STEP 1 - DEFINING YOUR NEEDS

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.

10. You're tired of throwing money away on rent and paying someone else's mortgage.

9. The property tax and mortgage interest deductions would be welcomed.

8. You want a vested interest in your neighborhood.

7. It's a 95 degree Florida summer day and your landlord has yet to fix your air conditioner.

6. You know every intimate detail of your neighbor's life through the ongoing drama that unfolds every night just beyond that paper-thin wall.

5. You're ready to provide yourself and your family with some stability.

4. There's only one bathroom to the five people in your current residence.

3. NO MORE BEIGE! You're ready to paint the walls!

2. No more searching for quarters under the car seats when you get to the laundromat.

1. Next time you say, "I'm going home" you want to mean it.