<prompt> Human: My wife and I are looking into purchasing our first home. We were looking for some general advice as well as what to expect through this process. Any help would be much appreciated!  <response>: Based on my personal experience, I would say that if youre choosing between an older, larger house and a smaller, newer house, choose the smaller one. Dont fool yourself yourself into thinking that youre going to have a bunch of time to fix up and do major remodels on a house that needs work when youre just getting started in life, especially if youre trying to advance in your careers andor start a family. When my wife and I bought our house we had this argument; she wanted the small house and I wanted the big one with good bones. She was right; I was wrong and she won anyway. 