For first time mortgage applicants, a home mortgage means the biggest loan they will be taking in their entire lives. In fact, this is true for most people; a home mortgage is something that will keep them indebted for a long time. It represents a very significant bill to be accounted for at the end of each month.

The home mortgage has a potential to spiral to very high amounts by the time the term comes to an end. A rule of thumb is that a 30 year fixed-term mortgage at an average conforming interest rate, will cost approximately 3 times the principal amount borrowed if paid through the end of the loan term. That is why people are very careful when they are planning for a home mortgage loan, so first time mortgage applicants should be just as thorough in their mortgage planning.

When you are a first time mortgage applicant, one of the foremost things you need to keep in mind is that if things are planned carefully at the outset, there should be no need to lose sleep over it. Once you decide on your new property, you must first make sure that the papers to the property (title, deed, survey, etc.) will be in order when the time comes for contract signing, because if anything suspicious arises, your chances of getting a mortgage for it will be jeopardized then and there. Property papers can be checked online or at registrars' offices in most cities. If you are unable to do the preliminary research, your Realtor will provide that information to you upon request.

Many first time mortgage applicants either forget or neglect to request the information needed to make good decisions, so care must be taken to insure that you request it, including the age of the property. Make sure that the property is not too old, because many banks, financing institutions and mortgage insurers could elect to deny a mortgage for too old a property.

You should also bear in mind that you will not get the entire value of the property as a mortgage. You will get about 75% to 96.5% of the home value based upon a property appraisal or the contract price, depending on the financial institution and/or the loan program that will ultimately finance your purchase. Many first time mortgage applicants will probably qualify for special low-down-payment programs provided by certain lenders.

The lending institution or mortgage insurer will require that the balance of the home price is paid from your own funds, and first time mortgage applicants must remember that this amount will represent the down payment only, and therefore should have some additional money for paying the fees on the mortgage, the registration of the property in the first time mortgage applicant's name and some additional charges at the time of closing. These amounts are commonly referred to as closing costs.

It is not necessary that you must pay only the stipulated amount for down payment and get the remaining amount financed. The more down payment you pay, the less will be your monthly installment based on the lesser mortgage amount, so put forth your best efforts in maximizing the initial down payment. A larger down payment will certainly be of benefit to first time mortgage applicants.

Calculate beforehand how much you can set aside for making the monthly payments, keep this figure freshly in mind and when the mortgage processing is done with and you have moved into your house, your monthly bill is the only thing that will matter and you'll have a better appreciation for your new home simply because you planned carefully.

All mortgage applicants should plan carefully before committing to a loan program, but first time mortgage applicants should be even more thorough due to the simple fact that, well, they are first time mortgage applicants and as such haven't experienced the unforeseen problems that often occur in the early years of home ownership. To help in the process, mortgage calculators are very helpful in determining the monthly payments and are available on most financial websites.