Homeownership is a big step and it is important to make sure that you approach it wisely. When you do find the home that you are looking for, there is often the opportunity to negotiate a price that is lower than the list price. You need to know what you are doing, however, because negotiating poorly can cause you to lose the home that you truly want.

Here are five important negotiating tips for first time homebuyers.

1. Try not to get emotional. It can be extremely tempting to bid top dollar for a place that has everything you have ever wanted, but you could end up setting the negotiating standard so high that you can’t afford the house...
2. Get a Comparable Market Analyses (CMA). Most real estate agents can easily supply you with a CMA, which is basically an average price range for recently sold home within the same neighborhood with the same features....
3. Access the seller’s motivation level. There are many reasons why people sell their homes. Sometimes people are relocating for job purposes, divorce, upgrading, downsizing, or the owner passes away...
4. Make a firm and reasonable offer. Some people who are new to the real estate market assume that in order to get the price they truly want, they should start out very low with their offer...
5. Put everything in writing. Verbal offers are difficult to enforce. Make sure that once you and the seller have agreed upon a price and terms that everything gets printed out and signed by both parties...