Mortgage Newbie

Me and hubby are both mortgage newbie. With our plan to get our own place we need to study the ins and outs of the mortgage process. Our friend who also mortgages a property just recently shared to us their experience. Basically how mortgage works is a lender will loan an amount to the property buyer and the buyer will repay the lender thru monthly payments. What we are looking at are cheap mortgages that will help us first time property buyer. I know that the rate we can get will also depend on our credit and financial capabilities. But I was told that in order for us to get a low monthly payment we have to at least pay 20% of the total amount of the property. Also we have to settle for a fixed-rate mortgage to lock our payments and not affected by the fluctuations in the real estate market rates. Everything is so confusing to me. I am glad I found this very informational website that will help us to guide through and better understand mortgage process. They have tons of information for first time buyers like us. Now I have better understanding of what are the different types of mortgage and guides in obtaining one.