First time home buyers are often concerned, overwhelmed, and fearful in turn. Knowing what to expect during the process of buying, and how to make good decision will go a long way to giving peace of mind to the potential First Timer!

• Commit to the decision of Home Buying

• Talk to a lender and understand the financial side of the deal

• Make a list of wants and needs, and discuss this with your agent

• Pick a Rating scale for homes

• Make informed decisions by asking questions

If you have decided to purchase a home for the first time, be sure that you understand the pros and cons of home ownership vs. renting. Be comfortable with the idea of moving ahead and purchasing a home. Sit down with a good agent if you have concerns or questions, so that you are committed to the buying process at the start.

Buying a home is a big financial decision. Talking to a lender should help you feel more comfortable with the money side of home buying. Remember that the lender works for you! Find someone that will work with you and take the time to explain terms and concepts that may be unfamiliar.

Take a critical look at your housing needs and decide what features are needs and want are merely wants. Once you know your budget from the lender, you may have to revise your home needs based on what you can get in your price range. Talk to your agent to see how they can work with your needs and wants, and if you can create a home you really want out of one that meets your needs only partially.

Serious Buyers typically do not look for homes for months on end. Depending on market conditions, there may only be a few homes that meet your needs, or there may be several hundred. Between looking at houses online, and your agent previewing homes for you, it shouldn't take more than a couple weeks to find a home, typically.

It's usually okay to take along a digital camera and snap photos of the houses you see. Take a picture of the outside, or of the home number, so that you can later remember which pictures go with which house. Most people cannot remember houses in any detail after viewing more than about 4 or 5 in a single day.

Once you have seen a house, immediately assign it a value, say from 1 to 10, where 10 is the perfect house. By rating each home immediately after viewing, you can eliminate those choices more easily that are not appropriate, when the house is still fresh in your mind.

With the rating scale, it's easy to narrow down your top choices of homes. Pick the top two or three, and revisit those homes to make a final decision.

The best way to make informed decisions is to ask a lot of questions! Never be scared to ask what you might think is stupid. This is your big decision and you should feel comfortable with it. In Arizona, a Buyer gets an inspection period to have the condition of the property checked, and to answer any lingering questions about that property. If something is important to you, make sure you find out the answer before it's too late to back out of a contract.