At any given time, there are millions of buyers waiting to snatch up their dream home. These buyers may be preparing to jump into home ownership, or waiting for that dream home to hit the market. Then there are people who believe renting a home is the best way to go. When debating the rent versus buy thought, homeowners will tell you to buy every time but only when you are ready.

Before beginning the process of buying a new home, a 15% down payment needs to be saved. This down payment required on the home could be less, but any home buyer would be happy to have money left in savings after getting that key than running around trying to liquidate assets to keep the home of their dreams.

The closing costs on the home will average about 5% of the price of the home. This is another bit of money that should be saved before the search even begins. If the potential home owner finds the home they wish to buy, they should be ready to buy right then and not after months of saving when that dream home could already be sold.

How much can you afford? This is question that will vary from person to person, but traditionally, the mortgage payment should not be any more than 25% of your total income per month. That is take home income, not gross income because the gross amount is never the same as the amount that available for use on payday. For instance, if a potential buyer brings home $6000 a month, the mortgage should be no more than $1500 a month.

This number may seem conservative, but the true cost of ownership involves more than just the mortgage payment. There are utilities, upkeep and property taxes in addition to home insurance that will need to be paid each month just on the home.

A self run credit report is also a huge item to look over before applying for any mortgage. If you walk into the office blindly, you could lower your credit score without obtaining a mortgage. When the lending company runs your credit report, that could lower your score and if it is too low to meet their lending guidelines, it will be for nothing. When you run your own report, the score is not affected and will not lower.

You usually have high hopes when you move into a new neighborhood. It’s a brand new life, a new experience, and you want it to go well. While you can choose the best house in the world, an excellent location, and a beautiful neighborhood, you can’t choose your neighbors. What do you do if you get your dream home, only to find that your neighbors are the stuff of nightmares? Here are the best ways to handle the top three types of problem neighbors and still enjoy your new home.

1) Gossips

It’s not uncommon to encounter a neighbor who loves to gossip. This can be extremely annoying, especially when you’re the subject of the gossip. Gossips love to find out every detail about what you’re doing and spread it all around the neighborhood. It’s irritating if you otherwise like the person, and downright upsetting if you don’t like the person at all!

You can deal with a neighborhood gossip by doing nothing to encourage them. Don’t give them too much information about yourself. If they ask you personal questions, either try to change the subject to something about THEM, or just tell them you can’t imagine they’d be interested in such a trivial detail about yourself. You could even outright lie to them (also known as propagating dis-information) if you’re comfortable with that. Just come up with a response you like and that deflects the personal questions in a kind and polite way.

2) People Who Make Too Much Noise

Yes, a fact of neighborhood life is that sometimes people make noise. Sometimes you can understand it and ignore it, such as holiday parties, once a year birthday parties, or the kids trying out new toys outside. But neighbors who are consistently noisy can be a problem. These are the people who play their stereos too loudly outside all the time, the people who mow their lawns at insane hours, those who keep their televisions on high volume with the windows open, etc.

The first thing you should do is let your neighbors know that their noise is bothersome. If kids are the problem, talk to their parents. Try to come up with an equitable solution for everyone. If no solutions can be arrived at, talk to other neighbors to see what can be done, or call the police, if necessary.

3) Creepy Stalkers

Once in a while, you come across a neighbor who just won’t leave you alone. He (or she) invites himself over all the time, makes a point to be outside just as you’re getting home or leaving, and seems to be watching your every move. If you’re unfortunate enough to have this kind of neighbor, you’ve got to tell him that you’re not interested. Don’t give him any reason to think you may actually be a little interested. Keep any communication with this neighbor perfunctory and speak only when necessary. If it continues to be a problem, you may have to go to the police and get a restraining order. However, remember, protecting yourself is your first priority.

If you’re building a home, you’re going to need a construction loan. The construction loan is different from the mortgage. The construction loan is to pay the contractors to build your house. Once the house is built and the contractors are paid, then your loan will be converted into a regular home mortgage. But before you can move into your dream home, custom designed by you, you’ll need to get a construction loan. If you’ve never done it, here’s how.

