When you decide to put your hard-earned money into purchasing a home, it is important for you to make the best decision. And in order to make a great decision, you need to find out what you can about the process, market details, and valuation of a home you want to buy. When you work with a real estate agent, you have an expert on your side who can help you with information about some of the most important parts of the buying process. Here are some questions you can ask your real estate agent during your upcoming home search and purchase.

What Is the Market's Current Condition?

This is a question you can ask your agent to get a good overall condition of the market in your area. Depending on where you are looking at buying a house — such as if you are looking in a large urban area or in a small town or rural location — knowing the market conditions can help you search for and make a purchase offer. 

When you know if the market is hot and homes are selling fast, this can help prepare you to quickly make an offer on a home you are interested in. Or, if, for example, you are bidding on a home against other buyers, you can put in your best and highest offer right away to boost your chances at getting the property you want. 

However, if your agent tells you the market is slow and homes are listed for sale for quite a long time, this can provide you an opportunity to negotiate a better price on a home. Keep in mind that you don't want to submit a ridiculously low price on a home and offend the seller; you want to consider their investment in the property and make them a reasonable but competitive offer based on the market's forecast.

How Do You Set a Spending Limit?

This is another great question you can pose to your agent at the beginning of your home search process. The limit on your home budget should relate directly with your income and expenses and in your loan qualifications. Talk to a mortgage broker about getting prequalified for a mortgage, and this will provide you with a maximum loan amount to start you off. 

Then, with the loan amount in mind, your agent can help you calculate a mortgage payment based on the current loan interest rates. Plug this number into your household expenses to see how it fits with your other expenses and your overall income. Then, you can adjust your home price budget down if you need to.