No one has mentioned it yet, and I have no idea what land costs in your area (or if there is any), but look into building a new house. You get to decide everything which is a good and bad thing, and lessens the likelihood of having to replace appliances, roofs, etc in the near future... In my area the prices to build and buy an existing similar house were fairly close.
The walking the neighborhood idea is great, as is being aware of seasonal happenings. We were looking to buy and built during the winter. This spring we moved in and started hearing what sounded like an airport. Turns out we completely forgot about the fact that there is a drag strip and race track about 5 miles from our house. doesnt bother me much as it isnt too disturbing, but still i never thought about it prior.
The walking the neighborhood idea is great, as is being aware of seasonal happenings. We were looking to buy and built during the winter. This spring we moved in and started hearing what sounded like an airport. Turns out we completely forgot about the fact that there is a drag strip and race track about 5 miles from our house. doesnt bother me much as it isnt too disturbing, but still i never thought about it prior.