I second what John said. When we were looking for our first house we
attended a couple of free first-time home buying seminars that we found
listed in the real estate section of the Sunday paper. Both had both a
real estate agent and a mortgage broker who spoke about their role in
the home buying process. Obviously they are hoping to generate a lead,
but there was no pressure to sign with them.

Also, the real estate agent is invaluable. A good agent will work with
you and get a sense of what kind of home you are looking for. With our
agent, every week we spent with her she got a better sense of what we
were looking for and screened out a lot of homes that she knew we
wouldn't like so we got to a point every time we were out we were
looking at promising possibilities instead of dogs.

I don't know where you are geographically and what the RE market is
where you are, but we were actively looking for almost 6 months,
viewing homes most weekends and sometimes during the week. It can get
intimidating, but don't panic.

Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you'll make so take the
time to do your research. Talk to a few real estate agents until you
find one you are really comfortable with.

good luck,
tmo