Buying a house ****ing sucks.

[Shaid]

When we bought we looked at tons of houses over a couple of years. We weren't in a rush, wanted to find a good price and something that had what we wanted. Eventually we built. We went to a good mid-range builder with plans from a lower priced builder and said that they had that house available for 145k. The mid-range builder matched the price and had a lot of things included in their price that the low-end guy didn't, like Oak doors, molding, etc. standard. We'd have paid over 180k with the low end guy but got our house for 145k with all those upgrades, better quality framing, etc. and a half acre lot in town 5 minutes from my work. We finished the basement ourselves with me doing all the framing and sheetrock and hiring side guys to do the plumbing, electrical, etc. Only cost about 10k to finish the basement out. It could sell for 300k today, less than 10 years later. We had 6 months to sell our existing place after that because building obviously takes time. That allowed us the time to get our asking price.
My advise is simple. Don't be in a hurry. Shop like you are just looking for things you like. Don't overpay but if you put in an offer, make sure you lock that seller in. Don't be afraid to build. In my experience it can be cheaper. It absolutely was with us.