Don’t buy a house before you’re married. Yes this sounds like old fashioned boomer advice but trust me buying selling and maintaining a house can become a tremendous pain in the ass and this thing can be an albatross around your neck if you aren’t careful

Secondly if you ignore the first step (please don’t lol) make darn sure that your mortgage payment isn’t more than a third of your monthly income because there’s so much to pay for beyond that and there’s nothing worse than being “house poor”. This is easier said than done, RI simply lacks inventory. Good luck! Hopefully the market breaks in your favor when the time is right