First time homebuyers can save a lot of time, money and effort by being organized and prepared for all the steps in the home buying process. When you are choosing any of the homes for sale, one of the most vital steps to take is the valuation of the home or being able to determine what the home is worth by making your own assessment.

In the book, "Home Buying for Dummies", authors Eric Tyson and Raymond Brown specified that the true value of the home does not only consist of the price. Since value means different things to different people, there is a need for the individual home buyer to be able to identify what are the most important elements that they would like their new home to have. What the true value of your new home is based on what it is worth to you and the benefits that you will get from making the investment.

When you begin the valuation process of any of the homes for sale, the first step that you can take is to review its actual dollar cost and compare it to the other homes for sale in the same neighborhood. This can be done by studying the MLS listings of the area and discovering how much the seller had paid for the home, if possible. Finding out how much was paid will give you a baseline amount to use in your assessment, whether or not it is lower or higher than the seller's current asking price. Other factors that you have to take into consideration is when the seller had bought the home because if more that 3 years has elapsed, an estimate based on the purchase price will no longer be accurate.

The second thing a home buyer must find out is if there are any repairs that need immediate attention and how much it will cost. The cost of repairing the home may have been factored into the asking price. If it was not, a home buyer needs to be aware of what they may have to spend for when they buy that home for sale.

The third step would be to project how much the property can be sold for in 5, 10, or 20 years after your purchase. This is when the location of the home becomes vital. Find out what is the average appreciation value of the real estate property of the neighborhood that you are interested in. If the trend of the property prices show that it is stable and in some years, you can make a good return on your investment, it would be to your advantage to make such an investment.

There are several factors to consider when you are looking at different properties and exploring various neighborhoods as a first time homebuyer. The true value of your home goes well beyond the asking price because you need to take into consideration how much of the home needs to be repaired, what the biggest benefits of living in a particular neighborhood are, and what the property will be worth in a few years. Take the time to learn about the price history and general market appreciation (or deprecation) rates in your neighborhood so that you can make a well-informed financial investment as a first time homebuyer.

About the Author: Alexandria P. Anderson is a Lake Minnetonka Real Estate agent that helps people to find and purchase Lake Minnetonka homes and other properties in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.