Now that you’re ready to venture into the world of homeownership, whether it be for the first of fifth time, here are a few tips to help make the home buying process easier:

Shop for a mortgage before you shop for a home – Obtaining home financing is much easier today than in the past. However, most real estate professionals recommend that you obtain a credit pre-approval before you begin looking for a home. Once your credit is pre-approved, the lender will provide you with a credit pre-approval confirmation. Then you will know the maximum mortgage amount you may be able to obtain so you’ll shop in the right price range.

Inspect several houses before making an offer – As a homebuyer, this will make you a confident expert on the features, drawbacks, prices and typical sales terms in the neighborhood where you want to buy. Open houses are the best time to quickly inspect many houses. Pick up all sales information so you can read it later. Then, when you find the right home, you can compare it with the others you’ve inspected.

Ask your Realtor to prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA) – The best way to figure out how much to offer for a particular home is to ask for a CMA. This will show you recent sales prices of comparable neighborhood homes and the asking price of nearby homes. The CMA can be shown to the seller when you make your offer. This may justify and show the seller why your offer is reasonable.

Insist that the seller disclose all defects in writing – This disclosure form should be easily available to prospective buyers so they can consider any defects when making their purchase offer.

Include home finance and professional inspection contingencies in your purchase offer – Although your credit may have been pre-approved for a home mortgage, be sure your purchase offer is contingent upon both the buyer and home qualifying for a mortgage. It’s also wise to make it contingent on a professional inspection. If the inspection reveals serious problems, you can then cancel your offer and get your earnest money deposit refunded.