My DH and I are pretty conservative financially, and we bought our first house just before we got married. We actually had to make a couple of payments before we moved in, but it was nice because it gave us time to paint and get carpets cleaned. My family was upset that we didn't wait a few years, but we couldn't see any sense in paying every month on something that would never be ours. It ended up being one of the smartest things we've ever done. Besides the obvious advantages of home ownership, there also are some nice tax breaks.

The only advice I would add to what you have already gotten from board members is to look around a lot, so you will recognize a good deal when you see one. Also, in terms of investment, you are always better off buying the cheapest house in a good neighborhood than the nicest house in a bad one, unless it seems like that neighborhood is on the verge of being renovated.

Try to save as much cash as you can now for a down payment-I don't know what your circumstances are, but if you can come up with a 20% down payment, you don't have to pay primary mortgage insurance. Also, if you are planning on having a family someday and would like to stay home full time with your baby, try to have your basic living expenses come from your husband's income. It doens't hurt so much then if you have to go down to one.

Don't forget to add in the propery taxes of the home you are buying into your house payment total.
You can call the utility companies to find out the monthly electric and gas bills for the house you are looking at, to help plan your budget.

When we were looking, we were told that it is always best for future resale to buy at least a 3 bedroom house-you might not need that many now, but 1 and 2 bedroom homes are hard to resell-so are houses with only 1 garage.

Shop around with different lending institutions for your mortgage-a small difference in rates can make for big money over the lifetime of the loan.
Also, even if you can't afford to take out a 15 year loan right away, I think they are a great idea if you are going to be living in the house for a long time. We refinanced and switched to a 15 year about 2 years after we bought the house we are in now-we couldnt' afford it when we first bought the house. Every time my husband got a raise, we added a little extra to our house payment to pay the house off sooner. We got it paid off in 13 years-just in time to use the money we would have been saving from no house payments and use it to make college tuition payments instead. [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] It's still a nice feeling to know that the house really is ours.

Good luck, and enjoy the search!