Hubby and I used a realtor.
When hubby and I bought our place, we sat down together and made a list of three or four things that we both absolutely needed:
1 a very specific area/part of the county
2 three bedrooms
3 one floor
4
I also said that I would move out of our rental only if he agreed to immediately put in the hurricane-proof features I wanted: hurricane impact windows, door, . . . Thus we had to factor in the price of that with what the
cost of the house was going to be.
Before we moved in we had the a/c vents cleaned.
. . . Also, insulation added to the attic. ---- during that time the electric company was offering a deal on the insulation.
It's the same size as our appt was -- about 1300 square feet -- so, not huge
but perfect for us.
We got particularly lucky with a place about a hundred feet from a small
neighborhood park that he often uses for jogging.
Good luck with your search.
M