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STEP 1 - DEFINE NEEDS FOR YOUR NEW HOME

Congratulations on your decision to purchase a new home! Your first step toward buying your new home will be to analyze your needs. Your real estate agent can help you determine exactly what you want your new home to look like and how it should function for you and your family.

First, write down why you are looking for a new home. For example, are you currently renting and would like to begin building equity? Maybe you recently married and have outgrown your current residence. Or, maybe you received promotion that requires you to move to a new city. These factors will all have a bearing on how you approach your home search.

Second, establish a time frame for buying your home. Depending on your reasons for wanting a new property and the current state of the market in the area you are looking to buy, you should be able to come up with a rough guideline.

Finally, you probably have a mental picture of what your dream house looks like. Turn these ideas into two lists: one should describe your dream home and the other should list features that are absolute must haves. In a perfect world, your new home would fulfill both lists 100 percent, but it is more likely the two lists will turn into a list of priorities, as you get clearer about what you want and what is available.

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STEP 2 - PRE-APPROVAL VS. PRE-QUALIFICATION

Now that you know what you want in a home, you need to find out what you can afford. There are two ways to go about this: prequalification or pre-approval for a loan. Either way, you can contact your agent about choosing a mortgage company. Prequalification is the simpler of the two processes. It can even be done online or over the phone. When you contact a mortgage company, they will ask you for some basic information about your finances ? how much money you earn, your debt load, etc. They will take this information and give you a rough estimate of how much of a loan you might qualify for.

Pre-approval is more a...