What is the first step when looking for a home loan?

Most experts recommend that you should get prequalified for a loan first. By being prequalified, you will know exactly how much house you can afford.
Almost all mortgage lenders now prequalify and preapprove customers, and many of them can even do it on the Internet. You also can do your own affordability calculations; most recent consumer books on home buying include steps to doing so, as do various real estate Internet sites.