Buying or selling a house can be a difficult and lengthy process. Whatever your level of experience, you will need the help of several professionals along the way. Within this guide, you will find their roles explained, what to look for and what to avoid, official governing bodies and external links to help you locate the right people for your needs. To make it easy to understand we have split this guide into separate sections each covering a single profession:

• Mortgage Lenders
• Estate Agents
• Chartered Surveyors
• Conveyancers and Solicitors

Mortgage Lenders

What is a Mortgage Lender?

Mortgage lenders make it possible for you to purchase your home. Unless you are lucky enough to have a hundreds of thousands of pounds squirrelled away in savings, you will need financial assistance. A mortgage lender will make a profit over time by charging interest on the loan they grant you. You need to be very careful in choosing your mortgage lender as this is a contract that will span years, and making the correct decision here can make a difference of hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds. Also, if you fail to keep up with your payments, the mortgage lender can repossess your house and sell it on in order to get their investment back.

How do I choose a Mortgage Lender?

Choosing the correct mortgage is vital. With so many lenders competing for your business, you must shop around before making a commitment. However, both the hardest and the most crucial part of choosing the correct mortgage is deciphering the financial jargon in the small print and understanding what it all means in relation to you. That's why we have compiled the below mortgage lending 'jargon-buster' to help you settle on the best deal.

• Capital: This is the amount of money you borrow from the mortgage lender to pay for your house.
• Interest: This is added to the capital at a pre-arranged rate (the interest rate). This is how the lenders make a profit.
• Deposit: This is a cash sum that you put down on a house. It's usually at a minimum of 5%, thereby leaving a mortgage of 95%. These days, 100% mortgages are becoming more common but these come with a higher interest rate.
• Application Fee: This is an initial amount charged by some lenders to set up your mortgage.
• Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee (MIG): Sometimes known as a mortgage indemnity premium (MIP). Some lenders charge this when you're putting down a fairly small deposit (25% or under). It effectively protects the lender if you fail to keep up repayments and your home has to be re-possessed, only to sell for less than the mortgage.
• Mortgage Term: This is the duration of the loan, the time in which you have to pay back the capital and all the additional interest.
• Exit Penalty: This is a fee that lenders charge if you wish to leave your mortgage and switch to another provider.
• Redemption Penalty: Also known as a lock-in or tie-in. These are fees which lenders charge should you wish to leave their mortgage after some special deal they offered you has expired. Take careful note of these, as they can add up to thousands of pounds.
• Negative Equity: This is a very disagreeable state of affairs whereby interest rates rise to the point where you are paying more in mortgage repayments than your house is actually worth.

Where do I find a mortgage?

Most major high street banks and building societies provide mortgage lending services. If you have a bad credit rating, known as adverse credit, you may be able to get a mortgage from a specialist provider. However, the interest rates will be higher in order to cover what they will see as a more risky investment.

When should I get a mortgage?

Getting a mortgage is one of the first steps in buying your own home. You should contact a number of lenders to compare quotes and get the best deal - paying special attention to the keywords in our jargon-buster. You need to be careful when obtaining a number of quotes, as lenders may perform credit checks as part of the process. More than three such checks within a six month period will harm your credit rating and make it harder for you to get a mortgage. Therefore insist that they do not run a credit check on you during initial inquiries.

Once you are satisfied that you have found the best possible deal, you need to get a mortgage agreement in principle. A mortgage lender will provide you with this in principle if all the information you gave them is correct. You can obtain one in writing and this will help to speed up the process of actually getting a mortgage when you have found a suitable property. Getting a mortgage agreement in principle also means estate agents and sellers are much more likely to take you seriously.