Questions about buying a house

[FRPLG]

I would change that order somewhat...
You need to get pre-qualified for a loan first to properly discuss price ranges and look at houses. You'll probably qualify for more than you realize. The key is to get your payment where you are comfortable. That will depend on how much you end up financing. Also...if at all possible always try to put 20% down. This gets you out of PMI which is completely wasted money that you have to pay if you don't put down 20%. Usually you can do what is called a "second trust". Basically you get two loans. One for 80% and one that combined with you money down equals the other 20%. This way you don't pay PMI on the bigger loan, just on the smaller loan. That will significantly lower your PMI. But avoid PMI if you can. The first thing to do though is get in touch with an agent. They can tell you what steps to take.