Growing up, many people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. Honestly I have always been a little mature for my age, and I would usually respond, much to the laughter of the adults asking me, “I want to own a home and a dog.” The reason I bring this up is to just reiterate how owning real estate is part of the American dream. For thousands of years in England, the great majority of the population could not own property and were subservient to those who could own homes. So when the time comes when an American is thinking of buying a home, there are five easy steps to the complicated process.

The very first thing any home buyer should do is hire a realtor. A realtor is experienced and skilled in the entire process of buying a home. They can give advice on anything from helping get the priorities ironed out on what the family wants to the financing, the negotiations, the closing. A realtor is going to have first hand experience with inspectors, bankers, lawyers, sellers, neighborhoods, communities, and all sort of other aspects of homes and real estate. On top of all their expertise, a realtor has access to an MLS or multiple listing service and can send listings directly to their clients, realtors can go to a home and tour it before the client does, or even tour it for a client. The realtor will also usually be willing to drive people around and therefore, the buyer can use realtor gas to find a home.

The second thing a new person in the market should do is find out exactly what it is that they want and to find that home. This might be self explanatory but without proper parameters in place, it is hard to find a new home and then even harder is to act on the home that is perfect. Every buyer has some feeling that there is a better neighborhood, a better home, a better situation out there, but the truth is, if the buyer gets out into the neighborhoods and discovers a home with the pre set conditions that they would like, then they should make an offer on the home.

After the home is found, a buyer needs to get a loan. Less than ten percent of homes bought in America are bought without a loan, and almost none of those homes are from first time buyers. Using a mortgage broker could be wise as they are sometimes able to find better deals on a loan or a loan that the borrower will qualify for. There are several things a buyer can do to prepare to get a loan like boost their credit, get promotions at work, save up for a down payment, pay down their debts, etc.

Once the loan is in place or the buyer has pre-approval to buy a home they should negotiate the offer. The negotiations are a great time to fully listen to the realtor. A realtor will have a lot of experience getting a home to close and will wisely steer the negotiations in the right directions. Giving the right offer according to the market, if the market is a buyers market, the offer can be a little under the listing price and vice versa for a sellers market.

Author Bio: Juhlin Youlien writes about Fountain Hills AZ homes for sale and Paradise Valley AZ homes for sale and other real estate like Mesa AZ homes for sale and Scottsdale