For many first time home buyers, a house is more than a home, it is a long term financial investment therefore caution must be taken when buying a home. When buying a home, one must study the market, ask questions, hire professionals and most of all stay focused when evaluating the options that may be available. While some mistakes that are made may be innocent, the consequences may be dire and will sometimes last a lifetime.

Here are some true ways you can avoid making mistakes when buying a home;

Choosing the right agent

Make sure you interview your agent asks hard questions and try to figure out the agent's hidden answers and possible agendas. Make sure you also look at the experience of the agent you are looking to hire. It is always advisable to buy a home from a registered real estate agent.

Plan your Savings

A home is one of the largest and most expensive item that will be purchased. Make sure you budget you money - Review your finances to fit into the required down-payment, the mortgage closing costs and any other costs that will be necessary to completing the process of home ownership.

Always seek Professional Advice

Since buying a home can be a complex and very engaging process, you need to engage experts in the field that you can trust as they will be the ones to provide you with the right guidance.

You also need to make sure the property you are about to invest in is also valued to establish the actual value of the house.

Survey the Neighborhood

There are three most important words in real estate: location, location, location, is a joke to you. Make sure you drive through the neighborhood, ask questions, talk to the 'soon to be' neighbors / people in the area to learn more about the environment you are about to invest in

Plan your Financial Future

Now that you've finally taken that leap, written an offer that was accepted by the seller, you may still in the buying mode. While waiting for loan funding, you may decide it's a good idea to buy a new car to match that new home. Better yet, you may as well buy new living room furniture; oh, and a big screen TV would fit on the wall over the fireplace like a glove. In fact, there's a sale on washer and dryers, and you've always wanted a new washer. You can pull out all your equity and use this new-found money to buy all those necessities you've been denying yourself and your family. Well DON'T. Unless you had planned to have all these items and you had planned for them from the start, taking slow steps will eventually get you to where you need to be. More debt will only affect the funding of a mortgage.