What he said.
Don't fall too much in love w/the house either. We put a bid on one house, and I'm glad they didn't accept it. The house we ended up buying was MUCH better and cost us less. Plus, all we had to do was move in. We didn't have to buy anything for the place, other than minor things like garbage cans. The kitchen was redone recently, the roof still had another 7 years on it before they recommended we get it replaced, the air conditioning unit was practically brand new, window treatments (which can be very expensive, depending on what you want) and the appliances were included (fridge, dishwasher, washer/dryer). The house was an estate auction and the executor didn't live in Maryland (lived in California). They just wanted a fair amount for the place, which we offered. We saw the place on July 3 of 2001. The next day, a holiday, our agent wrote up a contract. The next day, July 5th, he brought it to our apartment in Randallstown for my wife to sign, drove to my office in Northeast Baltimore for me to sign, then drove to Columbia, Maryland to give it to the listing agent. Three days later, we got the call saying they accepted.