How much space you have available is a major consideration when buying a musical instrument for your house or apartment. Grand pianos take up a huge amount of space and need to be placed in a large room for acoustics reasons. Baby grand pianos are smaller but still need a fairly large room so the audience can be seated as far away as possible to get the best sound. Upright pianos are practical for smaller areas and only need an internal wall to reverberate the sound off. Traditional pianos with fortes are still very popular but do require regular tuning from a professional which is an on-going cost. Electronic pianos are available that alleviate this on-going requirement. Look for an electronic instrument which has weighted keys and an expression pedal as these mimic the feel of playing a traditional instrument. If you decide to buy second-hand, look in your local newspaper or on classified websites for your area. You can save money by hiring a trailer and using several strong friends to help you move your new instrument.