If you're looking to buy a home in this time of tighter lending from banks-- this story is for you! We have some advice from the experts on 5 mistakes that home buyers make. These tips come to us from smartmoney.com.

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A home goes up for sale.

At #5: signing a contract with contingencies. You need to find a seller who is prepared to move out quickly.

#4 on the list: not budging on your budget. Go ahead and lowball. But if it's the home, consider that on an average loan an extra $10,000 equals about an extra $60 dollars a month to you. It may be worth it.

Mistake #3: skipping the mortgage preapproval process. Before you ever look at a home you need a preapproval letter from your lender.

"It's really important to keep that updated," says Portland realtor Mary Low, "They appear to be all preapproved, but they got preapproved two or three months ago when they started looking. The underwriting guidelines have changed and they go back to resubmit their paperwork and they don't qualify."

#2: ignoring your credit score: One consumer group says 80% of credit reports contain errors-- some serious enough to impact your interest rate on a home loan.

And #1 on smartmoney.com's list: waiting to sell your existing home. It takes longer to sell a home these days, and if you find that perfect place you run the risk of carrying two mortgages simultaneously.

Tips you can hopefully use to stretch that home buying dollar.

For additional information: http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=top5-home-buying-mistakes&pgnum=1