Your landlord won’t fix anything. You can’t paint the walls or hang pictures in fear that you won’t get your security deposit back. And you want something you can call your own instead of throwing your money away every month on rent.
Saving for a down payment can take time, so if you have already started saving that’s a great sign. If you don’t have a separate account for your down payment you should get one, preferably a savings account. You can link it to your checking account and set up a weekly or monthly transfer of a small amount, try $20.
Shopping online for houses can be a lot of fun. Start and save a search on any of the major real estate search engines. Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com are all good. Set up a search and sign up for new listings in that search to be emailed to you so you get an idea of what is available in your area.
As a first-time buyers you have to temper your expectations. You are not going to get everything you want in your price range. So prioritize what you are looking for and rank the features you want so that you can be prepared when you are home searching.
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