This week, I all but finalized the next step in my pursuit of the American Dream: I successfully negotiated and came to terms on my first home. We close on November 8th.

According to every stress test I have taken, changing jobs and buying a home are about as stressful events as most people experience in their lifetime (minus getting married and having a death in the family). I decided to do both within 15 days of each other. Put another way, as my friend Jared put it in a recent e-mail, "Wow, new car, new job (sorta), new girl, new house. What's next??" Let's hope nothing is next. Or maybe best put, according to CLiving.org, I have a stress score of 313. I have to admit, I feel it. Usually I thrive under stress. This month has been a bit much.

But I did it. I finally bought my first home. I have only been seriously thinking about it for the last year. There are four huge lessons I learned from this whole process. If you have ever bought a house before, you can feel free to stop reading, but I know a lot of 20-somethings hit up this blog so I offer my two points of advice below.

#1 - Ask questions. I am a pretty proud guy. I don't like asking questions. Whether that is looking for a product at Target or when "lost" and in need of directions - I usually have enough confidence in myself that I will figure it out on my own. You cannot approach buying a home like that. I can't tell you how many times I used the phrase: "I have never done this before, so I apologize if this is a stupid question, but..."

#2 - Do your research. Even after I asked as many questions as I did, and the fact that I talked with a lot of "experts," it still doesn't mean there aren't mistakes. I found a fairly large mistake that my loan officer missed and that ultimately cost me close to $1000 bucks at closing. Now I would much rather find that out now before the shock at closing of trying to find and extra Grand. You cannot do enough research, and in my opinion get freaking good at Microsoft Excel.

#3 - Do what you are comfortable with. If you are like me, once you even hint at buying a place, everyone and their mother will come out of the woodworks and tell you what they think. While a lot of the time this is a GREAT thing, it can get tempting to do something you aren't comfortable with. This is ultimately what happened to me last year about this time. Renting isn't always as stupid of a decision as those who own homes make it out to be - especially if you aren't sure you can stay somewhere for at least three years.

#4 - Everything is negotiable. For some, this is fun. Me personally, I hate this. But it is important. Not just the purchase price, but everything is negotiable. The closing costs the seller picks up, what is left in the home, what is fixed before buying the home. Heck, even what the bank charges you in closing costs. It is all negotiable. Make sure you have options, as that is the best way to "pit" them all against each other.

Well, that's about it. Before I go, I would like to thank

• Mike Durden - a great realtor
• Brian Cueny - a great loan guy
• My father for some great advice
• Marty (Molly's mom) for coming and viewing all the prospects with me
• Mitch of WIN Home Inspection - for educating me so much on my home in only 2 hours
• Joel - for being such a great and flexible roommate.
• Probably most of all Glenn - your generous offer really saved me some money in the long run.

Anybody up for a house warming party?