If you are looking to buy your first home, here are some ideas to consider.  A home gives you a place to live, pride of ownership, tax deductions, and with a little planning, it can become an additional retirement tool.  Of course, you will want your home to fit your needs, but also consider some other ideas to make it a good investment.
Find the neighborhood that you like and then complete a rent survey as if you were going to rent it out immediately.  Do a rent survey of the area by looking at ads in the classified section of the newspaper and determine what the rents for a similar property are.  With interest rates below 6%, you need to secure monthly rents of about .006% times the value of your home.  As an example, a $200,000 home should rent for about $1,200 a month.  If the rents seem OK and the home is located in a growth area, it will probably be a good investment.
Then consider the following strategy:  After you have purchased your first home, live it in for one or more years, then purchase a second home.  Your first home is usually purchased with little or no money down.  There are many first time homebuyer loan programs to take advantage of.  Your second home can also be purchased with no money down.  Normally, this is done by securing an 80% first mortgage and a 20% second mortgage.  Then, rent out the first home.  Yes, you will probably have a negative cash flow for a year or two, but liken it to a contribution to a 401K or IRA.  You are using these funds for the same reason, saving for your retirement.  In the third to fifth year, purchase the next property to reside in and convert the second to a rental as well.  Since you can obtain the best interest rates as an owner-occupant, it is to your advantage to utilize this type of financing.
Under current tax rules, if you live in your home for 2 years or more, you can rent it for three years, sell it, within the three years and enjoy beneficial tax treatment.  You will be subject to recapture on depreciation, but this can be a great way to get mostly tax free money to invest in other rentals.