Mortgage planning guide for first-time homeowners

Taking out a mortgage loan is usually a 25-year commitment. For this reason, proper planning is needed.

10:51 02 August 2013

Buying your first home can be one of the most exciting experiences in your life. It’s the time when you say goodbye to monthly rent and pay for something that you know will be yours at the end of the loan term.

However, one thing that you need to understand is that a mortgage is a long-term commitment. This means that you’re going to pay for your house for around 25 to 30 years. How can you make sure that you won’t miss payments?

As a homeowner, you will no longer have a landlord to call when the pipes on your house break or should the ceiling fall. For this reason, it is important that you save money in case of this. Typically, new houses come with one-year warranty. Use this time to start saving money for unforeseen events.

Other things that you should prepare for, as they would have great impact on your finances, are things like having your first or another child, sending your children to school, etc.

It is important to ensure that you have enough money for these, so you don’t end up in a position where you might have to miss monthly payments on your mortgage loan.