1) how long did you stay?
2) did it appreciate/depreciate?
3) would would you have done differently knowing what you know now?
4) did you like it?
Define "home." We bought a condo in the city in 2005 and sold it at a loss in 2010. If you included what we put into the place and offset it by what we would have paid in rent, though, we just about broke even.
We used the proceeds from the sale to buy a house in 2010, which has appreciated significantly.
3) I should have bought a home warranty that would have covered expenses that went undiscovered in the inspection. We did the inspection in February but discovered that the A/C didn't work in June.
Also important: Purge (stuff, not people). Then purge more. Then more. As you pick up square footage, you will naturally accumulate stuff with which to fill that square footage. You want to minimize the pace at which you do so.
4) I hated it at first. Absolutely hated it. Moved from a condo in the city to a house in Brookline. While it's very city-like, it still felt like the suburbs to me. I hated that I was unfamiliar with the area and that, because the house was 100 years old, something always seemed to be breaking. Because nobody in Brookline has a lot of land, houses are built vertically, not horizontally, and I felt like there were too many floors and too much space. I was overwhelmed.
Over time, I have grown to appreciate the house. It's easier to entertain, our kids can make noise without worrying about neighbors and there is a place to escape to without having to leave the house.
Having said that, we're still looking forward to the time when we can sell the house and move back into the city. We're really city people.
Mike