Looking to buy a home or condo? Want to make it as easy and hassle free as possible? Want to help position yourself to be in a stronger position than other buyers?

There are two simple things people in the market to buy real estate can do to help make the whole process easier. The first is to get pre-qualified with a lender. Don't delay on this one! The lending market is undergoing dramatic changes, procrastinating can cost you the home of your dreams.

Many buyers start thinking, start looking, and when they feel that they're near to making a decision to purchase their home, then they contact a lender. This is ass-backwards – especially for first-time  buyers. Get pre-qualified first.

Pre-qualification gives the buyer the information they need about what they can afford. It takes the guess work and wishing out of the equation. In other words, it brings the whole process of purchasing a home into CPR – concrete physical reality – where it needs to be.

Getting pre-qualified, means having the ability to make a firm offer when finding the right home.

The other thing buyers can do to make finding a home a smoother ride is highlighted in this post from Elizabeth Weintraub:

How MLS Works – My neighbor, across the street, told me I did not need to send her MLS listings because she could access them online. For a moment, I wondered if maybe she was a licensed as a real estate agent or maybe as an appraiser. But no, turns out she thought she could find online listings through the Sacramento Bee.

Getting on an MLS Listing Alert service will save a buyer many hours of time, lots of confusion, and will help provide the opportunity to get there first with their offer. Listing Alerts are individual emails directly from the MLS datbase that are sent when new listings come on the market matching a buyer's criteria. Why spend hours searching through Craigslist or other sites. Each Listing Alert email has a link allowing the buyer to halt the process with a single click.

These are the two pieces of advice we constantly stress to buyers.