KNOW THE MARKET BEFORE MAKING AN OFFER. What should you offer when you bid on a home? Is the seller's asking price too high, or does it represent a fair price. If you fail to research the market in order to understand what comparable homes are selling for, making your offer would be like bidding blind. Without this knowledge of market value, you could easily bid too much, or fail to make a competitive offer at all on an excellent value.

  GET A GOOD TITLE SEARCH.  Be certain to very early on in the negotiation that you will own your new home free and clear by having a title search completed. The last thing you want to discover when you're near the end of a transaction is that there are encumbrances on the property such as tax liens, undisclosed owners, easements, leases or the like.

  INSPECT, INSPECT, INSPECT.  Don't expect every seller to mention every physical detail that will need to be attended to. Both you and the seller are out to maximize your investment.  Ensure that you conduct a thorough inspection of the home early in the process. Consider hiring an independent inspector to objectively view the home inside and out, and make the final contract contingent upon this inspector's report. This inspector should be able to give you a report of any item that needs to be fixed with associated, approximate cost.

  KNOW THE EXACT CLOSING COSTS IN ADVANCE.  Identify and uncover all costs - large and small - far enough ahead of time. When a transaction closes, you will sometimes find fees for this or that sneaking through after the sub-total fees such as loan disbursement charges, underwriting fees etc. Understand these in advance by having your lender project total charges for you in writing.

  BEFORE LOOKING AT ANY PROPERTY CALL FIRST. A knowledgeable buyer should remember the following regarding new home sales: When visiting you should tell the sales people that you are being represented by a Buyers Agent when looking at New Construction, Model Homes and Open Houses. Never give your name, address, phone number or sign a register. Note: When you give your name verbally or sign a register you may have given up your rights for buyer representation. Effectively this may eliminate you from having your own agent who will represent you and help you buy that property at your price