Before You Buy Your First Home - Tips For a First-time Home Buyer

When first realizing that you would like (or can afford) to own your own home, nothing beats the excitement of the racing mind. Where will we live? Will we have a big back yard for kids/dogs/plants? Will we have a swimming pool and an entertainment area where all our friends and family can gather to socialize and watch rugby and enjoy our beautiful home?

This is the excitement part of home hunting. The less excitement part is that there are so many pitfalls, long waiting lists for loan approvals, searching for the right home and of course, deals that don't go down. Here are some tips for first-time homebuyers to make their search and journey to ownership of a new home a little less complicated.

1. Make the decision to buy/rent a home. If you are not certain whether you would like to buy or rent a home, there is no point in searching. You would have to check your credit status, your income and expenditure and your general lifestyle, to know if you will be able to afford to buy a home. Once you have checked all of this, and you know you want to, and can own a home, you are on the right track.

2. Do your homework. It is best to start a home search on the Internet. You can search through hundreds of online listings, view houses and neighborhoods and view reviews of possible estate agents in your area. It is just as important to know what you will settle for and what you won't, as it is to know what you can afford and what you can't. It is also a good idea to speak to different estate agents, their past clients and people in the industry to make sure you steer clear of sharks in the home-buying industry.

3. Rome wasn't built in a day. It is very important to be focused on the day of home viewing. You should take a digital camera as well as a note pad and even a voice recorder if possible, along on the day of home viewing. Make notes of every house - it's pro's and cons, possible renovation needed, neighborhood information and the like. Take pictures of the different houses and make different folders for each house to make sure you file them correctly. It is of the utmost importance that you don't view too many houses on one day. Rather spread it out over two or three days. If you view more than five or six homes on a day, not only will you forget the details of each house, but also you will become tired and exhausted and not pay attention to faults and flaws.

4. Attention to detail. This is probably the most important tip of all. It is wise to make a checklist of all the things you do/don't want in a home. Pay attention to detail in every aspect when you are house hunting. Look at the surroundings, the neighborhood, the garden, the windows, the security and the possible faults and flaws. Include a section where you can rate each home immediately after you leave, so that all the information is still fresh in your mind.

5. Repetition. After sifting through all the different homes, notes and photographs, view the top choices a second time, and even a third time if it's hard to make up your mind. Much like employers have to evaluate and interview possible employees two to three times before making a decision, you have to repeat your visits to your top choices before making the final decision.

6. Make sure you feel comfortable. Never, ever, let an estate agent steer you into buying a particular home. If you are not happy or comfortable with a particular house, no matter what other people (including the estate agent) tell you, walk away from the deal. You are going to be living there and you are going to be paying for it. And houses generally don't come cheap, so make sure it's the right place for YOU.