Things move quickly in a busy market and the best chance you have to buy a home is to be prepared. Multiple offers on a home can create a high-pressure environment, making it easy to overextend your budget and make mistakes. Before you begin home hunting, get prepared using these five simple steps to mitigate your risk so there are no unwanted surprises in one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. Know your price point Get preapproved from a mortgage professional and know how much you can afford. This includes understanding what interest rate you can get and what taxes apply to the purchase.