Buying Your First House

There are literally hundreds of things to worry about and take into consideration when deciding to take that plunge into the property game. A glaringly obvious consideration is whether you have enough money or not.  A few things to be mindful of especially if it is your first time buying:

 
a)      if a bank pre-approves you for a mortgage amount they are going to be doing it based on gross income not net income - keep in mind you will need to pay your mortgage with your net income so make sure you are conservative on what you think you can afford before you go house hunting

b)      closing costs - lawyer fees, land transfer taxes, property tax, insurance etc - they aren't hidden costs per se but they may creep up on you and may be larger than you had expected

c)      furniture - if you are content furnishing the place with your parents 40 year old furniture then so be it - however there are still going to be some items you are going to need - new sofa - new flat screen tv - new appliances etc. so try and plan for this.

d)      a reserve fund - while you did your home inspection and did your best to ensure you weren't buying a lemon there are always things that can go wrong especially if you are buying  resale home - you don't want to be left with a broken furnace in the middle of winter so set aside some money for miscellaneous repairs or upgrades upon moving in.
 
A helpful way of controlling these costs, or at least planning for them, is to set up a budget of your net income coming in and your expenses or money going out. 

 Doing this on a monthly basis will allow you to take a look at how much money you have left over after paying your expenses and how much you would be able to put towards a down payment and your monthly mortgage payments. 

It's always better to be prepared when making a large decision like buying a house so there is no need to rush into it!  Take your time and map it out - it will pay you back in the end.