Darlene .. definitely start small and work your way up. Pre-construction is a good idea during good times, but very speculative unless you choose the right location at the right price point and the right builder/finishes. A lot of 'investors' in Vancouver were caught buying a few pre-construction condos right before the big drop off in 2008/2009 and lost a lot of money.
My personal recommendation is to get into an entry level price (resale, new sale or pre-construction) and make sure that you do your homework. Do your due diligence ... if it is a home for yourself, don't forget about all the extra monthly fees, property taxes, insurance etc. Have an exit strategy.
If is is an investment, cash flow is king. NEVER buy an investment property without doing your proper homework and budgeting 10% monthly contingency for vacancy, repairs, strata increases etc.
And Ronald - re $40k hidden fees ... we've seen this in the Vancouver market where builders promote 'HST included' or 'GST included'. What they do is increase the purchase price by 7-10% and say that the HST is included. But what happens is that the home buyer won't be able to get the HST/GST rebate. So not a hidden fee, but certainly, not a good deal for the buyer.