Buying a Home
If you are buying a home you need to make sure to get two independant people out to see the house. The first one is an inspector. Remember that all real estate agents recommend that their clients paint before putting the house up for sale. Why? because a coat of paint can do wonders for hiding the underlying problems. An inspector is trained to look beyond the paint. He will let you know exactly what needs to be done to get the house up to code.
Secondly, you need an appraisor. This person will be able to tell you the value of the house based on houses of simillar size that sold in the area. This will help you determine your bid and also be necessary for getting a mortgage. Get these two people, and you are on the way to being a smart home buyer.