With the shape of the housing market today, mortgage loans are harder to get and home values are continuing to fall. The

Before buying a house always have a professional come and look it over. They will be able to check for any problems that you might not notice, such as foundation issues, siding or wall cracks, basement leaks, or hazardous materials like asbestos. This will save you a lot of money in the long run.

If you are purchasing a rental property with tenants, check their lease length and history. It is not unheard of for a person desperate to unload a property to find or hire short term renters to entice a buyer. Once the home is sold, you could be left scrambling to find new tenants.

In order to buy a new home wisely, you should carefully inspect the property you wish to purchase. If you notice any problems, make note of them and discuss them with the seller. The more things you can get them to fix prior to the sale, the better. This will add value to the home and save you from costly repairs down the road.

Home buyers always need to consider how many bathrooms they need. The ideal is to have a bathroom for each bedroom plus a half bathroom near the living room for the guests. When the possibilities don't support the ideal floor plan, try to buy a house with at least two and a half bathrooms: one for the master bedroom, one for the other bedrooms and the half for the guests.

One important tip when it comes to real estate is to inspect the entire neighborhood and make sure it lives up to your expectations for your own home. This is important because it may just be the reason why what appears to be your dream house is so affordable. If you have a beautiful home in a not-so-nice neighborhood your resale value and overall happiness may suffer.

Hire an appraiser with years of experience. They should be certified, and should not be recommended by your Realtor. The more experience the appraiser has, the better they will be able to judge the home you are interested in, the market, and the areas surrounding the home. A Realtor should not recommend your appraiser, because there may be conflicts arising from such a situation.

Consider buying that vacation home you've always wanted during a slump in the real estate market. Some of the lowest property prices in the country during a slump are in destination markets. Interest rates may also be lower for buyers in those markets, in an attempt to entice new buyers into the area.

Stash away everything you can to save towards your new home. Get a second job on the weekend or offer to do odd jobs for family and friends. Anything that you can save will make for an easier time getting financed, as well as, having a savings account in place to do repairs or remodeling, once you buy that house.

When you are going to buy a home, make sure you have money for the bills that come along with it. Many people do not take bills into consideration when making an offer on a home and they end up broke each month. Make a list of how much each bill is expected to cost you.

Buy low and sell high. This tip of money making in general is also very relevant to real estate. With the dip in the national real estate market, now is a good time to buy low. Plan on holding on to your investment for at least a few years so that you can cash in on that "sell high" portion of the equation.

Assistance is exactly what you need when purchasing real estate and you can't always trust that an agent is going to give it to you. Use what you've learned here to ensure that you're always coming out ahead in any real estate deal you make. Buying real estate can be tricky, but it doesn't have to be if you use the tips above.