Buyers can call the shots for the first time in years - but still need to buy smart. Bernice Harrisonhas 10 top tips for buyers in 2008

1Get your finances in order. There is no point getting involved in bidding on a house or apartment unless you have up-to-date mortgage approval. Lenders are becoming increasingly stringent about lending criteria so your assumption that you will get a mortgage of X because you earn Y may not hold as true as it once did.

Increase your chances of getting the mortgage you want by getting rid of as much debt as you can, e.g. credit card debt, car loan, etc, before you approach a lender. Shop around for the best deal you can and remember the lowest rate isn't necessarily the best one for you. Look at www.itsyourmoney.ie for advice on choosing a mortgage.

2If you are trading up or down, think hard about buying before you sell. In this market, most financial advisors would caution against it. When the market was moving fast and upwards people could buy - even at the "no going back" method of auction - with the happy knowledge that they would be able to sell their own house in a very short time frame. That is no longer the case. Plus, bridging finance - a short term loan to finance a purchase before a sale has gone through - is now almost unheard of with the result that last year some unfortunate buyers found themselves paying two mortgages, one on their new house, the other on their old house which was refusing to budge. It's that sort of pressure that forces people to drop their asking price dramatically.

3Make a checklist of what you are looking for. There's a good one on www.myhome.ie that lists everything from your first impression of the bathroom to the parking situation - it can be printed out in a pdf format. That same website will also be able to give you an overview of the number of houses for sale in your chosen area and their price.

4Keep an open mind. Use your checklist as a general guide but don't be a slave to it. Don't get too hung up on a certain type of house, i.e. "redbrick or nothing", which will inevitably mean you could miss out on a great deal in a more interesting style of house.

Don't, for example, let a large garden be a deal breaker. The 30m garden that you think you absolutely need for the kids now will be ignored by them once they hit their teenage years.

It's a short period of time. Maybe a larger room that could go from being a large playroom to a teenage hangout might be a better option.

Think as laterally as you can to give yourself a bigger choice in your desired area.

5Get used to the terminology. You are the buyer, the person selling is the "vendor". Agents talk about "the asking price" or the "AMV", the advised minimum value which is what the agent thinks the house is worth (if it's going to auction); "conveyancing" is the term solicitors use to describe the legal process for transferring the ownership of the property.

6Be clear what the process of buying is going to cost. If you have to pay stamp duty (non first-time buyer or investor) find out roughly how much the bill is likely to be for a house or apartment in the price range in which you are looking. See www.revenue.ie.

Some people get confused about solicitor's fees, looking at the fee quoted, say €1,500 without realising that there will be Vat on top of that plus several small fees that relate to land registry charges, stamp duties and other legal charges.

These fees will be referred to as "outlay" by your solicitor and could add up to over €1,000 - how much depends largely on the complexity of the title.

Ask for a breakdown of the bill at the end of the process and don't be afraid to challenge it.

7Apartments and managed estates: make sure your solicitor checks up such details as paid-up management fees and parking.

If you are buying, for example, a one-bed with parking, make sure that the parking is part of the lease to secure your legal interest in it.

8View the property several times and at different times to check for sunlight, noise from neighbours/nearby roads/railway lines.

9Once you have seen something you are keen to put an offer on, get the house professionally surveyed by an architect, engineer or chartered surveyor.

They'll be looking for major issues such as structural defects, planning problems, etc.

They can also advise when the windows will need replacing, if it should be rewired, if, for example, two rooms can be knocked together etcetera.

Do this even if you are buying a new apartment or house where the surveyor will be looking particularly at whether the new construction complies with building regulations and is actually the size as promised.

Most local authorities have their planning lists posted online so it's a simple matter to check if planning permission has ever been refused on the property.

If you like the house but would need to extend immediately check that permission for such an extension was ever applied for and refused.

10The offer. Know what you can afford and what the property is worth to you. The asking price is just that, it doesn't mean you should offer it straight off.

Since early last year agents haven't expected buyers to come in with an initial offer of the asking price - even on new houses or apartments.

It's their job to try to negotiate you upwards.

The agent must relay all serious offers to the vendor.

As part of your offer, make the agent aware of your position.

If you have mortgage approval or don't need a mortgage to buy, and can sign contracts immediately, then let the seller know. It will put you in a more advantageous position - and possibly give you room in money negotiations in that most sensible sellers will go with a buyer who can sign on the dotted line even if it means rejecting the few thousand more that's been offered by a less financially stable buyer.

Don't be afraid to put conditions with the offer, such as that it must be accepted or declined by a specific time, or that you want a long/short closing or that it must include appliances/garden shed.

The buyer has the power.

With freedom to buy, we're a hot property

The housing boom of the past 10 years brought little but arguments to my family home. Lacking parental financial assistance to help us out we just had to keep putting the money away for our down payment and hope that some day the world would slow down enough for us to catch up.

What a shock we got this fine new year when we realised that, in financial terms at least, the world had indeed stopped turning. With what feels like well-planned synchronicity, but is in fact just plain dumb luck, our deposit balance, income and the average price of a house all fell into line.

We really didn't know what to do with ourselves. A first-time buying family with strong credit in a falling market. Who could fail to like us?

Certainly not those vendors who have bitten their nails to the wick as the months have passed waiting for someone to pay their chained homes a visit. With our freedom to buy we've become hot property ourselves.

Mind you, that's not as easy as it sounds - it's hard to choose when you're offered everything and expected to drive a hard bargain too.

We're looking for a great family home and when we find it we won't be hanging around - it will be the fastest sale on record, but it's going to be a big search and a profitable one. We're looking at homes which have been changing hands at ever increasing speeds and and prices for years.

I don't feel very guilty offering lower than asked, making realistic bids on property since just about everyone selling right now has already benefitted from the boom at least once. Not least the agents.

Mind you, not all are adjusting to the change that well. Some just haven't accepted the swing in the buyer's favour and I have already walked out of one house amazed that the agent just lost a sale rather than do business on a new level.

He was in old-money mode and played hardball on our offer, so we let him. The house is still on the market and losing value every day while our buying power is just increasing. We can afford to wait, but can the vendor?

We've also managed to recognise the real salespeople from the charlatans who hitched a lift on the housing boom at its peak and never learned their trade. It's quite something to watch an agent turn up 30 minutes late for a viewing and then spend most of the time leaning against the sittingroom wall texting as you view the house and then admit that he doesn't really know the area or much about the house "but let me know if you're interested in buying it".

It's quite another then to visit a home being sold by a pro and by a vendor who has cared for their home and have done everything The Irish Times Property supplement has been advising for years - keep things clean and simple, have the fire lit, the windows washed and great smells wafting around to lure the buyer.

Does this stuff really matter? Of course it does - it's like being offered the chance to spend your money in Manhattan or Leeds.

The sales pitch counts and since we have time on our side and a huge appetite after years of waiting, we want the whole five courses.

Gary Quinnis an Irish Timesjournalist