[squirrely girl]

we just bought a home in april and i guess my advice would be:

1. know what you can spend. enough said.

2. know your agent!!!! when looking at several houses our agent actually talked us out of a more expensive home because of the shotty construction (that neither my husband or i noticed and probably wouldmn't have until it was too late) even though it would have made her a more lucrative payday. if your agent isn't willing to point out the negatives of the house in addition to the positive, that's not really good. and if your agent isn't pulling their weight, drop em, they don't get paid til you get a house anyways.

3. know the house you're buying. we looked at a PILE of houses and liked a few that ended up having problems. one house in particular was BRAND NEW and already had a cracked foundation, split trim outside, snagged wood flooring indoors, and the pipes were COMPLETELY buried under the foundation (which is a problem if one of them breaks - ie digging up the entire basement flooring for a single pipe)

4. other than that, have fun with it, house hunting is fun!

- marissa