Nicholas Statman: Discover what you need to know about buying a home for the first time. 1. Get to grips with the key terms 2. Calculate the cost of buying a house 3. Sell before you buy 4. Get a mortgage 'agreement in principle' 5. Check out the neighbourhood (at different times) 6. Research how much to offer 7. Ask the seller to take it off the market 8. Only use professionals 9. Communicate 10. Book your movers