1) Sign an Exclusive Buyers Agent agreement with a Real Estate Professional. This person will now be your Personal Buyers 
Agent and he/she will guide you through every step of the way. Make sure you like & trust this professional, because you will be working very closely together.
2) Get Pre-Approved to find out how much money you can borrow to purchase a home. If you do not have a lender in mind, ask your Buyers Agent for suggestions. He/she should provide you with 2-3 names of lenders that they have successfully worked with in the past.
3) Determine Your Wants & Needs: Discuss with your Buyers Agent what you are looking for. Examples of what to discuss would be : # of Bedrooms & Bathrooms, lot size, school district, close to highways and shopping or far removed from town, no garage, 1 or 2 car garage, city water & sewer or well & septic tank, fireplace?, great room?, home office?, pool?. There are so many things to consider. Once you & your Buyers Agent have a clear picture of what you are looking for. Your Buyers Agent will search the MLS & make printouts of the properties that match your requirements. Next comes the part that most home buyers love......
4) Touring the Homes. It is important to keep notes on all the properties that you tour, so you can refer back to them later when you compare all the homes.
5) Make an offer & negotiate a contract: Your Buyers Agent will help you decide on a price, amount of earnest money, contingency clauses to protect you, etc. Your Buyers Agent will present the offer to purchase documents and negotiate on your behalf, if the Seller does not accept your offer as presented. If an agreement that is acceptable to all parties cannot be reached, you & your Buyers Agent will move on to another property you want to purchase. This continues until you have an accepted contract on a property.
6) Select an attorney. If you do not have any in mind ask your Buyers Agent. Once again he/she should provide you with 2-3 names of attorneys they have successfully worked with in the past.
7) You or your Buyers Agent will now provide a copy of the contract to the lender so that a professional appraisal can be performed and a loan package put together for submittal to your attorney
8) Schedule appropriate inspections to ensure that the home is structurally sound and that all mechanical systems (HVAC, appliances, etc. are "perfroming the function for which they were intended".
9) Secure home owners insurance
10) Final walk-through (usually the day before closing to ensure that the house is in the same condition as when you made the offer ("except for normal wear and tear") and that any repairs that were agreed to by the Seller from the home inspection report have been completed.
11) Your attorney and/or Buyers Agent will inform you of the amount of money you must bring to the closing, for example the difference between the amount of the purchase price, the earnest money you paid, the amount of your mortgage loan, plus any expenses you incurred outside of closing, such as the attorney's fee.
12) When all of the legal documents are signed, you will be given the keys to your new home.
13) Go to your new home and ENJOY!!!!
