Don't look for a home without being pre-approved. You will have much more negotiating power with vendor, and may be able to save thousands of pounds.

Get a full, professional survey. Human beings can be perverse; happy to spend £150,000 on a house after a half-hour viewing, but be-grudge spending £500 finding out whether it's worth buying in first place!

Find out true value of your home. Get more than one independent appraisal. Compare it with prices of similar-sized houses for sale in same area.

Start gathering documents. Provide your mortgage company with documents in good time; don't let your rate lock expire!

Verbal (oral) agreements are worthless. When buying or selling property, always get it in writing.

When you do get your mortgage, check your payments are correct - do mathematics. There's a one in ten chance you could be paying more than you should.

Review your mortgage regularly - this, and possibly remortgaging, will ensure you pay as little as possible in interest.

Finally, consider following advice from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:

Be sure to read and understand everything before you sign;

Refuse to sign any blank documents;

Do not buy property for someone else;

Do not overstate your income;

Do not overstate how long you have been employed;

Do not overstate your assets;

Accurately report your debts;

Do not change your income tax returns for any reason;

Tell whole truth about gifts;

Do not list fake co-borrowers on your loan application;

Be truthful about your credit problems, past and present;

Be honest about your intention to occupy house;

Do not provide false supporting documents.

A mortgage is biggest financial committment most of us will ever make; worth spending a little time on, to get it right!

About the author: T. O' Donnell (http://www.tigertom.com/mortgages-uk.shtml) offers mortgage quotes, advice, an ebook and a mortgage calculator, in London, UK.

If your spending is out of control, don't put your home at risk by getting a home equity credit line to pay off your credit-card debts.

Shop for rates when market is calm. Rates change from day to day, so compare lenders. The quotes you get should all be from same time period.

Submit a neat application form; it shows you're business-like and efficient. It will be read and assessed by a human being; appearances count.

Only pay up-front fees to well-known institutions, or ones highly recommended by trusted sources.

Don't sign documents without reading them. As soon as possible, before you close deal, review documents you'll be signing, and make sure you understand them, so you won't have to sign them in a hurry.

Keep a copy of every cheque you write for your loan. If you call your lender about your loan, make sure you get full name of person with whom you speak. Make a note of it. You may be dealing with a large bureaucracy, and will need to refer to this conversation later.

If you find yourself in a dispute with a lender, don't send correspondence to same address you send your payment. You need to deal with decision-makers, not account clerks.

About the author: T. O' Donnell (http://www.tigertom.com/personal-loans-uk.shtml) offers personal loans, advice, an ebook and a loan calculator, in London, UK.