Often, the decision to buy a home is brought about by circumstances. The circumstances that helped spark the need and desire to purchase real estate may or may not have been in your control, but buying a home certainly is. It is for this reason that such great responsibility lies in determining exactly what your and your family's needs and wants are for the perfect home. This process of asking all of the tough (and not so though) questions can bring tremendous insight into the perfect home for you.

The problem that a lot of home buyers encounter is that they have not properly established what their perfect home is. What is perfect anyway? Doesn't the definition of perfect depend on whom you talk to? Exactly!

That's why you must make the concerted effort up front, even before you look at your first property, to establish what it is you're looking for. Without this information in hand, you'll end up very frustrated and tired. You may even end up purchasing a home that doesn't meet your family's most important needs. Gain the upper hand in the home buying experience by establishing what the perfect home means to your family. By determining early on what you do and do not want in a home, you can save yourself countless hours looking at hours that may equate to dollars in lost opportunity.

A highly recommended tactic is creating a "Perfect Home Checklist" as a guide to help you determine your specific needs and wants. Make a game of it, and make sure that you're completely honest with yourself on what is really a "Need" versus a "Want." You may have to truth-test each and every item on your list a couple of times to make certain they are in the proper category.

Once you've equipped yourself with the answers to these questions, you'll be one step ahead of 99% of the rest of the real estate buyers today. Quite often, these "Lookie-Lou" buyers stumble around looking at 80+ properties before they either give up, or their Agent stops returning their calls.

So, we've established that, before you start seriously shopping for a home, you should develop a list of what you "Want" vs. what you really "Need" in your new home. Your needs are defined as the minimum features that any home you look at should have. Your wants are all those little extras that give you the satisfaction that the home you purchase is one that will make you happy.

By completing your checklist, you'll be prepared when your Agent starts asking you questions about what you're looking for in a home. They will be eternally grateful to you that you took the time to evaluate what your perfect home is.

Special note for first-time home buyers: If you haven't lived in a lot of different homes, you may not have answers to all of the questions on the "Perfect Home Checklist." That's OK. Just make sure that you bring the "Perfect Home Checklist" with you when you begin touring homes. You will quickly learn what features you want and need.