Does anyone have any frugal tips or resources for someone looking to buy their first home? Things to check for/do in order to save money later on?

My wife and I are moving closer to her workplace in a little over a year, and it's unlikely that she'll be changing jobs in the next 5-10 years barring unforeseen circumstances. The city she works in also has the doctoral degree I'm interested in pursuing, so given all the variables, it seems like an okay time to look into buying a home.

The market in the city isn't that bad, and prices are steadily increasing as the area becomes more industrialized and larger corporations move in. A decent house by our standards starts at around 220k, which according to calculations, puts our payment at slightly lower than our current rent.

Of course, we are new to this whole process. For those of you who have gone through this, did you do anything specific to save money during the process? Did you hire contractors to closely inspect any systems, such as HVAC or plumbing? I know that finding problems before closing can lead to fewer costly endeavors down the road.

I apologize if this isn't the exact right subreddit for these questions, but it seems appropriate given the context.

Thanks!