Buying your own house is a multifaceted process that can easily overwhelm the average person. The important thing to remember is to not try to work on too many tasks at one time, and just work on completing lists of tasks as you go through the process. I speak from experience as having purchased my first house with my wife in 2006. Here are five suggestions I can offer you that I used in my house purchase experience.

1) Determine your Credit Rating:
You can't control the rise and fall of interest rates, but you can control how your credit rating affects the interest rate you are able to get for your mortgage. This should be one of the very first things you do in your house hunt. In fact, when you begin speaking with a mortgage company this is typically one of the first items they determine about you. Keeping up to date with your FICO credit score is not difficult, and it is possible to get a free copy of your credit report.

2) Determine the amount of your monthly note:
This is not an easy item to obtain before you actually close on your house. You really owe it to yourself (no pun intended) to get at least a ballpark figure of what your monthly mortgage payment will be. Keep in mind, that even though you know the asking price of your house, the mortgage payment will also include insurance and taxes. Knowing at least a close estimate of your mortgage payment will help you a lot in figuring your budget.

3) Search for Insurance prices:
Whatever you do, don't avoid investigating the insurance prices and coverage options for your house. You have multiple options, depending on the area you live in. The price you will pay depends on several factors like your credit score, the value of the property and how much coverage you want. Insurance costs also include mortgage insurance, or PMI. Mortgage insurance does you no good, but a mortgage company will usually require it if the amount of money you have invested is below a certain percentage of the house value.

4) Find out the kind of neighborhood in which the house is located:
Sure, the house looks great - but in what kind of neighborhood is it located? Your best bet is to hit the street and talk to people who live next door and on the same block. Remember, they have nothing to lose by telling you something bad about the neighborhood. You can ask the seller of the house, but keep in mind they are motivated to sell you the house and they might paint a rosier picture than reality.

5) Investigate if there have been any natural disaster claims on the house: Concealing damage from disasters is sadly not too complicated to do. Again, you can ask the seller about claims but a sure method here is to do some title investigation (possibly at your local county's assessor's office) to determine if any flood claims have been filed recently. Checking with the neighbors in the area is another good way to determine if any damage could have occurred to the house.

Of course, many more items can be offered as suggestions for handling a house purchase. I feel these are some of the more crucial items. In spite of the often-hectic nature of the process of purchasing a house, I can tell you from experience that a house purchase is ultimately one of the more rewarding experiences out there.