I looked for about 4 months. I had a firm idea of what I couldn't live without (air conditioning, garage, driveway) and didn't even look at houses that I didn't have my "essentials".

I'm not going to say my price range, but I was told by a lender how much I'd get approved for and I ended up buying a house at the top of my budget.

Once I put an offer in it was probably 3 months before I closed. I was renting the house I was going to buy and the seller was an estate, so no one was in a rush to close and they let me drag my feet and pull some money together.