Anybody who has ever passed through the hassle of buying a property will know that there will always be plenty of advice on offer from those trying to sell the financial products associated with owning a home. Una McCaffrey reports.

The most obvious one of these is the mortgage, with the growing competition within the Irish market injecting a greater intensity into banks and building societies' efforts to hawk their own particular homeloan product.

The result of this is that consumers, if they are not particularly careful, can find themselves trapped within a kind of competitive crossfire without a sense of how exactly to proceed.

The obvious solution in this situation is to turn to an independent broker who has dealings with as many mortgage providers as possible.

Consumers should listen to all options and then ask as many questions as they can about how they should proceed.

Even after this step has been taken, questions will remain, with truly neutral advice on mortgages sometimes hard to find, even within the broker network.

The good news for would-be borrowers is that help is now at hand in the form of an independent guide to mortgages from the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA).

By definition, things don't get much more independent in the world of financial services than this.

The booklet, officially launched yesterday, is aimed at providing homebuyers with the information and support they will need before choosing one mortgage offering over another.

It is written simply and is presented in a straightforward, logical structure designed to mirror the steps associated with selecting a loan.

The first section offers clear definitions of the various loan types on offer: annuity mortgages, endowment or interest-only loans and other structures, such as current account or chequebook mortgages.

In all cases, the benefits and potential disadvantages are clearly outlined, with IFSRA pointing out, for example, that endowment policies can sometimes fail to earn enough to pay off the mortgage, or that the interest due on annuity loans will be higher at the start of the mortgage.

The booklet then moves on to interest rates, comparing fixed to variable, and advises buyers to seek information on how high their repayments could rise after the usual initial first-year discount period expires.

Consumers are also told to imagine how affordable their mortgage would be if one spouse lost their job or if children arrived. The potential effects of a weakening economy are also highlighted.

IFSRA has also included a useful section on shopping around, which details the various sources of mortgages and offers advice on questions to ask at the selection stage.

Consumers are told to compare the APR on products rather than the more-readily quoted interest rate.

They are also told to be aware of the various ancillary costs associated with buying and selling, such as legal costs, stamp duty and survey fees.

At the end of the booklet, the regulator summarises much of the guidance in a simple table of mortgage "dos and don'ts". The "don'ts" column is probably the more useful of the two, with most consumers tending to find it easier to say yes to something than to refuse it altogether.

In this light, people are warned against getting too excited about their first mortgage offer and to look elsewhere before accepting anything.

They are also told to avoid being seduced by the "freebies" often offered by mortgage providers to help draw in new custom.

Finally, IFSRA advises those who do hold mortgages to make sure that they keep up-to-date with their repayments. The regulator warns that, even if a borrower's home is not repossessed in the event of a defaulted repayment, their credit rating will be adversely affected.

The booklet can be obtained from IFSRA at 1890 77 77 77 or consumerinfo@ifsra.ie.