The purchase of a home is the largest investment you will make and is worth researching to educate yourself, which will help you make an more informed decision.

1) When looking for your first home drive the neighborhood that you are considering both at night and in the day time. Not all neighborhoods are created equal!

2) Some neighborhoods have older homes versus newer homes. Do you want a new home that should require no repairs, but may need you to landscape and pave the driveway or do you want an older home that has a paved drive, fences and landscaping in place but may need maintenance work done like a new roof or windows?

3) If you choose not to use a realtor who could provide you with information on the neighborhood, but would rather buy privately, you should drive the neighborhood, particularly on garbage day. If you want to know if there are young families with young children in the neighborhood, observing the garbage they throw out can tell you a lot. Look for diaper boxes or formula cans for example.

4) Talk to store owners and people who may be at the park as well, to get a good feel for the area. Go into local open houses to get an idea of the value in the area. You can also ask the realtors at the open house how the value of the homes in the area has kept pace to other areas you may be considering. Realtors are a wealth of information.

5) If there are empty lots in the area call the city to find out what is going onto those lots.
Is there an airport, group home, school, dump, or railway nearby that could provide more noise that you may want.

6) Is the home on a major street with a lot of cars? If you have young children this may not be the best location.

7) Are the yards nicely manicured with green grass or are the lawns unkept and brown? How much clutter is there on the properties? Are there a large number of cars in the driveway, indicating the home may be overpopulated with people.

8) Once you choose your neighborhood, go to your bank to find out how much you can qualify for. This should be the first step in looking for a new home to buy. In fact you may want to do this even before checking out an area. It is silly to look at a home worth $600K, when you can only afford $300K.

9) The bank will look at your income, how long you are on the job, your debt load, your credit rating, the monthly costs of the mortgage and the fixed carrying costs such as taxes, utilities, maintenance, insurance and repairs, etc. They can give you a realistic breakdown of the costs you can expect to pay. A good mortgage broker or bank mortgage rep is worth their weight in gold.

10) Lastly get yourself a good real estate lawyer who specializes in real estate law. You need to protect yourself! A lawyer may suggest that you make the offer conditional on inspection and mortgage approval. He can advise you regarding the agreement and even draw it up for you if you do not wish to use a realtor. A realtor can do all of this for you as well. If you use a realtor, it is good to get legal advice before presenting the offer or make it conditional on lawyers approval. All the best on your search.