While purchasing a home is extremely exciting, the process can also be quite complex. All buyers want to make the most out of every dollar they spend, but you might be unsure of what steps you can take to find the perfect home at a great price. Many experts are now predicting that the next few months will be excellent for home buyers, so take a look at these few tips that will help you narrow down your options.

Start a Few Months Early

You will need to give yourself a cushion of at least a few months before you must move out of your current place. Even if you have great credit and a substantial down payment, finding the perfect home and getting approved for a loan can be extremely time-consuming. Most realtors suggest starting this process 120 days before you need to be handed the keys to your new home.

Separate Necessities from Nonessential Features

You might feel like you need a lavish pool or second office, but those upgrades are generally non-essential features. Your primary goal when narrowing down your choices is to pick key features that you and your family cannot live without. That might include options like the number of bedrooms or the distance to your work. Most upgrades can be added at a later time once you have moved into your new home.

Sign Up for a Home Tracker Service

Local real estate agents, such as one from Coldwell Banker George Realty, may offer certain programs that can benefit you in a big way. For example, some may offer free or low-cost home tracking services, which programs can save you hundreds of hours of time—so make sure that you ask about such programs when you’re looking for an agent. Once you have given them a list of required features such as the size and location of the property, you will then receive alerts when new homes come on the market. You can even narrow your choices with unique upgrades like homes that have covered patios or multi-car garages.

Document Your Tours

After you have selected a few eye-catching pieces of property, you should then try to view four or five homes a day whenever you have some time off. As you are touring each home, you and your loved ones might want to take pictures and write notes so that you can go over the information at a later time. Creating a small file for the last few choices is a great way to stay organized and keep the information fresh in your mind.

The final step in this process is to get pre-approved for a home loan before you make an offer. Once you have been approved, you can then use that number as leverage to entice the buyer into a quick sale. Waiting to apply for loans until after you have negotiated is only going to waste time and money.