We like ... long notice periods

Mortgages definitely aren't impulse purchases and most people take time to investigate mortgages personally or go through a broker.

Both of these processes can be quite time consuming.

So there is nothing worse than finding your perfect mortgage in a best buys table or arranging to meet your broker and then discovering by the time you get the forms into the lender, the loan has been pulled and replaced by a higher one. You might then have to start all over again.

Fortunately many lenders give healthy notice periods,

Portman, for instance, normally gives at least a week and, if you are going through a broker, sometimes longer to ensure that you get the rate you were after.

· Jonathan Cornell is Technical Director, Hamptons, tel 020-7220 1000.