There are lots of mortgages around and whether you are looking to find a mortgage for the first time, if you are moving house, remortaging or just wondering whether to swap mortgage providers, then you will be on the look out for the best mortgage.

The first thing to remember is that we all have different criteria when we are looking for a mortgage and so there is no best mortgage that will work for everyone. Therefore, you will need to start y thinking about what is important to you and then matching a mortgage to that.

Cost



The cost of the mortgage is the thing that most people will feel is the most important for them. They will feel that the cheapest will be the best as they will spend least money on it. Obviously, the cost is a really important factor and as you have a mortgage for so long, if the interest rate is a bit higher for the whole time, that could add to quite a significant increase in cost. However, it is important to remember that rates will change. Even if you get a fixed rate, it will not be for the full term of the mortgage and so you could find that the mortgage you choose will not always be the cheapest, even if it was when you took it out. Therefore, if you do want to make sure you always have the cheapest, you will need to keep comparing the cost and switching to the cheapest. This might be tricky in a fixed interest rate as you can be tied in and even if you are not, you may have to pay a fee if you want to switch to a different provider.

Value for money



Rather than the cost, some people would rather look at the value for money. This not only takes account of the cost but also what you get for that money. Some people will want to get good customer service, a flexible term, a lender they know and other things like that and will be prepared to pay a bit more in order to get it. It is wise to think about whether there is anything that you would like to get out of a mortgage provider as well as a low cost, so that you can bear that in mind when you are comparing the different providers and make sure that you get the best mortgage for your needs.

Lender reputation



For some people it is really important that they have a lender they can trust. This may mean that they want one they have used before, that comes recommended or that they have heard of. It is worth thinking about what you might want in a lender, whether these things might be important to you. You will be able to research lenders by looking at different things such as their website, reviews and money websites. You could also ask people that you know about their experiences as well.

Repayments



It is really important to also focus on the repayments. You will need to repay the mortgage and you will be repaying for a long time. You will need to think about what will suit you with regards to repayment. It is important to think about what you can afford as well as how long you would like to repay for. If you repay over a longer time period then you will have smaller repayments but you will be charged more for the mortgage. It can therefore be tempting to repay more each month over a shorter time period to keep things cheaper. However, it could make the repayments difficult so it is important to make sure that you are confident that you will be able to afford them. If you do miss a repayment then you will have extra charges to pay so it will work out more expensive than having smaller repayments for longer and paying the extra interest.

Once you have decided what you want in a mortgage you then need to look for it. Some people choose to pay an independent financial advisor to do this for them as it means that they will get an expert to decide for them. However, some people would rather make the decision for themselves or cannot afford to pay the advisor. Some would rather use comparison websites to look at the prices of mortgages but it is wise to use a selection of these as they may give different results and to be aware that they will not list all mortgage providers as some do not appear on comparison websites. Another option is to look at individual lenders websites but this may take some time and you may only be able to look at a few of them.