First, you choose a lender that will work with you, and find out just how much you can qualify for in financing. Be sure to take down payments and closing costs into consideration. Next, choose a home design and hire a contractor and an architect to do the job. Get these two professionals to give you an estimate of how much it will cost to do the job, and be sure you know how many revisions your architect will allow you to make to the home design plans before chargine you additional money.

Once you’ve got everything all set up with the architect and contractor, go back to the lender and ask for the construction loan. You should already know that the estimated cost of the project will fit in with the financing figure the lender gave you previously. The lender will need to see the plans for the house before releasing any money to you. It will be easiest on you if you get a construction loan that can be automatically converted into a regular mortgage upon completion of the home. This way, you can keep the same lender, which saves a lot of paperwork. However, be aware that you may have to get a separate mortgage from another lender once construction in complete, depending on your individual circumstances.

Construction loans usually need a 10% downpayment (20% if you want to avoid having to get private mortgage insurance). You could also avoid having to get this insurance by piggybacking your loans. To do this, get a first mortgage for 75 to 80% and a second mortgage for the balance of the price of the construction of the home. Once you have the right construction loan and plans for your dream home drawn up and ready to go, it’s time to get started on building. Soon, you’ll be moving in to a great home at an excellent price. What could be better than that?

Sure, the economy is down, but the resulting real estate deals out there can be very tempting. With plenty of homeowners desperate to sell their houses and get out from under mortgages they can no longer afford, there are deals available now the likes of which haven’t been seen in decades. If you’re in a position to buy, now is definitely a good time. But how can you be sure your new home purchase is a good idea, or if it will plunge you further into the mires of the recession that have plagued so many already?

Simply pay attention to the following three pointers, and you’ll be in a perfect position to buy a house in a down economy and thrive with it.

1. Take a good look at your finances and make sure you can afford the home you’re considering. This means you need to be either employed or have a stable source of income. The money you make needs to be enough to cover the monthly mortgage payments of the home you’re considering. Today’s stricter lenders will want to know the answers to these questions. Typically, your monthly mortgage payment must not be more than 30% of your monthly income. And remember, the mortgage payment will include taxes and insurance, as well.

2. Decide how long you plan to be in the area. Single people who move around a lot, or people with jobs that require frequent moves may well want to wait to buy a home right now. In the past, you could buy a home and re-sell it again a year or two later for a significant profit. However, trying to do that now would most certainly result in you taking a significant loss. The best rule of thumb right now is to not buy a house unless you plan to stay in the area for at least 3 to 5 years to give the economy time to recover.

3. Ask yourself how well you can really manage your personal finances. If you’re consistently late on monthly payments or if you have trouble making ends meet throughout the month, buying a house now isn’t going to be a good idea for you. You don’t want to get caught up in a cycle of late payments that could totally wreck your monthly budget. Even worse, you don’t want to end up losing your new house to foreclosure like so many others. Only take the plunge and buy a house at this time if you’re very stable with your finances. Follow these three tips, and you just may be ready to buy the house of your dreams.

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Did you know that the 2009 stimulus package includes a substantial tax break for first-time home buyers? It’s true. So, if you’re planning on buying a house in the near future, this year is the year to do it. You could end up saving a LOT of money. However, in order to benefit from the tax credit, you need to first know how it works and who qualifies. Here are the details you need to know.

1. What exactly is a first-time home buyer? According to the federal government, and for the purposes of the tax credit, it’s anyone who has literally never owned a home before, or someone who has not owned a home in the past three years.

2. You must be a U.S. citizen of at least 18 years of age to qualify for the program.

3. The house you’re considering buying must be in the United States and you must use it for your principal residence.

4. If you’re a single home buyer, your income must not be more than $75,000 a year. For couples, your income can not be more than $150,000 a year.

5. The house you’re buying can’t be a gift or an inherited home to qualify for the program.

6. You must buy the house between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. These are not move-in dates, but dates of actual closing on and taking legal ownership of the house.

The tax credit can be as much as $8,000 in many cases. If you’re a first-time home buyer, you should seriously consider buying this year, as savings like this may not come around again for a long time. To get in on the action, contact your local HUD office for assistance in filling out the appropriate paperwork.