unsolicited advice on buying a home from someone who hasn't even bought one yet

The wife and I just got back from a house hunting trip (this involved flying across the country, so it was kind of a big deal). It ended up being not as bad as I thought it might.

Cutting to the chase: we made an offer on a place, and it was accepted within hours. We found it in 1.5 days of looking around. So pending a satisfactory inspection, it's a done deal.

I feel like I've learned a great deal of terribly practical stuff in the past few weeks, a trend I hope continues (relatively painlessly) as we move into actually being homeowners. So, if you are thinking about buying a house for the first time, here's what insight I think I have on the subject now:

1) Get a realtor, and let them do their job. This should be obvious, but as someone with a very internal locus of control, this took me some getting used to. Talk to them a LOT before you even go out looking for houses, and be very clear about what you do and do not want. If you don't want to live in a brand new house in a clear-cut subdivision and you don't really care about school districts (beyond how they may affect your resale value, anyway) make sure that you mention that. If they don't seem to hear you, hire someone else.

Our realtor was excellent in this regard, but one that I spoke with while investigating a different job in a different place just couldn't get it through her peroxide-blonde-laquered hair helmet.

2) Figure out how much of a mortgage you can qualify for, and then start your search at listings at 1/2-2/3 that ammount. If you can't swing this in the area where you are looking, think long and hard about whether you should be buying right now, because you ARE going to end up spending more than you originally set out to spend.

The reasons for this approach are two-fold: in addition to enforcing some fiscal discipline, I think you do a better job of setting yourself up for satisfaction. If you start at the top of your buying power (or higher) and then work your way down, you are inevitably going to feel like you're settling or giving something up. If you start near the bottom and work your way up, then you get some perspective on what really matters to you.

We originally set out looking for 3 br/2bath with a basement. Pluses would have been a porch of some sort, and non-carpeted floors (we have a dog and allergies and we HATE carpet). Location was secondary, within reason, we thought.

Once we realized that getting most of that in our price range meant living in a pretty scary neighborhood--and more importantly, getting probably the nicest house in a scary neighborhood--we opened things up a bit. We ended up with a 2br/1bath with a full basement. There is no porch, but there are hardwood floors, and we are in a great neighborhood within walking distance (1 block) of a gorgeous park. We're happy with it, and are only spending 76% of what we qualified for.

3) Give yourself a deadline. Otherwise, you will toil endlessly looking for your dreamhouse that probably doesn't exist in your price range if you are a first time buyer. This is one of those tasks that will expand to fill the time allocated to it.