For those of you who own a home, is there any advice you can give me on the whole process? I'd be particularly interested in anything that you wish you'd known when you bought your first house.

Enjoy

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Secondly, spend as MUCH as you can afford. I disagree about being "house poor" Don't worry about not having money to furnish the house, buy as much house as you can afford. It is after all, the only real investment you will have. Your home will appreciate in value, everything else a person owns depreciates in most cases. "car poor" I can understand, but buy the most home you can afford, because your salary will increase over time making the mortgage payments seem lower, plus it's a good time to buy a house right now too.

I also agree with on buying what you can 'afford' and what you want. You will regret it later if you guy something too small or not what you want. I have to laugh at people who drive a super expensive car yet their home is below average.

I refuse to buy a house without a two car (minimum) garage. Garage’s should be big as possible because per square foot they are the cheapest way to buy storage space.
Currently I have a 2 & ½ car garage that is fully insulated, dry walled and heated. I have cable TV and a small fridge. Small wood working area and of course all the tools needed to do mechanic work on our autos. If /when I build my own house I will put a 3 car garage in for sure.

I've heard from a good friend in the business that building is the way to go and we plan on building our next home. I'm sort of looking for the property now. Since I used to do architecture I think I would have fun designing my own floor plan, etc.

Investigate your neighbors/hood if possible. Drive around the neighborhood looking for undesirable houses nearby etc.

Another tip is to pay bi-weekly instead of monthly. Because there are 2 more pay periods per year and because the interest is compounded for less time you save tons over the course of the load. Not that most people stay in one place for 30 years. You would save over $30K over 30 years on a house that cost $220K or more based on 5 % interest.

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INSPECT!

Once you sigh, you experience the phenomenon of getting "$500 to death" (used to be "$100 to death" but times change). This applies to either new construction or pre-owned.

"Dammit, I need a lawnmower" $500
"Shit, the furnace needs a new heat exchanger" $500
"Honey, we need some shrubs in front" $500
"The refrigerator sux" MULTIPLES of $500
"We need a snowblower" $500 or $150 for the next 3 winters
Hoses, garbage cans, lawn tools - $500

ETC.

[ 11-08-2003: Message edited by: jondster ]

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