It used to be: find your dream home, get an attorney, apply for a mortgage, have  the home  inspected, and you were on your way to homeownership. Well that was then and this is now. Now,  the appraisal is just as important- if not more so- than the inspection. The inspection will reveal items that may need to be fixed or negotiated with the seller, but the appraisal (which should be done by the bank you are planning to get your mortgage  with) will reveal if you can get the amount of financing you need. The market may say a house is worth $1million, but if your bank’s appraiser feels it’s only worth $800,000, do you really want to put an additional $200,000 down on the house or would you rather apply for a mortgage with another bank who maybe uses an appraiser more intune to the local market? What I recommend is to find the home of your dreams, tell thesellers you will not have a mortgage contingency(in which case you can probably save yourself some $$$), and  have your  dream home inspected and appraised all at the same time. More information sooner leads to better decision making and will ultimately save you time and money.