How I did it: The first thing my husband and I did was to get pre-approved for a mortgage. We wanted to know exactly how much we had to play with before we rolled the dice. Next we found a realtor who knew a lot about the area we wanted to live in and he found some great homes for us to look at. We ended up seeing 18 homes after only venturing out twice. Once we saw the home we wanted, we put in an offer that night. From contacting the mortgage broker to putting in an offer, it only took us 3 weeks.

Lessons & tips: I think you definitely need to be open-minded. My husband and I set out for a detached house. What we ended up falling in love with was a townhouse. You may think you know exactly what you're looking for, but if you're willing to search outside your mindset, you may surprise yourself.

Resources: Our realtor was a great help to us. Very flexible, worked around our schedules, very knowledgeable and upfront about the pros and cons of every home we saw. Another great resource was MLS, which is now realtor.ca. This is where I found the home we ended up buying. I sent it to our realtor and he set up a showing for us. I would also say that friends and family can be helpful. Of course, they are going to have opinions on things that you may not agree with, but some of it can be helpful. So listen when they tell you how much it costs to heat their 4 bedroom home, or how cold their tile floors are when they're making their coffee in the morning.

Nov 23, 2008, 11:12AM PST | 1 comment | 2 cheers