How to Buy a Home
Owning a home is a very important step in most people's lives. It's a goal that can easily be reached if you work hard and take the right steps. After years of work and saving, finally purchasing your first home is a reward in and of itself, however its a reward that keeps giving and might put you and your family on the path to financial security.

[edit] StepsGet your credit in order. Find out your credit score rating at http://www.experian.com/. Know what your finance report says about you before applying for a loan. If it is as not as cherry as you would hope work on cleaning it up, and improving your score since this is what a mortgage loan is largely based on.
Find the right loan and lender. You will need to research whether using a broker (who can really help if you have bad or so/so credit), or going directly to a bank or possible friend or family for a loan is the best route for you.
Determine your budget. Often in this day and age, lenders will give you much more money than you realistically can pay on a monthly income. Take the time to realistically sit down and make a budget of what you think mortgage, taxes, and the rest of the expenses will cost then raise this by 30%, and this should be your true budget. Before you start thinking, "I can have this house if I eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a year", be realistic!
Identify property to buy. With your list of needs and wants have your agent prepare a list of available properties in the areas you would like to search in. Make sure you indicate which neighborhoods interest you the most and which interest you the least. If you need help finding schools, shopping, demographics, entertainment and the like in a particular neighborhood, ask your realtor to prepare a demographic report for the area - it will help you determine where the closest supermarket is, the movie theater, schools, businesses and even personal demographics of the residents. (Do you want to be surrounded by Volvo Station Wagons or Harley Davidsons)
Schedule time to tour these properties you've already identified. Don't take a quick look and move on to the next one. Your agent should point out special features or items that might need attention. Take a moment to imagine yourself living in this home. Ask yourself, what would it be like, am I comfortable here, can I see myself living here for a long time? Try to ignore fixtures or cosmetic things that can be easily changed. Buyers walk away from a property because it was poorly decorated. Picture the home with your furniture, family photos, momentos, etc. These are the things that make your house, a home, not the previous owner's Elvis themed bathroom.
Be reasonable with your time on your tour - You should plan to see no more than 3 or four homes in a day. Give yourself time to absorb your observations a decide whether this property might be right for you.
Be ready to write an offer. Your agent will prepare all the paperwork and go over the terms with you. And for goodness sake, if you have a question, ASK!!! Don't sign an offer and then ask, "what does that mean?". Now, lets step back just a tad - If you're looking to buy in an area that has a hot real estate market - don't think too long about writing an offer - You're agent will be able to advise you if there are likely other bids for the property. If you find a home that you want, make an offer and put an offer on the one next door too.
Be prepared to submit an "earnest money" deposit. This indicates that your are serious about buying a property, and a are ready, willing, & able to go through with the transaction. The deposit generally is held by your agent and isn't placed into escrow until the offer is accepted. (so you wont be writing checks all over town)
After your offer is presented to the seller, your agent will review with you the response. There are three possibilities; 1.) Acceptance 2.) Counter Offer 3.) Rejection. Once, the offer is accepted, its time to open escrow. The Escrow company will receive, hold and distribute all monies involved in the transaction. After escrow account is opened and funded, now begins your contingency period.
The contingency period is the time allowed by your purchase agreement to obtain financing, perform inspections, and approve of various reports and disclosures. This is also the time to ask for credit to repair that leaky roof the inspector found.
Home owner's insurance: Your agent should coordinate with your insurance representative to make sure that you are fully covered when escrow closes.
Closing time... When all the conditions of the purchase agreement are met, you will sign your loan documents and closing papers - deposit the balance of your down payment, and closing costs and your lender will deposit the balance of the purchase price. Finally the deed will be recorded with the County Recorder's office and you will be handed the keys to your new home. CONGRATULATIONS! You just became a homeowner.