Location, location, location. You've heard this time and time again, and it's never been truer than in real estate. The most important aspect of a home's value is the neighborhood it's in. What good is a beautiful, 2,500-square-foot restored Victorian if it's in a declining part of town?

• Use your "Home Wish List" to guide you. Which neighborhoods fit the criteria you set?
• Learn about 12 different kinds of neighborhoods and get tips on how to choose a neighborhood.
• As you look at neighborhoods, ask yourself these questions:
  • What's your job commute going to be like? Is the traffic heavy or light when you'll be on the road?
  • How's the school district? Even if you don't have kids, the quality of the school district affects your home's value, so it pays to find out.
  • How much crime is there?
  • How accessible are shopping centers, libraries, churches and other necessary destinations?
  • Do you prefer urban living or country living?
• If you're priced outside of the neighborhood you want to be in, look for the area's fixer-uppers. These houses will need work, but at least you'll have built-in property value. You can also find bargains if you're willing to go outside popular neighborhoods and scout up-and-coming ones.
• What house you get for your money differs from city to city. See what it's like to live in:
  • Cincinnati
  • Seattle
  • Washington, DC
  • Los Angeles
  • Denver
  • Omaha

The type of house you choose (single-family detached, condo, townhouse, duplex, co-op, etc.) depends on how much "common interest" you want to share with your neighbors. For example, condo residents share walls and common public areas such as a roof deck or courtyard. Residents don't have to maintain these areas, because a management company and the homeowners association (HOA) take care of them through monthly fees collected from residents.

• Each type of building and ownership comes with its own pros and cons, so choose one that fits your lifestyle.
• Decide which home features are most important to you. Ask yourself these questions:
  • Do you have pets? You may want to narrow the field to homes with big enough backyards.
  • Is your family growing? Make sure there are enough bedrooms for today and five years from now.
  • Be shrewd about storage space. Houses with cavernous rooms may be impressive to look at, but they sometimes compromise storage space to achieve that effect. Would you rather have a place to hang your crystal chandelier or a place to hang your coats?
  • Will any remodeling be required to make the home move-in ready for you? If so, are you handy with a hammer or would you prefer to find a home that needs little work?
• Find out what you need to know about HOAs.
• Get tips on buying a condo or loft.
• Another type of home is "manufactured," meaning it's constructed in sections in a factory and then shipped and assembled on the home's site. Also referred to as prefabricated or modular homes, they can range from your typical low-end mobile home to an ultraluxury prefab home to even a green home. Watch this video about prefab homes.
• You can also buy a newly constructed home. Many builders and developers are offering generous incentives to get rid of excess inventory. Learn how to buy in new construction.

Houses come in different architectural styles, from Victorian and modern to Cape Cod. Each has its own history, character and maintenance issues. FrontDoor's Home Styles Guide has videos and articles about 18 styles so you can find the right one.

• Take our quiz and find out your architecture personality.
• Upload photos of your own home and share your style with the FrontDoor community.

Most sellers work with real estate brokers who advertise their homes on the multiple listing service (MLS), a database that only real estate professionals can access. A broker who brings in a buyer typically splits the commission with the listing broker. The home for sale is listed with photos and details, such as the address, age, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, taxes, schools districts and more.

Buyers don't necessarily need the MLS to look for homes. Websites like FrontDoor.com partner with brokers to offer listings. Browse more than 1.5 million homes for sale now. Some sellers choose to go "for sale by owner" (FSBO), meaning they sell the home themselves. Many FSBOs advertise online and in newspapers.

Don't waste time and energy looking at every house for sale in the area you choose. Know what you're looking for before you go house hunting so you can target your search.

As a first-time buyer, consider hiring an exclusive buyer's agent who will protect your interests and help find homes that match your criteria. A good real estate agent can access market information not immediately available to the public, such as the current selling prices of comparable homes in the area (referred to as "comps") and homes that have just hit the MLS. Read about the pros and cons of hiring a buyer's agent.

• Buyers don't pay any money out of pocket for an agent. Rather, agent commissions are wrapped into the purchase price -- about 5 percent to 7 percent. As a result, sellers usually factor in agent commissions when they price their homes. The buyer's agent and the seller's agent split the total commission.
• A buyer's agent should:
  • Understand your needs;
  • Be familiar with the neighborhoods you like;
  • Have experience with homes in your price range;
  • Be well-connected (with selling agents, mortgage specialists, appraisers, home inspectors, insurance agents, etc.).
• Find out these things when interviewing agents:
  • Number of years in real estate;
  • Familiarity with your target neighborhoods;
  • Number of home sales last year;
  • Average selling price of homes sold last year;
  • Number of buyers working with;
  • Number of sellers working with.
• Ask family and friends for referrals or find an agent through the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. Read more tips on shopping for an agent.
• If you decide to go it alone, hire a real estate attorney to review the sales contract for peace of mind.

The average homebuyer will look at least 10 homes over an eight-week search before making an offer. After the first two, the homes start to look the same. To keep track of which house had the barking dogs next door and which house had the mountain views, keep a house-hunting journal.

