Problem 3 - Not Understanding the Stages Involved, Problem 4 Not Paying Any Tax, Problem 5 - Not Putting the Foundations Down Early

Problem three, not understanding the stages involved in buying a property.

If you're new to the process, it would become very quickly overwhelming what's involved.

That's why we like to get involved at the earliest stage to talk through all the stages. There is more to it than just getting the mortgage, being prepared for the following is the key to successful buying and investing.

How to find your property using the likes of Rightmove.

How do you use that tool?

Knowing your numbers, is it overpriced?

How to do the research, negotiating with estate agents, remember they work for the seller, not for you in this process.

The mortgage process itself, finding a solicitor, what survey and valuation do I need, and stamp duty. Everyone forgets this little beauty.

You get nothing for it, not even a bottle of bubbly. When do you need your deposit and what are costs that are involved?

Be prepared so it's not a shock.

Problem four, not paying any tax.

You've all heard before cash is king, well, not if you want to get a mortgage it's not, you'll have to show some sort of profit and income to attain mortgage.

There are other options available, but you need to be showing some sort of income, if not a good profit.

I can remember so many conversations and they'll say they make loads of money, but when you see their accounts it's ￡20,000 turnover and ￡12,000 pound a year profit, just to keep it below the tax threshold.

When you dig a bit deeper, they seem bemused by the fact, they say? well we've easily done over ￡100,000 this year alone, but everyone wants to pay cash, I'm not getting the legalities of this, but you should be putting your cash through the business and showing the right turnover and profit.

I've got to be honest, I think the accountants have a lot to answer for, with this as well. They need to look at the bigger picture.

Problem, five, not getting the foundations down early on.

Imagine building a house in the wrong order. You put the roof on without building the walls. You cannot build without laying foundations.

Getting a mortgage in today's world is exactly the same. The biggest mistake you can make is making an offer on a property without speaking to a professional first.

Of course, it could be possible to get a mortgage by doing things backwards, but if you'd like less stress, more time, potentially easier life, then the first step should be speaking to an advisor.

As much as 12 months in advance, I've had clients who found their dream home, put theirs on the market only to find that something in this circumstance let them down and result in them and not being able to get the mortgage to move forward in the right way.

It's never a case of a complete no, because my ethos is, if not now, when?

I believe in creating a strategy for success that means you can set yourself up correctly, doing things like getting to grips with your finances, knowing how much you can afford based on your current future expenses.

Knowing the effect, borrowing has on your credit and affordability, getting the correct documentation ready, most issues somewhere are related to your documents, get the documents, right.

Get an agreement in principle or AIP or DIP in advance of a viewing of property and speak to the professional.

That's what it's there for.