Nobody wants a stressful home buying experience, though purchasing or selling a home is often rated as one of the most stressful times in a person’s life.

There are just so many moving parts and it’s something that, unless you are an investor or a serial mover, you don’t do very often.

Here are a few tips courtesy of *BreakthroughBroker.com to make the home buying experience a little less stressful and a more enjoyable experience.

1. Lay The Groundwork.  Once you’ve made the decision it’s time to purchase a home, get your finances in order. Collect financial documents such as bank statements, tax returns, and pay stubs early on and refrain from making big purchases — no new cars, furniture suites, or expensive electronics — until you have met with a mortgage professional and gotten their advice. Taking on more monthly payments or reducing your cash on hand will affect your debt-to-income ratio.  Create a budget and start saving for a down payment, closing expenses, moving expenses, etc. as early as possible. This will make your loan application process a much easier one.
2. Work With a Realtor®.  An experienced Realtor® will guide you through every step of the real estate transaction and ensure you know what’s happening at all times. In most cases, the seller will pay your agent’s commission, meaning you get the benefits of working with an agent without the cost.  Buying a home in today’s seller’s market can be tricky, and having someone who can guide you through inspections and repair requests, submitting a competitive bid in a multiple offer situation, and connecting you to their sphere of real estate related professionals is crucial to a smooth experience.
3. Communicate Effectively.  Ask questions. Lots of them. Make spreadsheets if that’s your thing. If something confuses you about the process, if you feel like you’re getting a raw deal, or if something just doesn’t seem right, remember, it’s your money and your potential home on the line.  So ask questions of your agent, your lender, your inspector, your attorney, and any other professional you employ to help you have a successful outcome in the purchase of your new home.
4. Be Flexible.  Understand that unless you have unlimited resources and a custom builder, there is not a perfect home out there. It simply does not exist. However, there are plenty of amazing, fabulous, and (insert your favorite adjective here) available homes that will meet most, if not all, of your needs.  Remember, you can always paint, change the carpets, upgrade the kitchen, after you move in.  And depending on where you are in life, this may not be your final home.  Aside from your financial limits or resources, almost everything else is beyond your control, so go with the flow.  It’ll make your life a lot more enjoyable.
5. Be Patient, Persistent, and Decisive.  This is a balancing act for buyers, especially in today’s market. Don’t jump on the first house you see because you are afraid you won’t find a home, unless that house is the one that you want to make your home.  Then you should be decisive and act before someone else does. You may not always get the home you bid on, especially in a multiple offer situation, but that doesn’t mean that an even better home for you is not just around the corner.

At the end of the day, buying a home is a big deal, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a big headache, too.