to raise sufficient for even a 5% deposit. When additional costs of structural surveys, mortgage brokering, lenders arrangement, higher lending charges, stamp duty, conveyancing and land registry costs are added to the amount needed to get a step onto the property ladder, it is not surprising that many people decided it may not be for them.

In response there are now Lender's offering 100% or 90% plus additional secured lending to a total of 130% of the property purchase price, enabling buyers with a clear credit file, the chance to begin gaining equity stakes in homes of their own.

Of course, many will choose to furnish their new homes with unsecured borrowing.

There are always choices to be made, how much is buying a home of your own a priority? What lifestyle changes might be sacrificed to ensure that mortgage and related protection insurances are met in full and on time every month?

Many of today's first time buyers are actually people returning to the property market with a larger deposit after selling a property and having had a mortgage break.

When assessing an application for a mortgage, lenders will need to know a lot about you before deciding if they have the funding available. If a lender is prepared to loan an income multiple of 3.5 times joint income or 2.75 times single income, you may think a single person with a salaried occupation of £40,000.00 gross per annum would have no trouble arranging a mortgage of £90,000.00. This will be dependent on credit scoring and how many other commitments the income has to cover.

How much can you really afford to spend on mortgage and related insurance each month, have you looked at your income and outgoings? A professional mortgage consultant may be able to offer help to streamline your budgeting.

Most of us fail to keep a diary of our spending habits, or account for car tax and insurance, replacement tyres, servicing costs, depreciation etc. when working out our travel expenses. A car costs more than the petrol in the tank to run.

Consider commitments to utilities i.e. water rates, council tax, gas, electricity, mobile and landline communications, etc. add on food including top up shops and the odd take-away. How much do you have to pay loans, credit cards etc. each month?

Add on spending for holidays, clothes, drinks, cigarettes, seasonal gifts, hobbies and disposable income can appear to be a depressingly small amount.

With the vast array of mortgages available from lenders with very different criteria lending standards it is hugely important to find the right lender with the right product. Over a 25year term a difference of only £50.00 a month can cost well in excess of £15,000.00 from net income. Professionals offering mortgage advice, who are qualified to give full advice and recommendation, take responsibility for the advice they give and have to be covered by liability insurances.

It is important to see if the advice is sourced from a restricted number of lenders or from the whole of the market.

A mortgage broker compares offerings from available lenders, and will be aware of mortgage broker only deals not available to you directly, to save you the time and hassle of reading all of the criteria small print and finding quotes for the most suitable products. This saves you spending time in a variety of Banks and Building Societies and making comparisons.

It may not be necessary to have lots of quotes from whole of market mortgage advisors, since this will involve wasting professional time researching the same markets and should have similar results in a regulated and legislated business. It can also cause increased brokerage costs that will need to be passed on.

As qualified, responsible mortgage consultants, we will be working on your behalf to ensure we find the most suitable product for your personal circumstance, whether you choose to use "Susan Harper Mortgages" or another whole of market mortgage broker to avoid making expensive mistakes.