Newlyweds Mike and Katie have gave their realtor the challenging task of finding an up-to-date single family home in San Francisco for under $700,000. After looking at dozens of homes they finally settled on a home in an area they had never considered.  We recently caught up with Katie and she had this advice for future first-time homebuyers:

My advice to someone buying their first home would be to make sure they find the right realtor. I think it's crucial to find someone who intimately knows the neighborhoods you prefer, has years of experience and comes with great recommendations.

I wish we had known how long the home-buying process would take before we started. We went to open houses for two full years before we found the right home, and the process was long and quite frustrating. 

I also wish I had realized that great new homes were appearing on the market all the time, so I didn't get my heart broken so many times when I loved a home and my husband didn't.

The only significant thing that has changed since we bought our home is that I am now pregnant!  We are frantically transforming our guest room into the baby's room, and the condo, which seemed so big and roomy when we bought it, is now starting to feel tiny!

Mike and Katie