It's a really hard topic to give advice to people on. This board is going to be really heavy into the nuts and bolts of the specific house, the specific terms of the purchase and any financing, and the nature/scope of any work you'd do on the house. If it's something you want that's going to come across as killing your dream.
Mustachians, the dreamkillers!
But that's alot of answering the question as asked. Your assumptions are the same as most first time homebuyer's assumptions. Some people live out their entire lives blissfully unaware that pretty much all of them are false. And that's because it will generally work out as long as the house and ownership is something you really want.
I had one goal with home ownership that I didn't see listed for you, and that was stabilizing the cost of housing. I wanted to lock in the price of my housing, regardless of it was an investment or a expense, the dollar amount fluctuation in my cash flow that came with renting just killed my soul every year at renew/move time.
I thought buying a house would settle that down. I hadn't ever heard this complaint (though it was because I wasn't listening):
"My mortgage payment went up again! because the goddamn escrow people can't get their shit together!"
So now I have this advice, based on what I did wrong the first time (unhappy house) and following it made the second time much better (better than renting appt; house - still not great).
1. You need at least 20% down, preferably 100% (fuck banks).
2. Applying for a loan is going to suck. It's a humiliating, long, awful process. Go through it with multiple banks, because even a half a point difference is huge for you. Don't be surprised if every couple of years you have to send the check to a new place, learn to read all new forms, re-do all your automated shit because the fucking bank sold your fucking note to some other fucking bank. Oh and they lost at least one check in there and FUCK BANKS!
3. If you have your financial shit together, waive escrow. If you do not have your financial shit together, do not buy a house. You want control of the taxes/insurance money, when it gets paid, and you want control of all of those accounts. It will cost you thousands and thousands of dollars if you do escrow. The only reason to do it is if you just are incapable of budgeting for these known and expected costs.
4. Only buy a house you want to live in right now.
5. Only buy a house if you want to be a homeowner.
6. Do not buy your house as an investment. If it ends up giving you a return, great. If taking massive sustained losses on the house will shatter your financial plans, you shouldn't buy a house yet.
7. Go ahead and buy a house, but keep all of this and more in mind, learn at every opportunity. The real estate agent isn't the one who fucked you, the bank didn't fuck you, the county didn't fuck you, the previous owner didn't fuck you, YOU fucked YOURSELF. Nobody in the process isn't going to fuck you if you let them.
And then, just, because, wow:
On that note, maintenance only takes as much time as you feel like spending -said everyone who never owned property
There will come a time, sooner than it has any right to come, when some essential thing breaks. You're thinking now you'll just put up with it being broken until you are inclined to fix it! I know you are! That's what you're thinking! Many things, sure, like a cabinet door handle. That's an eight minute repair that remains undone for 25 years, the grandkids will have stories of grandma and grandpa's fight where he finally just ripped the cabinet off the wall. That's fun. That's what you're thinking.
No.
You're going to be alternately launching yourself off the toilet with the force of your explosive diarrhea then vomiting into the toilet violently as your body tries to explain why it's important you never do what you just did, the same day the 'fridge breaks, and your 6 mo old baby's supply of breast milk is about to turn into so much additional mess, and Mrs. Cranilation doesn't want to hear about how you'll be able to fix the fridge eventually on account of your badassity, you have 4 hours to install a working fridge before the careful schedule she's worked out to keep the kid flush in Cranilation's finest cream and work 40 hours per week gets totally fucked, and you won't be able to leave that toilet for another 26.
It's going to be $1,200 on a credit card plus a tip to the delivery driver.
Shit happens. And it has to be dealt with. And if you're the owner it is your problem and no one else's.
Now that's fine, and yes, many many times it is fun. And you get to be all awesome mustachian etc. I fixed my dryer two weeks ago! Had a screwdriver and some willingness to get electrocuted and I took some shit apart and I put it back together and I fucking fixed the shit out of it. A week later it broke again and I spent two days figuring out the part I needed isn't sold separately from the motor, and nobody sells the motor anymore, and I've got tenants who think they need a dryer, think they paid for a dryer, and fuck if I didn't end up at the store paying retail for a goddamn dryer. I'll fix the old one eventually, when I get time to hit the junkyard to find the part I need, but that's just stubbornness. It's a minor business loss on the year, no big deal. Just frustrating cuz I don't even use the damn thing anymore.
You WILL spend more money as a homeowner. Your expenses WILL be higher. Your savings rate WILL go down. It's possible to mitigate these effects. I rent out two rooms of my 3 bedroom house and it feels pretty baller! No lie. But renting out two rooms my total out of pocket is still almost as much as renting my one bedroom apartment. And according to personal capital, the curve of my net worth is constantly increasing. But the two times I've been a homeowner it's gone up at about half speed.
If I had never bought a house I would be retired already. The LUXURY of living in my own personal mansion has a cost. I've decided it is worth it, but that's something for each of us to decide for ourselves.