Buying a home can be a confusing, stressful process. With so many homes on the market, it's only natural for a potential homeowner to get lost, overwhelmed and even buy the wrong home. That's why Three Best Rated® sat down with two great realtors - Ron Neal of The Neal Estate Team and Gino Cipriano of Royal LePage Prime – to pick their brains on what to look for when buying a house. Without further ado, here are five things everyone should know before buying a home.

From a realtor to a mortgage broker to a home inspector, a home-buyer will need a decent amount of professionals. Family, friends and co-workers can be great tools to help find the perfect professional, but a potential homeowner shouldn't rely on just that. “Do your own due diligence and research for yourself,” Gino suggests. “Look at online reviews, look at social media or, even better, call in a few professionals and interview them for the job.” Three Best Rated can also be a great starting point for finding various professionals.

While this is a no-brainer, buying a house has a lot of costs that may not appear on the “sticker price.” Ron suggests a potential homeowner gets a rough idea how much they're qualified for and how much they are comfortable with spending before seriously looking at houses. Another thing people tend to overlook is their monthly payments. “Sometimes if your perfect forever family home is $10,000 more,” Gino says, “but your monthly payments increase by $50, it may be worth your consideration.” When actually starting the purchase process, Ron suggests doing their due diligence to create an accurate estimate of all closing costs and operating costs. These factors can cause a house to be a little outside the agreed upon budget.

“The most important thing to know before buying a home is 'Caveat Emptor,' Latin for 'Let the Buyer Beware,'” Gino says, “especially if it's a resale home and not brand new through a builder or a developer.” When someone buys a home, they are responsible for all of it. If the roof leaks or the fuse box keeps tripping, the homeowner has to fix all of that. To lower risk, the buyer should have the home inspected before buying it. An inspection can save a potential homeowner a lot of headaches and money in the future. In general, Ron suggests that a potential homeowner knows the condition of the home and estimated maintenance and repairs it will need.

Obviously great is going to mean something different to everyone. Ron suggests asking “Does this location make sense for your lifestyle?” If the answer is no, then it might be time to look at a different house. A house is a long-term investment and if the location is terrible, it will be easy to become dissatisfied very quickly. Another aspect of picking a great location is the house itself. “Different areas with different supply and demand can yield a much different home,” Gino explains. “We always recommend our clients to view homes in multiple locations.” Some areas will have older homes and styles, while others will be more modern.

Unless a potential homeowner can build a house from the ground up (and pay a lot!), any house they purchase will most likely not have everything they want. Gino suggests making a list of “Wants” and “Needs.” “It allows you to set, or reset, your priorities and see the big picture,” he explains. “Generally, the 'Needs' list turns into the 'Must Haves' and the 'Wants' list turns into the 'I Can Live Without' list.” A potential homeowner will want to make sure they have these lists before they start seriously looking at houses.