For most people, the decision to buy a home hits like love at first sight: After endless rounds of dating, you finally find that special one. You walk in the front door and swoon over the refinished hardwood floors. Your eyes lock on the high ceilings. Your heart pounds at the fabulous kitchen and the huge yard.

While I totally understand leading with your heart, use your head, too.

Before saying "I do" to one of the biggest financial commitments of your life, you need to follow up with a few repeat visits checking out every nook and cranny for big-ticket problems.

Don't confuse your real estate agent's statements with a formal condition report. Many states require sellers and their agents to disclose known defects to potential buyers, but the agent might be as clueless as you are.

Equally important, agents are typically paid by the seller. The vast majority of agents are honest, but it's only human nature to have a bias in favor of the person who's writing your paycheck. If you're buying directly from the developer, please don't get snookered into believing that new means perfect. Every single house or apartment needs a thorough inspection.

Before hiring a professional inspector run through this checklist:

- Cast your eye high and low, to and fro, to spot cracks or leaks outside your "normal" field of vision.

- If the current owners are still in residence, move their furniture. That means pulling every dresser away from the wall, especially under windows, to check for leaks, cracks and incomplete paint jobs.

- Pull back the rugs — you never can tell what those fine threads are hiding.

- No matter what season it is, check that the summer screens and the winter storm windows are in good shape. If you're buying in the summer, turn off the air conditioning and crank up the radiators. In the winter, do the reverse.

The last thing you want is to find out, five months after unpacking your boxes, that the heating or cooling is noisy and inefficient. Running the systems also will reveal any funky smells that you wouldn't otherwise notice.

- Visit at different times of the day and night to gauge street noise.

- Put appliances through their paces to make sure that everything is working — and working quietly. If your purchase includes the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher, run a load in each of them. (Bring a few dirty dishes and towels of your own, if need be.) And give the garbage disposal a spin.

- Turn on as many kitchen appliances as possible, simultaneously, to see whether the electrical system can handle the strain. Turn on every light in every room.

And bring a small appliance to plug in to outlets to see if they work. (Your phone charger is handy for this.)

- While the dishwasher and washing machine are running, head to the shower and turn on the hot tap.

How are the pressure and the temp? What happens when you flush the toilet?

- Ring the doorbell, and test the alarm if there is one. For the latter, ask whether it's just local or hooked up to a central monitoring system.

- Measure the garage to determine that both your cars will really fit.

- Find out if the neighbors own any dogs. If they have an aggressive breed and you don't have a fence, perhaps this isn't the best backyard for your toddler.

- If you're buying an apartment, ask residents next door, above and below to turn on their stereos and television sets and just walk around.

- Get estimates for ongoing maintenance: In a condominium or co-op, find out how many times the common charges have been raised during the past five years and by how much.

If this is your first foray into the suburbs, don't forget to factor in the cost of a gardener if you don't want to mow the lawn or of a snow-removal service if you don't shovel — same with the pool and the alarm.

— Suze Orman is a best-selling author and Emmy award-winning TV host whose latest book, "Women and Money," was published in March 2007. For details, visit http://www.suzeorman.com.