Also, get a realtor. Ask around. If it's anything like around here, it won't cost you anything to have a realtor do all the work as the seller pays them at the end. Pick 3 or 4 things that are really important to you such as 2 car garage, not on a busy road, basement and provide that to your realtor.
When you find a realtor, go over everything that is important. Location, cost, garage, basement, near highways/train, etc. If the realtor ignores your requests, and shows you houses that he/she wants to sell, not houses you want to buy, get rid of him/her immediately. You owe him/her nothing. He/she works for you. He/she will get his/her cut from the selling realtor.Check your credit scores for free now to make sure there are no errors. Getting things corrected can take a while.
Absolutely. Make sure everything is correct, to eliminate issues later. The higher your score, the better your rates. Pay off credit card balances. I haven't had unsecured debt for many years, and it feels great.In general, target a house that is no more than 3 times your salary or expected salary. You can afford, and will likely be offered 4 or 5 times as much by a bank, but 3 times is normally a pretty solid way to pay your mortgage and be able to save some money. It used to be 2 times your salary, but even with the drop in housing prices that normally isn't realistic.
Do not buy a house beyond your means. This seems like common sense, but I know many people who had pie in the sky dreams, and are now paying for it. When we were looking to buy our house, we were approved for $244,000, but we bought a house that cost $155,000. It was important to us to buy a smaller house, and build equity for the long haul. If you are like me, you are going to want to pay extra every month, to stay ahead of the game. If you pay half of your mortgage every two weeks (applying any extra to the principal), you are basically making thirteen mortgage payments per year, rather than twelve. You can pay off a thirty year loan in approximately twenty two years. This also helps if you have a decrease in your work hours, or even worse, a job loss. These things happen.Get your money together now. You'll need at least 5% of your down payment to come from your own bank account and not by "gifts" from parents. You'll need 20% to avoid PMI, but paying PMI is not the end of the world. I don't know your family situation, but your parents can "gift" you some money to get you up higher and then you can pay them back over a few years. The gift per year is something like up to 16,000 per parent per year so you can squeeze out enough if they are stable enough to help you.
Agreed. Obviously, the more you put down, the better, but you are going to need to have some money in the bank for repairs/maintenance. Before you own a house, you never realize how much money goes into a house. If something needs repair, and you are not 100% sure you can fix it, and fix it properly, hire somebody who can. You will save money in the long run. But, don't hire Elmhurst Steve. You can train a monkey to paint. Well, maybe YOU can't train a monkey, but you get the point.Don't buy a place with your girlfriend.
I will leave that up to you, and how strong your relationship is. Obviously, only the two of you know that. Things can get very messy in a breakup where both own the house. My wife and I bought our house in August of 2004, and we didn't get married until September of 2007. It worked out for us.