1. Start by knowing what you can afford in a Dallas mortgage. The general rule of thumb is that you can afford between 2 and 3 times your gross income.

2. Create your home wish list. Once you have everything you want, prioritize them.

3. Figure our where you want to live. put together a list of 3 or 4 neighborhoods you would be happy living in, and don’t forget to take into account items such as schools, parks, proximity to shopping (or whatever is important to you), and of course, safety.

4. It’s never too early to start saving. Do you have enough money to both qualify for your Dallas home loan and put money down for a down payment? Ideally, you should have 20 percent of the purchase price saved as a down payment. And don’t forget to factor in closing costs. Your closing cost, which include taxes, title/attorney’s fees, transfer/recording fees etc ? typically cost between 2% and 7% of the home price.

5. Be sure your credit is in order. Get a copy of your credit report to make sure there aren’t any errors on it, and if there are, get them fixed right away. Your credit report is your history of all your credit, bad debts, late payments and delinquencies.

6. Determine your mortgage qualifications. How much money do you qualify for? You will also want to have a look at a variety of loan options ? for example 30-year or 15 year fixed or Adjustable Rate Mortgages ? and decide which is better for you.

7. Get pre-approved. Organize all the paper work you’ll need for your Dallas mortgage lender to be able to give you a loan pre-approval. You might need W-2 forms, copies of at least one pay stub, account numbers, and copies of two to four months of bank or credit union statements.

8. Check to see if there are other sources that might be able to help you with your down payment. Do you qualify for any special mortgage or down payment assistance programs? It would be worthwhile to check with your local government and/or state agencies to see about these kinds of programs. Another option, if you have an IRA account, could be to use that money you’ve saved to buy your first home and you won’t need to pay a penalty for early withdrawal.

9. Figure out the total cost of Dallas homeownership. This total cost included property taxes, insurance, utilities, association fees and maintenance.

10. Find a good Dallas Realtor. Some first time buyers opt to try to do the deal alone rather than getting an agent. Why even bother? A Realtor is there to represent you and to be certain you get a good and fair deal. And don’t forget, as a buyer you’re not going to have to pay to have that agent work with you.