Nearly everyone has a vision of their own dream home. A place that their thoughts can venture into. Where they can pick their own rooms, with their perfect paint and furniture. A house with a yard as green as possible and a garden that blooms colorfully at the perfect times of the year. Then, to put the finishing touches on it, a beautiful fence that encircles the whole property.

But, for a lot of people, a dream home remains just that, a dream. Owning their own perfect home never seems to become a reality.

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself though, can I own my own dream home? Maybe it is a dream that is not to far off.

I have developed a list of popular questions, answers and steps to follow on how someone should shop for a home, and how to make it a smooth, successful accomplishment.

How do you know if you're ready to buy a home?

There are a few questions you need to ask yourself before considering the possibility of buying your first home, or improving into a better one.

First, you need to make sure you have a steady source of income, and you have been with your employer for two to three years.

Credit plays a huge part in getting accepted for any loans. So, make sure you keep good record of paying your bills, and you have no outstanding long-term debts.

You should also check to see if you have any money saved up for a possible down payment. Also, make sure you will be able to afford another kind of monthly payment,

The process of buying a home begins by just thinking of your situation. Are you ready to buy a a home? How much space will you need, and what areas of town do you like?

After coming to an understanding with the specs of your home, start searching through ideal neighborhoods and looking through advertisements.

A real estate agent can come in very helpful with your house hunting. Find a good agent in the local area in which you are shopping, and develop a good relationship with him. You can come to discover a real estate agent can make your house hunting a lot easier.

An average buyer will look a about fifteen houses before making their decision. Make sure when walking through houses of your interest you take good photographs of the house, yard, and rooms, and keep an eye out for the electrical spots of the house. Also, check to see if any repairs would be needed, along with making sure the house is structurally sound.

Most loans require an inspection of the house before it is bought. This is good for the buyer, because if the house if found to have problems, you can be notified of them, and the price can be renegotiated. It might also not be a bad idea to be at the house when the inspection occurs.

When you find the house you become set on, the real estate agent will assist in determining an offer. This will include a complete legal description of the property, amount of earnest money, down payment, length of time offer is valid, and the details of the deal. A sale commitment depends on negotiating a satisfactory contract with the seller and the buyer.

Earnest money is the money that must be set aside to demonstrate the buyer's seriousness about buying a home. Usually this is between one and five percent of the purchase price.

So the most important part pops up, loans.

There are all sorts of different loan programs buyers can be accepted for. Fixed rate mortgages come in fifteen and thirty year programs. The advantages to these loans can be the fact they the interest rate doesn't change so they are predictable.

But, then there are adjustable rate mortgages, or ARMs. These payments increase or decrease on a regular schedule with changes to the interest rates. But, the increases usually have some form of limit.

A balloon mortgage is a type if ARM that offers very low interest rae for an initial period, (5,7, or 10 years), when time elapses, the balance is due, or you can refinance.

There is also an ARM called a two-step mortgage. This loan only changes the interest rate once, then it remains the same for the life of the loan.

The advantages to ARMs are that they generally offer lower initial interest rates, which means a usually lower house payment.

A loan officer will usually tell you the information on what you need to secure a loan as a buyer. But, here are the things they usually look and ask for; past stubs for the past two to three months, W-2 forms for the past two years, recent bank statements, tax returns for the past two years, proof of any other income, and a sales contract.

Remember, most all banks and loan companies will pre-qualify you as a buyer to see how much you can afford.

During the lending process, it is important that you make sure to read everything before you sign, don't overstate your income, don't overstate your assets, and accurately report your debts. Make sure you also are truthful about your credit history. A lender can not help you get into a home if you give false information.

Then, from there you just go along for the ride. After closing is through, you can start to enjoy the process in moving into your new home.

Maybe now, you have a brief understanding of how the system of buying a home works.

Now seems to be a good time to start looking for your home too. Interest rates are ranging now from five and a half percent up to about seven and a half percent.

Susan McCloud of MortgageFirst said, "It is an excellent time to purchase a home. The rates are almost better then ever."

Tom Baxter, a realtor from Baxter Real Estate, also stated, "This is a real good time to buy a home. There is a lot of property out there, and really good interest rates."

So if you are dreaming of your perfect home, or just eager to get into some place new, give a local real estate agent, bank, or loan company a call, and find out what is out there and available for you.

Also, if you would like more information on purchasing a home you can visit www.hud.gov or www.kentuckyhousing.org.

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