I think yhe BIGGEST tip I can tell you is.... Whatever they (mortagage people) say you can spend......get something cheaper. I see so many people going upsidedown in houses by overspending because companies told them they could AFFORD to spend X amount of dollars. if you go to the top amount they allow you... this means you will always live off macaroni and spaghetti the next 30 years and never buy any new clothing or a car or even be able to go to McDonalds for a happy meal. don't dare have a child or pay for a field trip or even have to go to the doctor's either:eek:
Your best best is to try and stay about 20% lower then the top amount they say you can spend. Even lower is even better.

VA. Loans can be good and bad. YES yuo can usually get a bit better deal but YES they are stricter and some sellers don't want to deal with them because they would have to fix everylittle thing and why should they get nit picked when somebody else will pay the same price with a regular loan. You might try FHA loan which is like a VA... but not QUITE as strict and people feel more comfortable with. there are also things called Farmer loans and other SIMILAR loans. These are just loans that usually you can get in rural areas...LOL.. It doesn't mean you have to be a FARMER.

DON"T forget.... You can sometimes make out by offing closer to full price but askign for closing cost assistance. This is a common practice and the sellers feel good because mentally they feel they are getting full price or close for their house... but actually they are helping you pay the out of pocket money you need to buy the house. This helps ALOT if you are SHORT on actual cash or down payment.
ALSO About the PMI payments mentioned...... yes PMI is like wasting money but don't let that discourage you from buing a home. Like mentioned you might want to try getting the 80/ 20 mortgage to avoid this but those mortagages aren't always available to everybody. ALSO let's face it... if you are PLAiN SHORT on actual cash... and aren't planing on putting hardley any money down... this charge can't be AVOIDED. Just remember it's not the end of the world and you CAN refinance in a few years and get rid of this payment .

Thanks everybody for all the tips. We ended up not taking this house, after going through the house with a great friend, and home inspector. There was tooo much that needed to be fixed.

We learned so much in the last 2 weeks; about home buying, contracts and what we're looking for. We're going to keep looking!