House hunting is always a process—but in the midst of COVID-19, there are even more things to know and learn about successfully finding and buying a home.

But what, exactly, are those things? What do you need to know to find and buy a home right now?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined key lessons home buyers should know if they’re shopping during COVID, including:

• Don’t bank on getting a deal. Considering how much the pandemic has affected the economy and peoples’ jobs, you might expect that it would have directly impacted real estate values. In many areas that just isn’t the case. In fact, if anything, prices have stayed steady or even gone up. And there are a lot more buyers than houses for sale in many areas, making competition stiff.
• Get pre-approved before you start house hunting. This is always the first thing you should do before looking at houses, even when there isn’t a pandemic. But, due to the current events, many mortgage lenders have changed their lending requirements—so before you get too deep into the house hunting process, make sure you get pre-approved and can get access to the funds you need to buy a home.
• Work with an agent you trust. Working with an agent you trust is also always important—but it’s especially important now, when you may be relying on a virtual tour to determine whether you want to make an offer on a property. Not only can your agent walk you through the entire buying process, but because they’ll actually be on site giving you the virtual tour, they can clue you in to potential issues you might have missed on video—which can prevent you from making an offer on a house that isn’t the right fit.

There are a lot of factors that make this a perfect time to buy a home. Just make sure you go into it with realistic expectations, and are aware of the actual current market conditions in the area you are looking.