Buying a home is a big deal - so while it may be tempting to go with the first word-of-mouth recommendation you get, when it comes to choosing a real estate agent, it pays to do a bit more research. A real estate pro will be responsible for determining a good purchase price, coordinating conversations with sellers and seller agents, and ultimately, walking you through the entire buying process.  To make an informed choice take the time to interview several of the best candidates before making a decision. Here are 14 questions to ask potential real estate agents.

Buying your first home is a once-in-a-lifetime experience—it’s thrilling, challenging and immensely rewarding. However, in a crowded and competitive housing market, it might feel like there’s little margin for error, especially if you’re buying a home for the first time. But never fear! We’re here to help, by offering our top tips on how to be a successful homebuyer.

When you start thinking about buying a house, it’s easy to let your emotions run the show. Before you know it, you’re stalking homes for sale on a home searching tool like HomeScout, Zillow, or Realtor.com.  You begin rearranging your schedule so you can do drive-by viewings, and researching creative financing options that would allow you to buy a house with next to nothing down.

If you’ve been searching for your dream home, there’s nothing like the relief of finally being under contract.  That’s something to celebrate.  But now that you’re under contract, what should you expect? Your main task now is to work through the contingencies in the contract.

Are you ready to start looking at homes?  At any one moment, buying a home can be: challenging, vulnerable, thrilling, terrifying, life-changing, savvy, collaborative, complicated, fun, overwhelming and immensely rewarding. Yup, it’s all that and then some.

Kicking off with the last weeks of March, spring is the start of the homebuying season. With families often taking vacations in the late summer and fall occupied by the start of school, the months of April through July account for more than 40% of all housing transactions annually. And in today’s competitive market, you want to do everything you can to put yourself in the best position to find (and secure) your dream home.  But don’t worry—here’s everything you need to know to prepare and hit the ground running: