Whether or not a house would make a suitable home for you depends on a number of factors. These include the size and type of the house, the potential to extend, local amenities such as schools, shops and parks, and of course the price.

Size and Type
A young childless couple might like the convenience of an apartment, whereas a growing family might find it completely unsuitable. That's a generalisation and of course there will be young couples who desire a garden and there are families with children who love their apartment.

The key is to know why you are buying a home, how long you plan to keep it, and how your circumstances may change in that time. For example, many houses can be extended as a family grows - apartments don't offer that option.

Local Amenities
You will have your own ideas about the mix of local amenities that you require and the importance you place on each. As with the size and type of house, you need to think about how your needs will change during the time that you own the house.

Is your home close to work? Will public transport be a viable way of getting to and from work? Do you want to be close to schools, shops, a hospital, pubs and restaurants, a park - or maybe a mix of some or all of these ?

A common challenge faced by home buyers is whether to accept the right house in the wrong location, or a less than ideal house in the perfect location. There is no right answer, home buying is rarely as simple as finding the perfect house right where you want it. You may have to accept a smaller house or a less desirable location in order to fit within a budget.

Before you buy a house you are likely to spend at least a few years renting. This is your opportunity to try out areas. Be very careful when buying in an area that you are unfamiliar with. It may be tempting to push further out of town to areas where houses are larger and cheaper. The one hour commute may even seem manageable at first. Think about how you'll feel about that commute after 6 months, a year or longer.

If you plan to buy in an area where you are unsure, it may be worth renting for a year. In a declining housing market this will save you money, allow you to accumulate a larger deposit, and allow you to get a more realistic feeling for living in the area.

Price
Finding the perfect home is only half the battle - affording it is another matter. In the current climate, credit is harder to come by, and cost of living increases make it harder to save for a deposit.

You need to be realistic about what you can afford. In the past, people assumed that they could afford any mortgage they were offered. The collapse of the sub-prine mortgage industry shows that you can't always trust those whose profits depend on lending you as much as possible.

If you find a house or an area that is beyond your reach, you have a number of options that will go some way to helping you reach it.

Rent and Save - at the moment renting is substantially cheaper than buying, and rents are falling. Use this to your advantage and you can live in the house or area you desire while saving for the deposit that will allow you to buy there.

Negotiate - it's a buyers market. Not all sellers have fully adjusted to this fact but some have, and more will follow. A 10% reduction on a €300K home is a saving of €30K. Think of these savings in terms of how long it would take to save that amount. That €30K saving could result in you saving more than €60K in mortgage repayments over the life of your mortgage.

Don't accept that you will be in negative equity after closing the deal on a property. Ensure you are not. A larger deposit, a reduction in price below local asking prices, and ensuring that you have excess capacity to repay will all help avoid negative equity.

Markets change and this buyers' market will eventually end, but while it lasts, use it. Do not get into bidding wars if there are other similar houses in the area. You can never be sure that the other bidder really exists, but even if they do, it's in nobody's interest to bid up each others price when there are other houses to choose from.

If you feel that your estate agent is not passing your offers on to the seller, then you can always opt to write directly to the seller, or simply drop a card through their letter box. Only do this as a last resort - do not try to cut the estate agent out of the deal.

Put time limits on offers for properties, typically five to seven days.
Let an estate agent know about other offers you have made, this will create an impetus.

And finally, but most importantly - try to never fall so in love with a property that you leave your brain at the door and let your heart do the negotiating. If you get to a point where you feel you can't walk away, that's precisely the time to do exactly that - then regroup, and get your head involved in the process.