Looking to buy a house soon, any advice?

buy private....real estate agents don't do anything that you can't do on your own.

Like Canna said, houses fall apart, budget 10% total cost for emergency repairs. Since I bought mine almost 5 years ago, I've had to replace a water heater, reinsulate my basement, and fix the dwv on my third floor. Shit happens, you need to be prepared. Also budget for stuff you don't think of, like salt for the driveway in winter. I forgot about salt!!!!!!

Real estate agents are for the most part worthless. The only thing an agent will do for you is he can get into houses that are on the market and you cannot because you do not have a real estate license. He may provide you with some resources, or point you towards possible options you didn't consider, but for the most part you are going to do all the research. Ultimately you are the one gonna be living in the house, so you need to make sure you are happy.

Good points brought up by everyone.

Consider school district. Even if you won't ever have kids in school it's going to affect your resale value.

Get pre approved. Live within your means, and purchase a house below your budget. I could have gotten more house, but my utilities are reasonable and I met all of my wants and needs with the house, and I have several hundred extra each month to throw at the mortgage to reduce it. I know if I ever get in financial trouble that I can stop my extra payments and will be able to scrape by.

You should talk to the neighbors on any property you are seriously considering. It would suck to have an asshole neighbor and not know about it until you are stuck in the house. My neighbor called the cops on me for having a fire in my backyard. Fucking asshole. Would have seriously considered finding another property where camp fires wouldn't be an issue if I had known my troll neighbor would fire-block me.