OT: Buying a house

[vexvelour]

As many of you know because of my angry 'asking for revenge on neighbors' post, I need to move. I currently split the rent here with my boyfriend for a total of $1080/mo., + bills.

I seriously am sick of tossing a grand to the wind every month and want to start looking for a house to buy. I still have about 3 years before I get my degree, and he's got a great job here, so unfortunately we're stuck here for a while.

I need some advice and help from those more experienced than me in this. I really have no idea where to start, or if the amount of money I have is even enough for a down payment. I have a moderate amount of debt, but not over my head- mostly school loans. For those of you who have braved the process, please answer some questions for me:

-First of all, would you settle for a house in place you don't really like but is a great turnover investment opportunity?
-Is it possible to find the house of my dreams without a real-estate agent, and if so, what's the best way to go about it? (Newspapers, driving around, internet...) What did you do?
-What are all the things I'm not thinking of? Secret taxes, hidden maintence things, things of that sort. This def falls into the life experience category.

Sorry that was so long winded. Any advice would be super.