When it was time to buy our first house, my husband and I weren’t exactly prepared for all the surprises we’d encounter along the way. In fact, when we applied to be pre-approved, it was on a whim (let’s see if we can buy a house!), and I was half expecting not to be accepted. We were approved, and although we now had a specified purchase limit, and a certain, locked-in interest rate, once we got deeper into the process, we realized there was a lot that factored into our upcoming buying decision that wasn’t going to be dictated for us by the nice, official document from our mortgage provider. So here are some things I wish we would've known before jumping headfirst into home buying. READ MORE