Consumers may not know what to expect when applying for a mortgage, but they can be sure that the mortgage companies will know exactly what they should be getting out of the deal. The companies know because they have researched the market and figured out what products appeal to the categories of buyers that come in search of a home loan.
Most lenders keep this research to themselves, but Permanent TSB has chosen to share some of its findings with the rest of us. Beside conclusions on how many of us used savings to buy our homes (67 per cent), or how many of us used the parental purse (10 per cent), the research includes findings on who or what makes mortgage-hunting tick.
Take, for example, Permanent TSB's conclusions on how a mortgage may affect a buyer's social life. Slightly more than two-thirds of the respondents who wanted to buy a house or apartment in the next two years said they expected it to curtail their social life. Perhaps this is natural, given the age and stage of most first-time buyers - after all, social lives can be expensive and time-consuming in a person's early twenties but less so in their late twenties when home-owning is more likely. A house purchase may just coincide with a slower social life rather than causing it.
This seems a fair conclusion, until we consider another findings: just 42 per cent of people who have taken mortgages out within the past five years say that it caused them to cut back on their social lives. For the majority, it seems to be a case of having it all and enjoying it on the dance floor.
Permanent TSB, which surveyed 1,000 people for its latest market study, identified other ways in which homeowners might push themselves over that monthly repayment line once the mortgage is taken out. While 12 per cent of those surveyed (the survey included existing plus would-be homeowners) said they would consider renting a room to fund repayments, the idea became more popular when the survey was included only those who intended to buy within the next two years. Some 58 per cent of this group said they would consider this highly tax-efficient route to cash.
One of the most encouraging of Permanent TSB's many findings is the readiness of respondents to shop around to find a mortgage. Almost two-thirds said they would "shop around and compare" when moving house, with 12 per cent saying they would stay with their existing provider.
Just when it seems the gospel of shopping around has spread, we find that respondents fall down elsewhere. It seems that 10 per cent chose their last mortgage provider because of a "personal contact" in the organisation. While this may smooth the path to approval, it will never be a good basis for a mortgage choice unless it leads to a better rate.
Which brings us to the most worrying conclusion in the research - just 6 per cent said they would consider a tracker loan if applying for a mortgage. This compares to almost half who said they would consider a fixed rate. Fixed rates may work for some, but will definitely not be best for all. Likewise, tracker loans, which stay within a fixed margin of the main euro-zone rates, make financial sense for a larger proportion of the population than a mere 6 per cent.
