How to Get Started Buying a Home

Knowing where to start when you're buying a home is half the battle.

The first home I ever bought was 8,600 square feet. It had an indoor swimming pool, separate wine room and maid’s quarters. I was out of my mind. Because I never utilized the space in that home.

It was, hands down, the worst home I ever bought. I gave in and bought the place because my now ex-husband wanted the home.

But it was a painfully stupid purchase. Two professionals who are never home hardly require that kind of space. What was even more stupid was the fact my former husband went on a shopping spree and had purchased $10,000 worth of plants for the home. What the? He was nuts. After 18 months, I sold it to a company that insisted — after we signed the purchase contract — that I give them the plants. We argued about this after-the-fact-demand, and I finally agreed to leave 50% of the plants. Half of the plants were dead. Those are the plants I left behind. Who’s around to water when I’m never home?

I’m hoping that this home buying guide to getting started will help you to avoid some of the mistakes that some first-time home buyers — like I once was — have made . . . read more about Buying a Home.

More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub:

• How to Shop for a Home
  
• Single Women Home Buyers
  
• 8 Reasons to Buy a Home

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