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Originally posted by Hotzcatz

Don't buy a house when you haven't lived in the area for at least a few months first. There are micro-climates, there are neighors, there are the neighbor's roosters, there are coqui frogs, there are traffic patterns, there are just way too many variables to be able to buy a place and get a nice one from a distance. I'm not saying you won't, you might, but I'm saying if you do find a nice house it will be luck and not first hand knowledge if you do. You also may buy the house you found online and live in it for six months just to discover that you really would have preferred being two miles over. You'll get a much better house if you are living in the area before you buy it and considering the cost and hassle of moving, it's worth the expense and time of renting for six months first. What house you choose to buy will make a huge impact on your life.

If you find the perfect lot and want to build a house, it might be nice to work with a local designer who will understand things such as that the wide eaves are for keeping the sun off the house, not the rain. They will know about tradewinds, post and pier, available materials, etc. Plopping a kit house down isn't always the easiest answer to live with afterwards.

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