First time buyers have many, many questions as they move through the process of buying their dream home. Some of these are general in nature and some are very specific to a property and location. While specific questions are best handled by a local REALTOR, there is an awesome resource for those general, "where do I start" questions.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development, better known as HUD, thought so too. HUD has prepared a list of 100 of the most commonly asked questions regarding real estate and the process of how to buy that first home. To make it easier for a potential buyer to find answers, the questions are broken down into ten areas:

1. Getting Started
   
2. Finding a Home
   
3. You've Found It
   
4. General Financing
   
5. First Steps
   
6. Finding the Right Loan
   
7. Closing
   
8. How Can HUD and FHA Help
   
9. Mortgage Insurance
   
10. FHA Products
    

What kinds of basic home buying questions are on the list? Here are a few sample questions:

• HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M READY TO BUY A HOME?
  
• WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN DECIDING ON A COMMUNITY?
  
• IS AN OLDER HOME A BETTER VALUE THAN A NEW ONE?
  
• HOW CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON THE PROPERTY TAX LIABILITY?
  
• DO I NEED TO BE THERE FOR THE INSPECTION?
  
• HOW DO I SELECT THE RIGHT REAL ESTATE AGENT?

The answers to these home buying questions (and 95 more), can be found at the HUD website. But while the HUD website is informative, it is only a website after all and will not have a specific answer to every question you might have. That's where the experience of a professional REALTOR comes in. Feel free to email, call or text me at 651-336-7073 with any specific real estate question you might have.