I scanned the other posts and don't think anyone mentioned this so- If you are looking at having kids soon, don't forget to check out the schools in the areas you're looking at. One of the best ways to do that is to talk to people who have kids at the school, or just show up at the school's open house, look around, talk to the teachers.

The other thing is- don't be embarrassed to ask the obvious questions. When we were house hunting, we were looking in the paper, and this one house seemed great- it was just what we wanted, in our price range- even on the low side. So I talked to the relator on the phone- she assured me there was no water in the basement, etc. etc. Then I thought to ask the "simple" question. Well, then why is it $10,000 cheaper than comparable houses? She himmed and hawed. I asked, what does the house back up to? A railroad track. Thank you very much, goodbye [img]smile.gif[/img]

Also when you're looking at houses, don't let yourself be discouraged by bad paint. You can walk into a house, and think, oh my goodness this is hideous!! But really look- is it just the paint- paint is cheap!

Also, pay the money to have a professional inspection done before you buy (your lending company may require this anyway), and be there when the inspection takes place. It's a great way to learn more about your house.

Pick a number you're willing to pay. Then don't look at or let your relator show you anything more than about 5% over that. No matter WHAT! If you see something out of your price range and fall in love with it, it makes looking at the houses within your range even harder.

When you get your number- start going to open houses and just seeing what your money could get- even if you don't want to buy right now. When we were looking at houses the first one we saw seemed nice, but we weren't sure if it was a good deal (we were looking at a for sale by owner without a relator). After looking at about 10 more houses we realized what a deal the first one was, but by then (literally 2 days later) it was sold.

Good luck!
Jo