Buying a Home

I actually bought my first home with my sister before I was even engaged. It's my sister's home in Florida, and it is an investment for me. We purchased the house from our brother, so the whole process was simple, short, and sweet. But things are more complicated for newlyweds who are interested in buying a home. Besides having to agree on where to live and what kind of home to seek, many newlyweds are navigating home buying for the first time. They have lots of questions about procedure and paper work and financing the purchase.

With the economy in the dumps, many newlyweds might believe that now is not the time to buy. But the real estate bubble recently burst, which means you might be able to find a great deal on the market today. If you have the money and want to start looking, you might consider foreclosures. These are homes that have to sell quickly because the owners couldn't afford the mortgage or have gotten into legal trouble. Now just might be the best time for you to buy a home.

For starters, take to the Internet to see what's out there and determine the kind of home that you'd both like -- size, style, location, etc. Honestly assess how much you can afford by taking a long look at your finances and budget. Do lots of research, both about the homes that interest you and the process of buying a home. The more educated you are on the subject, the easier things will be and the sooner you'll be saying, "Home sweet home!" to your honey.