UPDATE: While somethings have changed, much of this information is still relevant to buying your first home in 2015. Check out our more recent blog post about tips and tricks for buying in 2015.  Preparing now for your home buying adventure next year will help make the process easier, and will help you buy that house earlier in the year. If you get started with small steps now, you can become a 2013 first time home buyer with no real headaches. The Boy Scouts of America use this for part of their motto, but it works in the home buying world too: Be Prepared.

Want to be a First Time Home Buyer This Year? Get Started Now (The original title to this article referenced 2014. However, we've found that it's still quite popular ... so we've updated it!) New information for this year (and beyond)* UPDATE: In addition to the great information included in this post, read our updated list of tips and tricks for becoming a first time home owner in 2015! Education is a major part of the home buying experience. The more education first time home buyers dive into, the smoother the process typically goes. You intuitively know this. You're already thinking about next year, and wondering what it will take to buy a home in 2014.

Why get pre-approved for a mortgage? It's a big help in the overall process of home buying. It's a matter of having the right tools - a pre-approval letter - for the job - house hunting. Do you use a spoon to eat soup? Of course. You wouldn't use a fork. A fork will get some of the soup - depending on how chunky it is. But you'll miss out on a lot of the enjoyment! Getting your pre-approval letter is like using a soup spoon - you'll get the job done right instead of missing out on the good stuff.

What exactly does it take to buy a house? Whether it's your first home or you're making a change, the housing market and the process has changed a bit in the last few years. Buying a home in 2015 looks a little different than it did in 2005, just 10 years ago.  What if you're buying your first home in 2015? Is it even more different than it was for first time home buyers 10 years ago? the answer is yes, you'll find a few things different. You'll also find some things have never changed. 

It's a very popular question, asked in different ways from different borrowers. The bottom line is that home buyers want to know what to bring with them when applying for a home loan. We offer you a short video with a concise answer. Watch our 60 Second Mortgage Tip below.

This is a guest post by Blair Warner, Credit Specialist at Upgrademycredit.com