First time buyers -when to apply for mortgage?

Hi everyone,

We're looking at buying our first property. We have been saving for years and now have enough to put down a good sized deposit. However, we're now wondering if we should apply for a mortgage before we start looking or when we actually know what property we want to buy.

Also wondering if we should employ a mortgage broker. Have read Martin's article on Mortgage brokers and was wondering if anyone could report good or bad experiences relative to using/not using a broker.

Many thanks,
Zipp