As promised, Miss Janna Tacker will be providing her insightful ideas on home buying.  Sorry for the delay in this post.  Her dog Bojangles was attacked by ants yesterday and after they both spent all night in the emergency room, Boj is fine and loving life.  Miss Tacker is glad that her precious baby is doing alright, but now has a disdain for ants.  But who doesn't?  After I saw "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" and there was a crazy ant in the backyard, I never liked those crazy creatures.  Anyways... back to the guest post.  Whether you are in the market for a new home or not, Miss Tacker's advice will prove helpful and insightful.

"For those of you who haven’t experienced the joys of home ownership, I will share my newly found plethora of knowledge. If you find yourself in the housing market just follow these guidelines and everything will be smooth sailing.

·         Don’t watch HGTV during your home search. It will only infuriate you. It takes a lot more than one day, three houses, and one piece of paper to have the place of your dreams.  In my particular case, it took about twenty houses, three months, a six inch stack of papers, and most of my sanity. I thought finding a home was a pain and wish I had a personal assistant to go screen homes for me (kind of like Kimora Lee Simmon’s in the Fab Life).

·         Strongly consider move-in-ready homes. I personally did not follow this rule (you will see why); I did a complete reno. My house is now super fabulous and precisely to my liking, but renovating your first home is SUPER high stress. Also, as soon as your neighbors see you tearing your house apart they will come by at the most inconvenient times asking to see what you’ve done( I do ,however, enjoy showing everyone how fab my home is).  Bottom line, save the renovations for a point in your life when time and money are abundant.

·         Locate the nearest Lowe’s. Before signing on the dotted line (lines actually), scout out your nearest Lowe’s. Is it under two miles away? Okay, go ahead and sign. If not, reconsider. Lowe’s will be your second home; don’t be surprised to find yourself roaming these aisles 3-4 times a weekend. The workers may even learn your name, and after a few months they could be your facebook friends. Is there a Home Depot nearby? Gross. Move to a different part of town.

Basically, finding a home can be a nightmare but totally worth it in the end (especially if you follow my rules)! I’m sure everyone is DYING to see the inside of my home, and even though Cribs is coming to shoot an episode in a few weeks I will give you all a sneak peak."