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It's an indictment on our educational systems that most young people come out of school without any knowledge about mortgages or the process of buying a property. Given this, and the fact that the home buying process is often overly complicated, it's hardly surprising that many first time home buyers fall into some of the traps that exist.

However, with the average cost of a first time mortgage often being in six figures, avoiding these home purchase pitfalls is important if you are to enjoy the best possible start to your life as a home owner. In this article, I'll address the five most common mistakes that first time buyers experience.

1. Not doing enough research prior to buying:

Having checked your local property pages, you see a house that is within your budget and looks promising. You arrange a visit on a Wednesday afternoon and it seems like a nice house in a nice quiet neighborhood. You place a bid and are successful. This is great until you go back on a Friday evening and see that the streets are packed with beer-guzzling youths and the traffic's much heavier (and noisier) than you'd thought. Maybe you also discover that there's an adjacent district that offers much better value for money and investment potential.

It's understandable that people rush into buying their first home. After all, it's very exciting to picture yourself sat in your own home, rather than continuing to be either in the parental home or in a shared apartment! However, buying a house is a big financial and emotional commitment and you need to be sure that you're not going to have any regrets. Taking time to explore all the options doesn't need to take forever and will maximize the likelihood that you will be happy in your new home. And make sure you don't base your decision to buy solely on one visit. Property experts always recommend at least two visits and that you vary the day and time that you visit, so that you get a fuller feel for the environment.

2. Arranging a bigger mortgage than is necessary:

Mortgages are a type of loan, and loans are an expensive way to buy things. However, we recognize that getting a mortgage is nearly always necessary due to the sheer scale of house prices. The key, though, is to minimize the size of mortgage that you need and, to do this, you should try to make as big a down-payment as you can, whilst still leaving you with some savings to cover legal fees and general contingencies. Some first time buyers, however, either opt to take a 100% mortgage

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