Most of us long to get our feet on the property ladder or to buy that dream home you have always wanted. However buying a property will be the biggest financial commitment most of us will ever face so it should not be something you enter into lightly. Before you buy you need to start asking some questions to your estate agents, surveyor, bank, the person you are buying the property with and most of all yourself.When asking yourself questions you need to be completely honest with yourself otherwise you could end up making all kinds of mistakes. The first question to ask yourself is why are you moving? You need to decide if you are buying a property to live there or to merely make an investment before moving on again. Next you should be asking if this the right time to move? Unless you have a specific reason to move you need to think carefully about your timings and decide what you will gain from moving now. Then you need to think about what your future will hold. If you and your partner are planning on having kids soon buying that one bedroom penthouse might not be a good move, subsequently if your children are now grown up and moving out will you still need that big four-bedroom house.Of course its not always easy to tell what the future holds and things can change over time so for now that one bed penthouse might be perfect in the short term before you move on to a more suitable family orientated abode.There are plenty more question to ask yourself too. Does the property have enough storage space for your needs and if not is there adequate room to fit draws, wardrobes and cupboards. Does the property need improvements and if it does how much will they cost to fix and will they need a professional to complete them.Another important consideration, especially in today’s economic climate is what happens if the property prices fall? If you are planning on staying in your property for a long time then this might not be much of an issue for you, if however you are planning on moving again in the next couple of years you will have to seriously consider the impact of selling your home for less than you paid for it.Finally you have to ask yourself are you ready for the difficult and long process of buying a house and then the long term commitments to repaying the mortgage?If you are unsure of any of these questions you might need longer to consider buying a property, if however you answer positively to the questions here it might be time to start talking to your local estate agent.