It's because a house becomes a home emotionally in a matter of seconds, that it's really important to become pre-qualified for your mortgage and to be shopping for homes that fit your specific criteria. Falling in love with a home you can't afford or that doesn't fit your needs makes walking away from that home terribly difficult. All other house candidates will be compared to the one you first loved. When your real estate agent assigns homework of getting pre-qualified for your mortgage and writing down what you want in a house, take the assignment seriously. There are many lovely homes out there that might call to your heart strings. Finagling to purchase a home for more than you wanted to pay or talking yourself into a house that doesn't have the dining room you required, becomes a problem when the house honeymoon is over. 
It's tempting to shop indiscriminately but if you purchase one of those too expensive or "not quite right" homes, falling out of love is easy to do!
Financial struggles or serving a family meal on TV trays everyday tarnishes the first love you once felt for the home. Do your homework. Stay focused. Buy what meets your current criteria. Your love for your first smaller home will prepare you to move up to that bigger dream house of the future.
Great Insight! I was the same way when I first looked at my current house @ Show Low Bluff in Northern Arizona...
Right away I fell in love and wanted to say, "I'll take it!" right there on the spot. Luckily I was wise enough to step back from the situation and figure out if it was really the right choice for me.
In the end it was, but I felt 100% confident in my decision knowing that I had put much time and thought into the purchase.
Posted by: S. Garrett | October 01, 2008 at 04:41 PM
Joe, You're so right about not seeing it coming. How many times have I shown a house that my clients did not expect to like and it was "THE" house! It's so easy to be caught unawares. I've also found this true of new construction models as they're decked out in their formal finery, but when the client gets their stripped down actual house, it seems very plain.
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | June 17, 2008 at 10:40 PM
So very true. Nobody realizes the emotional pull of a house you just fall in love with. And like other love, you never see it coming. Being pre-qualified will make the "I do" doable.
Posted by: Joseph Ferrara.sellsius | June 17, 2008 at 08:36 AM
Welcome, Jay. It's really true about those romantic ideas. In my property management days, studies were done comparing how many tenants chose an apartment based on having a pool. It was a significant number, but then the study went on to determine how many actually USED the pool they wanted and most did not. I was one of those renters myself. Only once was I in our apartment pool! The same is true of house hunting. The reality many times does not match our fantasy of how we will use the house.
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | June 13, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Very nice article! Really, buying a new home is one of the most important things you are doing during your life. Consider it very well! It's not only about that lovely romantic fireplace, or big pool in the garden. You have to see your house a part of environment, of some neighborhood. Only then you can choose the right one!
Jay
Posted by: Vancouver realtor | June 12, 2008 at 01:27 PM