How to buy a house you won't regret (in order): 1. Area is more important than a house Don't make the mistake of falling in love w/ a house 25 min from the grocery store 2. If you have kids or (many forget) WILL have kids, buy in a good school district You don't want to buy a house childless, then have a kid and find out you need to move as the schools suck 3. Research community you can get involved in NEAR the house If the gym you like is 35 min from your new house, you won't go. If you want to build community at church, live closer to the church 4. For younger families... do research on the age of the neighborhood How? Do creepy things. Look for swing sets, stop by when the bus lets out and see how many kids get off, look up real estate records and see when houses were purchased (if purchased in 1988, the family is older) 5. How is traffic in and around the n'hood, travel times to work/school Do a dry run quickly as you narrow down your choices 6. Is the city still building? That could mean higher valuations... good. Also, higher property taxes. Could also mean more traffic, but also more restaurants/stores, etc. 7. If you plan to buy a new house, buy at the early stages of the n'hood. You get instant equity. New n'hoods appreciate as they build out 8. Layout of house (inside and out) is more important than any kitchen features, etc. Changing a layout is difficult (besides knocking down walls). Make sure the house flows as you need. 9. Make sure you know if you want a basement or not Can't ever change that...at least that I know of... 10. Very last thing --- best to invest where all these things line up. May mean you buy more house than you can afford... but living there for a long time, it's okay. If you aren't sure you'll be there for more than 5 years, buy smaller. Housing IS weird... because you're at the mercy of the inventory that's available at the very moment you're looking. Your dream house could come up for sale 2 weeks after closing. So chances are you ARE NOT buying your dream house. Make sure you hit the other criteria well. P.S. Notice none of the list includes fixtures or 'does the bathroom have heated floors?" You can put in that stuff as you go. Don't get distracted by the bigger picture