• Bring a digital camera and begin each tour with a close-up of the house number to keep each series separate. Take detailed notes of unusual features, design elements and incentives (i.e., furniture and appliances included, or closing costs covered).
• Use FrontDoor's House Hunting and Open House Worksheet and the Savvy Woman's House Tour Feedback Worksheet.
• Read the Buyer's Field Guide to the Open House for tips on how to make the most of your Sunday house hunting.
• Look out for the Top 10 Red Flags for Homebuyers.
• Be critical and ask these questions:
  • What service providers (cable, Internet and telephone) are available in the area, and is the house wired for each?
  • How much do you pay yearly in city and/or county property taxes?
  • How much do utilities run each month? Does the house use gas or electric for the furnace, water heater and appliances?
  • How old are the major appliances, and are they included with the house?
  • Have there been any major repairs to the house, and if so, when were they completed? For example, how old is the roof? Has water damaged the basement or foundation?
  • Ever had problems with insects, spiders or rodents?
• Scrutinize. Look inside cabinets, inside closets, at baseboards, at window casings, at door frames, and where walls meet floors and ceilings. Look for any signs of damage, wear or poor construction.
• Find out what not to do while house hunting.
• As soon as you leave, rate the house on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.

First-time buyers should generally stay away from foreclosures. The transactions involve more complicated legal and financial issues. Still, if you stumble across a great deal, hire a buyer's agent or real estate attorney who specializes in foreclosures to walk you through the process.

Read our foreclosure buying guide. Learn how to buy a house in pre-foreclosure, at a foreclosure auction, or a bank-owned property.

After touring several homes, you'll probably know which ones you want to buy. Narrow them to the top three and tour them again. Look at each one with a more critical eye, find out why the seller is selling the home and see if any offers have been made.

Here's the hardest part. Once you decide which home to buy, crunch the numbers to figure out the home's market value. This will help you determine what to offer as a purchase price. Is the home's list price equal to how much it's really worth? How much should you pay for it? You can pay for a professional appraisal (which you'll have to get once you have a purchase contract), but if you end up not getting the house, you're out $250 to $400. These steps will help you get a pretty accurate estimate:

• Ask your agent to pull comps and do a comparative market analysis. You want to find out how much buyers were willing to pay for similar homes in the area. Look at homes sold within the past six months with the same square footage, construction and age. Some real estate websites offer "recently sold" information or you can research public records.
• Using comps, figure out the average cost per square foot for the area, and see if the home you want is in line with it. If it's higher, the house may be overpriced. Here's how:
  • Add up the square footage of three to five homes and divide by the number of homes to get the average square footage;
  • Add up the sold price of each home and divide by the number of homes to get the average price;
  • Divide the average price by the average square footage to get the average price per square foot;
  • Multiply that by the square footage of your home to get the price.
• Evaluate market trends, including:
  • Whether it's a buyer's or seller's market;
  • Level of competition among buyers in the area;
  • Status of interest rates and the overall lending climate;
  • Average number of days homes are sitting on the market;
  • Whether homes are selling for above or below the asking price (the list-price-to-sale-price ratio).
• Assess factors specific to the seller. A seller's need to sell gives you an advantage in the negotiating process.
  • Find out how much the seller paid for the house and what is left on the mortgage
  • Is the seller "motivated" or eager to get rid of the property? For example, is the seller relocating for a job or juggling two mortgages? For example, is the seller relocating for a job or juggling two mortgages?
  • How many days has the home been on the market?
• Read more about how to calculate market value.

Once you figure out the home's market value, you're ready to negotiate with the seller. If the seller has an agent, tell the agent you'd like to make an offer. If you have a buyer's agent, he or she will do this for you. The seller's agent will usually give you a preprinted contract form called the "purchase agreement." This document is the blueprint for the entire transaction. Read it carefully and outline everything you want in it. Know these terms first.

• The main parts of a purchase offer are:
  • Proposed offer price;
  • A breakdown of what is to be included in the sale (i.e. appliances, furniture, window treatments, fixtures);
  • Contingencies or terms that the sale is dependent on, i.e. secured financing, a satisfactory home inspection, the sale of the buyer's current home;
  • Provisions for disclosures of any defects that would affect the property value;
  • Seller concessions -- if the seller will be paying part or all of the buyer's closing costs; typically 3 percent or 6 percent of the price;
  • Earnest money amount -- a deposit toward the down payment, typically 1 percent of the price;
  • Proposed closing date;
  • Expiry date -- typically 24-48 hours after the offer is made.
• Learn the steps to filling out a purchase agreement and making an offer and the do's and don'ts when dealing with a seller. Make sure you have these contingencies.
• Consider making a lowball offer in a buyer's market.
• An offer is more than just a price. If you want to pay less than the asking price, propose terms that will make your offer more attractive to the seller, such as a speedy closing, suggesting an "all-cash" transaction or buying the house "as is".
• Consider hiring a real estate attorney to review your purchase offer. Fees range from $500 to $1,500.
• After you submit your offer, the seller reviews it and accepts, rejects or writes a counteroffer. Any change to an offer is considered a counteroffer. A purchase agreement is not binding until you and the seller accept and sign it.