National Moving Month in May marked the beginning of the busiest time of year for changing residences, according to the Better Business Bureau.

School’s out, the weather is nice, and millions of families across the U.S. are moving into new homes during these summer months, the National Association of Realtors said.

In 2010, 37.5 million people 1 year old and older moved to a different residence in the U.S., according to a 2011 report by the United States Census Bureau.

Home sales in select areas throughout this region have had double-digit increases over last year.

As the number of home sales increases in several parts of the Dayton and Cincinnati regions, we talked to four local experts about what steps you should take before you move into a house.

“When you buy a home for the first time or if you are purchasing another home, if you do not take these steps, you can end up with a lot of headaches and heartaches,” said Anjanette Frye, president of the Dayton Area Board of REALTORS.

1. Find a Realtor

Work with a real estate agent you like and trust when you are planning to purchase a house, said Reva Owens, president of The Middletown Board of Realtors. It’s important to have a strong relationship with your REALTOR, she said.

“Stick with that Realtor,” Owens said. “You need one Realtor. If you call someone and don’t like them, call someone else.”

Gwen Ritchie, the 2012 president of Hamilton-Fairfield-Oxford Board of REALTORS, said it’s important to have a real estate agent who represents you and your interests.

A Realtor has access to information provided by a multiple listing service, and thus can give you accurate information about how much money you should spend on a home, according to Frye. In addition, a Realtor provides leverage in negotiating a final purchase price with the seller, she said.

Lori Fulk, 2012 president of the Springfield Board of Realtors, said if you don’t work with a Realtor, you might end up paying too much for your property. A Realtor also can give you important information about an area’s restrictions, association fees, school systems and local community, according to Fulk.

Two ways to find a Realtor are to go to local open houses and to search online at www.realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of Realtors, she said.

“What a Realtor can do is all of the leg work and hard work for a buyer on a property,” Frye said.

2. Consult with a lender.

You need to know what you can afford before you search for a home, according to Owens.

This means you should first get pre-qualified through a local lender of your choice, Ritchie said. If you do not work with a “quality” lender, you might not get the financial advice that you need, she said.

Getting pre-qualified involves supplying a lender with basic information about your overall financial status, including your debt, income and assets.

A lender, after evaluating this information, can provide you with information about the loan amount for which you potentially qualify. You can get pre-qualified online or on the phone.

You also should consider getting pre-approved, experts say. Pre-approval means you met with a loan officer who reviewed your credit files, and the loan officer says you can readily qualify for a given loan amount with one or more specific mortgage programs.

The lender then gives you a pre-approval letter, which is proof of your borrowing power.

If you do not get pre-approved, you might find a home you like, only to discover you are not qualified to purchase it, Owens said.

One way to find a lender is to ask your real estate agent for suggestions, Ritchie said.

If you are going to allow multiple lenders to review your credit history to see which one will offer the best rate, make sure all of the lenders pull your credit in a 10-day period, she said, to avoid hurting your credit score.

“See how much of a mortgage payment you can afford,” Frye said. “That gives you guidelines.”

3. Do your homework.

Be realistic about what you can fix.

Work with your real estate agent to determine what you want in a home, Ritchie said.

You need to decide what minimum qualities you are looking for in a house and what you can afford based on your budget, she said.

You should think about factors including the distance you want between your home and your place of work, how far the home can be from your local family members, if local shopping is important, and if you want to live in a rural or urban setting, for example, she said.

According to Frye, you and your Realtor should start by researching the areas in which you would like to live, and then narrow that list down.

First, pick a county, and then choose a couple of cities in which you would like to live, she said. You also should consider what school systems are available in each area, Frye said.

You and your Realtor should look at a lot of houses to see what you can get for your money, according to Fulk.

Fulk said you should research homes online and look for virtual tours of homes that are available.

If you buy a home that needs a lot of repair work, you need to be prepared both mentally and financially to take on that work, according to Frye.

While fixing up a home comes with benefits, it’s important to remember it can become frustrating if you do not have the knowledge necessary to do the repair work on your own, she said.

Fulk said before deciding if you should buy a house that needs a lot of repair work, you should think about how long you will be living there. Remodeling can bring more value to the property, she said.

4. Get an inspection before you move in.

After you have made an offer, obtained the financing you need and gone to closing on a home, don’t forget that a whole-house inspection must be completed before move-in, experts say.

You may choose to consult with your Realtor in order to find an inspector, Ritchie said.

If you do not pay for an inspection, you might begin to notice issues like plumbing leaks once you move in that were not visible to the eye, according to Frye. You could end up spending thousands of dollars if no inspection is conducted, she said.

Sellers may not even be aware of a problem with the home, such as a crack in the roof, Ritchie said.

Whole-house inspections often cover items including the home’s structure, electric wiring, plumbing, insects and radon, Frye said.

Ritchie said radon inspections are only done in some cases, and lead-based paint inspections are rare locally.

If your house has a well or a septic system, it’s important to getting these inspected too, she said.

“The deal with having a home inspection is to know what you are going to face when you move into a home,” Owens said. “It’s always good to know what you need to do up front.”