<prompt> Human: It seems theres a post about home ownership at least once a week. I thought Id share my learnings one year after buying my first home.1. Be clear about why youre buying a home. Every large decision you have to make about home ownership should somewhat tie in to this. I cant stress this enough. Make sure the reason makes sense to you after you and your SO if applicable sleep over it a few times. Dont get in to home ownership because your friends or colleagues are telling you how much they love owning their home. It might not be the same for you. Again, be clear. Id say literally write it down.2. If youre buying a home together with your SO Id imagine most might, sit separately with different pieces of paper and write down what each of you wants in your home. Be realistic. Indicate what youre ok with compromising on and what is absolutely a must have or must not have. Dont talk to each other while doing this. Once youre satisfied with the list, tally what you have and combine what you want, dont want, whats a must have and what you can compromise on. Be realistic.3. Use one of the online tools to calculate how much house can I afford. Dont spend more than 30-40 of your annual income on home ownership - this includes your mortgage, insurance, property tax etc. Id say stick to 30 or less. Edit: 30 of take home pay is what my max was. I ended up buying lower than that. Your scenario may be different. The COL in your area will probably affect this number.4. Look at houses based on the life style you have not the life style you aspire to have. For example we looked at houses with smaller yards or yards without large lawns. Reason: Our lifestyle and gardening arent compatible. Wed have loved a large green lawn but realistically wed never maintain it and probably wouldnt spend on a gardener. Thats just one example. Dont dream of building a home theater in the basement if youre the outgoing type.5. Buy the biggest house you can afford is horrible horrible advice. This was given to me by most people around me. It sounded bad then and after a year in, it sounds just horrible. Buy the house that you need today with _some_ consideration for tomorrows needs. Tomorrows needs is something along the lines of growing family NOT anticipating profits from business or promotions. The advice given on this sub holds true here too - buy below your means.6. Avoid borrowing money from friends or family in order to afford a bigger home. This is kind of an off shoot of the point above. Both points will just lead to additional stress that you dont need. This is true even if theyre willingly offering you money without you asking.7. REALLY look in to total cost of home ownership. If youre looking in to a fixer upper things can get very tricky. Id recommend not going for a fixer upper for a first time home owner. I bought a relatively new home but the cost of minor fixes baffled me. Im very very happy to not have bought a home that needed repairs. Id have underestimated the cost even if someone would have given me quotes for the repairs. Things like regulations change. A minor change might end up with large expenses to keep up with code. I learned this the hard way when I wanted to get an additional power outlet. :8. Drive around the neighborhoods that youre interested in. Get a feel of the place. Chat with people whore out for walks or something and see what they think. This might lead to interesting results. When I did this, people thought I was selling something so their immediate reaction to my Hi was Im good. thanks.. :9. A home purchase is often a process of elimination. Start with all homes that match your criteria. Filter based on cost, then filter based on neighborhood, then filter based on square footage, school districts etc. Keep going until youre left with a few homes that youll go look at.10. Your agent facilitates the transaction. If you dont know what you want and havent communicated with them very clearly, they may influence your decision. If you feel your agent is pressing you into making decisions - RUN. Better than having buyers remorse after having gotten in large debt.11. Feel free to use your agent to do the ground work. I gave my agent a list of questions to go figure out for the housesneighborhoodHOAs etc that I was interested in. Youre paying your agent a good sum of money. Get your moneys worth. Dont shy away from asking questions. Your agent might tell you that you wont pay him. Thats partly true. You wont pay them directly - the seller usually accounts for this and prices the home accordingly. So in a way, you are paying him.12. Its in your best interest to not have the same agent as the seller. 13. Dont skimp out on the essentials - for example home inspection. It may be expensive to do but its better than being stuck with a flawed house. Edit: uSureWtever: consider getting a radon inspection Quick google tells me there are DIY kits that are available.14. Protect your investment - get good insurance. Make sure youre aware of whats covered and whats not. Change the locks before you move in. Change the lock on the mailbox. Invest in a home security system if your neighborhood warrants it. Consider cameras at the very least. 15. Find out how the HOA is if it exists. Ive heard horror stories from colleagues. A couple of them have sold their condos because of the stress it caused them.16. Consider your mortgage options. Depending on how long you plan to live in your home, ARM might be a good option. 17. After you buy your home, dont feel compelled to set it up immediately. That means its ok to use the current furniture you have. Its ok to not have a proper bed. Were still using a box mattress combo - no frame or headboard. Its ok if one or more of your rooms look spartan for a year or two. Thats all I can think of now. Ill add more if I think of something. Good luck!Edit:Thanks for the gold.Some thoughts on comments:Take home advice including mine as just that - advice. Surely give it thought, but you know your scenario better than anyone else does. Some of the above points might not fit your needs. IMHO, its better to be aware of a line of thought and reject it than to be ignorant of it and end up in a stressful situation.Look at houses based on the life style you have not the life style you aspire to haveSomeone used an example of aspiring to have a garage to work on cars. The way I look at that is that working on cars is already your thing. Youre not kidding yourself in to doing something youve never done before or are not currently passionate about. A person like me buying a large garage because Id like to get in to working on cars when I currently dont know anything about the trade would be a terrible mistake.Buy the house that you need today with _some_ consideration for tomorrows needsThis should speak for itself. The suggestion is to consider tomorrows needs but dont get carried away. Youre not going to NEED a 4 car garage because you might make more money and might buy 4 cars.RE: These points are conservative. Yes, they are. Purchasing for a lot of people is often emotional. Starting conservative for a first time home owner is not a bad idea. You dont know what you dont know.. Next time around at least youll know what you dont know and can plan somewhat better.  <response>: I bought a fixer upper and I was somewhat prepared just not prepared for the incompetence or the indifference of the contractor. I ended up redoing a lot of their work and kicked them out after halfway thru, finished the rest myself.I made them rehang my front door twice because they did it wrong, only secured it with finishing nails in the trim! Guess they thought since I was a women that I wouldnt know the correct way. Anyways save a ton of money buying the tools and doing everything myself, it really isnt that hard and with Google you are all set. 