What requirements should and/or must I check off to buy 1st home?

[Zach Simpson]

I'm turning 24 this year and want to buy our first home, hopefully in 2021 with my wife and daughter. I work in outside sales as a 1099 worker. What kind of income, length of income, money saved, etc, etc, etc do I jneed to make this happen? What are things to consider that you wished you considered prior to buying your first house?

We intend to buy something small, but not tiny. We live in Spring, Texas and real estate is really inexpensive for the most part. Obviously, you can buy expensive, but we'll likely keep it under 200k. I have a really good deal with work, so we dont plan on just leaving all of a sudden, we just would rather not pay rent super long term.

Thank you in advance for any help!