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This is Money's mortgages and property experts Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce set out the problem for first-time buyers - and presents the solutions... The biggest weapon in a first-time buyer's arsenal is knowledge about the homebuying process and an awareness of what's going on in the property market. This is Money's mortgages and homes section is packed with advice for first-time buyers and carries the latest news and up-to-date features, which can help you achieve the dream of owning your first home. Here we round up tools, expert advice, latest stories tips to give you a helping hand. Top tools - Calculator: Mortgage affordability - Calculator: Rate rise impact - Calculator: Stamp duty for first-time buyers Latest on the property market - What next for house prices - What next for mortgage rates? Latest stories >> Parents warned on perils of helping children get on the housing ladder with guarantor mortgages Increasing numbers of first-time

Financial Mail and This is Money are keen to find out more about the booming buy-to-let market from investors or potential investors. Landlords snapped up 73,600 houses last year, the highest number since the Credit Crunch began, with places such as Bootle in Merseyside and Dundee in Scotland highlighted as areas where investors are making good profits. We want to know how investors view buy-to-let and whether they intend to add to their property portfolios in the year ahead. I

The number of properties that sold for more than £1million in 2012 reached its highest level since the height of the housing boom but was still 10 per cent down on its 2007 peak, a new report published today has revealed. Lloyds TSB said the number of million pound plus properties rose two per cent from 7,270 in 2011 to 7,397 in 2012. However, million pound sales in 2012 were still 10 per cent lower than at the height of the property boom six years ago when 8,233 properties above the million pound mark were sold. Prime location: Kensington and Chelsea continued to be the most expensive place in Britain to live with more properties selling for over £1million than anywhere else in the UK. The million pound sector outperformed the rest of the market with sales under £1million falling by 3 per cent last year. Sales of property worth £1million or more accounted for 1.1 per cent of all national sales, the bank added.   More... Learn the new house rules: Finally estate agents ob

The divide in house prices between the North and South of the country grew more pronounced in the past year as property price falls in some Northern regions contrasted with 10 per cent average gains in the capital.  Average property prices in London have surged higher over the last year with the cost of the average property in the capital now 9.6 per cent higher than twelve months ago at £374,568. That compares to an increase across the country was a whole of just 0.9 per cent, while some areas suffered hefty falls. House prices in the North East during the same 12 months plummeted 5.5 per cent. Boom and bust: homeowners in different parts of England and Wales have seen wild variations in the value of their homes. The North East is now the only region in England and Wales where potential home owners could buy an average property for less than £100,000, with the typical home ion the region costing £97,033.   More... Kensington and Chelsea still the most expensive place to li

More than a million homeowners with interest-only mortgages will not be able to clear their loan at the end of its term and will be force to pay more or sell up if they don't act, the City watchdog has warned. Around half of the 2.6million homeowners with interest-only mortgages due to mature in the next 30 years will have not have enough money to repay the full loan amount based on their current behaviour, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said today. Interest-only borrowers clear the interest that builds on the loan amount, but do not repay any of the capital. Borrowers are supposed to have a repayment vehicle set aside so that they can clear the whole debt, such as the endowment investment policies that were sold as part of endowment mortgages. The graph, produced by the FCA, shows that the number of interest-only mortgage due to mature will climb steeply in the years to come. However, the FCA analysis, the most comprehensive yet of the interest-only problem, suggests

Around 1.3 million families face losing their homes after taking out interest-only loans they have no hope of paying back. A probe unveiled by the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, revealed that many face an average shortfall of £72,000, while 250,000 homeowners owe nearly double this. Now banks and building societies must write annually to customers and lay out their options. BEING FORCE TO SELL WOULD HAVE BEEN HEART-BREAKING Tony and Pam Hughes are typical of the tens of thousands of elderly homeowners who face being forced to take on costly extra borrowing because they face huge shortfalls when their interest-only loans become due. Despite making interest payments for 30 years, the couple were £40,000 short of paying off their mortgage when it ended. But they were determined not to lose their home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. They took out a £35,000 interest-only mortgage when they bought their three-bedroom home in 1981.  Later, Mr Hughes, 72, a retired Royal Navy

Home repossessions rose at the start of this year, but the figure was still a lot lower than the same period last year, according to new data. The Council of Mortgage Lenders said the upswing followed a usual seasonal pattern, with 8,000 properties repossessed between January and March, 300 more than in the final quarter of 2012. But it was the second-lowest quarterly figure since the winter of 2007, and compared to 9,600 homes taken back between January and March a year ago, as record-low interest rates are helping repossessions remain near five-year lows. Mortgage worries:  CML director Paul Smee assured that 'as long as people take steps early to address them, most problems can be contained' Around 20 per cent of repossessions were on buy-to-let rather than owner-occupier properties. The repossession rate remained at 0.07 per cent - meaning fewer than 1 in 4,000 mortgaged properties were taken into possession by lenders. 'Mortgage arrears and repossession