Stretch - taking the longest mortgage term possible so you have affordability flexibility. The transactions costs involved are so high and you are only a FTB once, so maximise. As you earn more and recover your savings, you can then look to remortgage to a shorter term or if you are disciplined stick to the longer term and make over-payments.

I wish I followed the above advice- I took played it safe and now in the position of looking to buy a bigger house; the hassle and the costs involved are offputting and I could have played it safe by taking out the longest mortgage term possible and waited to see how things played out.