Go to the Financing and Insurance Page for more help with that. You may also want to better understand down payment assistance programs, especially if you are a first time buyer. To see what is available go to the Finance and Insurance page. Establish a search area where you feel you would like to live and which has a reasonable drive time to your work place(s). I recommend that you try the drive out in the morning and again at night at least once to see what kinds of traffic patterns you might have to deal with and to get a feel for your potential drive time.

Here is a good article from HGTV’s Frontdoor Web site about the characteristics of 12 different neighborhood types that may help you narrow your search area a bit.

Create a realistic set of criteria for your real estate agent to use in the search. If you are in the $100-200K range for your first home, it is not realistic to expect to find a big house with lots of land and features like walk-in closets and a Jacuzzi tub in the master suite bathroom. As Dr. Phil might say - Get Real! Here’s a link to a good Home Buyer’s Checklist that might help you.

It’s OK to specify things like number of bedrooms and baths preferred, basement or no basement, garage (1-2 car), style (ranch, colonial, Cape Cod) and, of course, the price range. In general, older and smaller homes (normally ranches and tri-/quad-levels) will fit the criteria in the $100 - 200K price range. Your real estate agent can help with that too.