Wow, congrats on taking the plunge MD!
I just closed on my new house yesterday, I'm sitting here typing this among the many, many boxes yet to unpack!
I would love to give you a whole world of advice but I'm pretty straight out right now (as you can imagine). I will throw a couple of things out there though.
1) Home Owners Association - I disagree with the advice given so far. HOA's aren't a problem, if they are created for the right reasons and run correctly they are excellent and often necessary. Most HOA's are more like a couple hundred a year, not a month. My last neighborhood had a $275 fee to pay for shared services including a sewage pump station and taxes/insurance on some common land. My new neighborhood is $100/yr which pays for taxes/insurance on some common land as well as some community building activities like an annual neighborhood BBQ.
The thing is, if you want to live in a decent, family neighborhood where there is emphasis on community and shared services that aren't provided by the municipality then you are very likely going to need to participate in an HOA. Just make sure you get a copy of any bylaws/covenants, review them first to make sure they work for your family, and do a little homework. For example, we are planning to put in a nice, above-ground pool in this new house (not as permanent as an in-ground) but there is a provision in the covenants of the HOA that say above-ground pools are not allowed. However, a little research showed three above-ground pools in the neighborhood so it's safe to say that this is not an enforced policy but is, instead, meant to thwart a bunch of rusty eyesores.
Don't count out a potentially perfect home just because there is an association; you'll be cutting yourself short - remember that most of the horror stories are exceptions rather than the rule! Of course if you'd rather live in a more rural setting you won't likely need to worry about this anyhow.
2) Don't buy a house that you need to change for it to be "THE" one. You have a new family and are probably pretty damn busy. Unless you plan on budgeting for and hiring a contractor to do the work for you that's one thing but you might find that life just gets busier and busier and once you finish the dishes, get the lawn mowed, get the kid/s to soccer practice and change the diapers on the new baby you weren't quite thinking you were going to have yet, the last thing you'll want to do is go work on the renovation above the garage!
3) Picture yourself being there in 10 years. The average, first-time buyers supposedly stay in a home for 3 to 5 years but somehow life with kids goes buy much faster than average LOL. If the kids bedroom is perfectly sized for a crib and changing table but not much else then it won't fit a dresser, bed, desk, boxes of toys, shelves of games and random crap, piles of stuffed animals, a bookshelf, and an air hockey table. Just sayin!
4) Don't skip the inspection. It costs only about $350 and can a) find hidden issues with the property, b) arm you with more bargaining power to lower the price of the property or get some items fixed buy the seller that you won't have to deal with yourself when you move in. Often this alone pays for the inspection! Oh, and c) potentially gives you one final "out" should anything drastic come up.
Man, I could go on for days but my advice isn't worth much more than anyone else's and I have to go find the box with the damn toilet paper in it ASAP!
Good luck!
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