If you're gearing up to buy a house this fall, then you'll want to use the next few weeks and months to your advantage and get yourself in the best position possible to land in a house you can afford.

And that's especially important now because there are more buyers than sellers, meaning more competition, more bids and -- ultimately -- home prices that continue to increase.

In fact, the National Association of Realtors reported last week that home prices in all metro areas across the United States saw increases in the second quarter of 2003 versus the second quarter last year. That, the NAR says, is a first since 1982 when the association began keeping tabs on prices. What's more, a record number of metro areas realized double-digit gains.

Economists say there are typically at least six or so metro areas that - for one reason or another - will see price decreases while the rest of the country experiences increases.

NAR President Cathy Whatley, owner of Buck & Buck Inc. in Jacksonville, Fla., said there are simply more buyers than sellers in the market.

"We have relatively lean inventories of homes available on the market in a year in which we will set a sales record," she said. "The supply-demand imbalance is the fundamental reason for the strong price gains."

The national median existing-home price was $168,900 during the second quarter, up 7.4 percent from the second quarter of 2002 when the median price was $157,300. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

With home prices on the rise, the most important thing you can do is make sure you have enough cash to cover a down payment and closing costs. The NAR says first-time buyers typically make a down payment of 6 percent on a home purchase, and 24 percent of down payment funds were gifts from relatives or friends. There are many loan programs that accept down payments of 5 or 3 percent.

If buying a house is on your fall to-do list, you should also: