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So you want to buy a home? Statistics show that more and more young single people are buying homes. With mortgage rates at an all time low, more programs to assist first time homebuyers, and lots of homes on the market to choose from; it doesn't make sense to keep paying rent. So, what should your first move be on the path to becoming a homeowner?

How Much Home Can You Afford? The first step in the home-buying process is to determine how much home you can afford. You do this by contacting your bank, a mortgage lender, or looking online for a pre-approval. A pre-approval is a simple calculation that tells you the amount you'll be able to finance through a loan and what your monthly payment will be.

Why Should You Obtain a Pre-approval? There are three important reasons to obtain a pre-approval.

1. Pre-approval will determine the maximum you can spend on a house before you shop, so you know what price range to target. Many shoppers aim too high, bidding on a home that they later learn is beyond their means because of unforeseen debts or other financial factors, which leads to disappoint in your search for the perfect home.

2. If helps your real estate agent be more efficient. By knowing what your financial parameters are, your agent can spend more time looking for houses that "fit" and less time pursuing dead ends.

3. When it comes time to write an offer, you will strengthen your bargaining position if you have that pre-approval. Your offer will stand out in a case of multiple offers for the same house. Look at it from the seller's perspective. If you had two offers on the table for your house, one from a fully pre-qualified buyer and the other from an "I'll get around to that soon" buyer--to which offer would you devote the most attention?

It is important to remember that the amount of mortgage you will qualify for is the maximum. It is the amount that the lender feels you can afford, but it is not necessarily the amount that you want to pay. It sometimes is advantageous to be conservative here. Too many buyers simply rush off to the maximum level and some find themselves strapped when it comes time to purchase necessary items (such as draperies, additional furniture, new appliances and lawn and garden tools, for example) or when they forget to factor in increases in monthly expenses (for example utilities, maintenance and repair costs).

A mortgage pre-approval is generally good for 60-90 days, after which the lender may require an update to the credit report and/or other exhibits within your application file. Further, although the lender has issued a credit decision in advance, nearly always it will reconfirm the data that led to the initial decision. If any part of your financial picture changes - be it credit, income, or asset related - it is critical to alert the lender of these changes so that your pre-approval can be reissued and/or adjusted.